Reverse cycling

[teatimefor2]

It's officially per the pedi -- DS2 is reverse cycling. He's 19 weeks and ate at 11:30 pm, 1:30 am and 5:30 am. And will doesn't eat really until 1:00 pm before his afternoon nap. I offer and he just won't nurse. After that he nurses at 4:30 and 7:30 before bed.

Pedi said he would recommend letting him CIO. I forgot to ask my follow-up question, doesn't that mean he'll go hungry? One horrible night or is there a process for this?

Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks!

[daisy24342]

i can't comment on reverse cycling, but 20ish weeks is when we did CIO with DS. Could you try and cluster feed before bed, that way he is "full", and you have some peace of mind that he isn't hungry.

[nessness]

Sounds like 4MW. No personal experience since DD's didn't last that long, but I read (on kellymom I think?) not to sleep train during this time since they are genuinely hungry during the night from not eating enough during the day. I would just try to maximize daytime eating as much as possible and then reevaluate in a couple weeks.

ETA: here's the article: kellymom.com/parenting/nighttime/4mo-sleep/

[Deleted]

I agree that I would not do CIO, I would try to cluster feed in the evening and do longer MOTN feeds so maybe he'll only wake up 1-2 times instead of 3-4. I would also try to make daytime nursing more enticing. A dark, quiet room and your undivided attention.

I regret how I handled DS at that age, and plan to do things differently with DD. I though DS was a unicorn baby b/c he STTN starting at 6 weeks. So when he started waking again at 4mo, I naively thought "he doesn't NEED to eat MOTN if he's been STTN for months" and I didn't nurse overnight. I just did the paci and rocked. It never occurred to me that he could be having a growth spurt or a developmental milestone, and really DID need to nurse MOTN. So I was up all night with him for MONTHS ON END until we Ferbered at 18 months. I really regret doing that.

[teatimefor2]

Mar 6, 2015 7:47:35 GMT -5 @mrsbecky said:

I would cluster feed as much as possible in the night and maybe do a dream feed before you go to sleep. Do dream feeds help him at all?

Sadly no, if he's not hungry he will not eat. Same with Dream feeds.

[Deleted]

Mar 6, 2015 8:40:05 GMT -5 teatimefor2 said:

Mar 6, 2015 7:47:35 GMT -5 @mrsbecky said:

I would cluster feed as much as possible in the night and maybe do a dream feed before you go to sleep. Do dream feeds help him at all?

Sadly no, if he's not hungry he will not eat. Same with Dream feeds.

Have you tried what I call the "drowsy paci switch"? That was my "secret" to getting him to nurse when he didn't want to. I would rock DS in the cross cradle nursing position with a paci until he was drowsy, then deftly switch the paci for my nipple. He would almost always latch. I'd stop rocking so he wouldn't fall asleep.

[teatimefor2]

Mar 6, 2015 8:14:20 GMT -5 @supergreen said:

I agree that I would not do CIO, I would try to cluster feed in the evening and do longer MOTN feeds so maybe he'll only wake up 1-2 times instead of 3-4. I would also try to make daytime nursing more enticing. A dark, quiet room and your undivided attention.

Unfortunately he already eats a lot MOTN, usually both breasts so I can't increase it. I agree with daytime nursing, but I also have a 2.5 year old how all day with him with no help. A dark quiet room is pretty rare.

But I will try to get him to eat more during the day. The 1:40 wake up is habit, I think, as he isn't really hungry, but the 11:30 is eats a ton.

Maybe I'll target the 1:30 am feeding and see if just soothing works.

[teatimefor2]

Mar 6, 2015 8:43:10 GMT -5 @supergreen said:

Mar 6, 2015 8:40:05 GMT -5 teatimefor2 said:

Sadly no, if he's not hungry he will not eat. Same with Dream feeds.

Have you tried what I call the "drowsy paci switch"? That was my "secret" to getting him to nurse when he didn't want to. I would rock DS in the cross cradle nursing position with a paci until he was drowsy, then deftly switch the paci for my nipple. He would almost always latch. I'd stop rocking so he wouldn't fall asleep.

No paci. I offered it a few times and he never took it.

[zeewifeandmama]

Sorry. This really sucked with my son. He was my second and not at all happy to nurse to fill his belly when the excitement of his three year old sister was around... So always. I wish I could say I had a solution, but I just toughed it out. It was miserable though, so I hope someone has a good trick for you to try! ::: hugs :::

[Deleted]

All.3 of mine have been reverse cyclers because they are bottle haters. I don't have any great advice, but just wanted to say I'm sorry it sucks.

The girls will be a year next week and are STILL doing it despite my efforts to stop it including extra bm at meals, feeding and feeding them all I possibly can. They are just hungry, very tiny, creatures LOL. I tried to not feed them last night and they screamed bloody murder for 25 mins with H and then ate furiously for almost 10 mins. This is why I Co sleep. I could have been half asleep while they ate rather than up listening to the screaming attempting to get them to stop the motn eating.

[Deleted]

I sleep trained at four months but I don't know that I would recommend it in this case. I think I would try to space his feedings out a little more in the night, try to bring in my husband to offer pacifier, consolation, etc. (but not CIO for long intervals, if he got really upset I would feed), and try to feed more in the day. I think if you get to a point where you are reasonably confident that he is getting enough food during the day and is not starving at night, then I am fully in support of CIO. I did CIO with my baby who was obviously waking up only to comfort nurse to get herself back to sleep, and who I had seen self soothe in other contexts. I would not do it to a baby that was genuinely hungry.

[schrodinger]

Mar 6, 2015 9:02:41 GMT -5 @mrsbecky said:

Can your H handle the 130 wakeup? When I was trying to drop a feeding I would send H in MOTN to try to soothe. Our rule was a half hour - if he didn't settle back down then I would go in.

This is how we handled it.  We decided on what time we would feed her before we went to bed.  If she woke up before that time, DH went in to go and soothe her until the time we agreed on.  In your case, I would consider pushing back the 11:30 feeding until midnight for a week, then 12:30 the next week.

[Deleted]

DD refused bottles and reverse cycled (at 9 months).  CIO didn't work.   We bedshared until 14 months.