Sleeping and milk struggles
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@Ashley letdowns, I’m not sure. I don’t feel/see them, I just know I gave them because she’s unlatched and gotten sprayed in the face a few times, even recently. Bedtime routine, we get her in her love to dream wrap around 9, I feed her either till she falls asleep on the boob, or she unlatches herself. If she’s not sleeping, I put the pacifier in her mouth and rock and pat her but until she falls asleep. I’ll hold her for a few minutes after she stops moving and I know she’s asleep enough to be transferred. Depending on the day, it can range from 9:05-10:30 but normally it’s only around 9:20 when I get her in her bassinet. She will sleep until about 01:30 then she’s pretty much awake every hour. The last few nights it’s been shorter that she wakes up after. She’s a good sleeper for those few hours and the routine works well. It’s been her routine for a few months now, we started her early because she actually was wanting it that way, she chose her bedtime and we just went with it.
@Ashley we wait about 1/2 hour to go to bed, so she sleeps in the room by herself for a little bit. Her wake windows? She normally gets up around 7/8. Nap around 8/9 usually waking up within the hour. Then she’s good until 11 or so, naps, wakes, then around 1/2 she takes another nap, wakes, and then is good until eight before my husband gets home, she will sometimes take a nap at 3 and wake up just as he arrives, or within the hour. It’s more cat naps recently. I’ve also tried to stop making her nap, and just waiting until she is ready for a nap or it’s screaming and crying and I just can’t mentally deal with that multiple times a day. Pick and choose your battles
I highly recommend adding in a bedtime routine. It doesn't have to be complicated, but it helps babe wind down and prepare for sleep. We do sleep sack, read book, turn on sound machine and sing song. Some people do bath, etc. It helps cue them up for sleep. It's hard for babies to get back to sleep when they haven't learned to connect sleep cycles. When you assist them to sleep, they expect that to continue whenever they wake up. Imagine if you fell asleep in your bed and woke up in the kitchen, you would be freaked out and find it hard to get back to sleep, right? Same with babies at this stage, they are more aware.
And it's ok if you don't feel or see the letdown, just listen for the milk flowing into the cup or watch it. Usually it happens within a couple of minutes for the first letdown, but I try to have at least 2-3 letdowns per session.
And cat naps are super normal for this age. We did sleep training to help baby learn to connect sleep cycles, but half the time she still cat naps. Lol it's just the age
The cat naps are normal unfortunately. The constant waking up at night could very well be the 4 month sleep regression since it started recently. Honestly I did what I could to make it through the regression. My daughter would nap in her swing as it was easy for her to fall asleep and stay asleep longer (sometimes). Now that she’s past that we’re working on her napping in her crib. Are you eligible for WIC? They have lactation consultants you can meet with, or you can see if your insurance covers meeting with one. WIC loaned me a hospital grade pump with my first because he had a tongue tie and that helped my pump output. But pumps aren’t as effective as a baby, so it’s normal to not get much out of them, especially if you’re breastfeeding as well. It’s recommended to pump an hour after baby feeds. It’ll take a while for your body to get the signal that it needs to produce more. Just keep at it. You’re doing great, I promise 🩷 being a mom is not easy!
Also look into power pumping. It’s a way of pumping to signal to your body it needs to produce more milk. You do it once a day until you notice an increase in your output.
When you pump how many letdowns do you have? What is her bedtime routine and what wake windows are you using?