Question about feeding in a newborn - help!

[forMands]

My dd is now 11 days old and we have generally been lucky with the Bfing. She latches on and sucks really well and my nipples seem to be coping well with the onslaught

Some days she will go about 3 hours between feeds and seem really peaceful in between. However, every few days she wants to go on the breast ALL the time - when she's not feeding, she's crying. Yet, she doesn't always take a big feed and sometimes it seems that she just wants comforting.

She will often go between 5 and 7 hours between feeds at night - maybe I should wake her up , then she wouldn't be so hungry in the day?

She hiccups a lot and brings up quite a lot of milk every day - no more so on these unsettled days.

Just wondering if this is normal and if so, will she grow out of it? Also, should I be tempted to offer a dummy - would it help?

[foundintranslation]

The frequent/long feeding is absolutely normal, and important for building up supply. Dummies can interfere with the process of building up supply at this point so I wouldn't introduce one if I were you.
Night feeds are very valuable for encouraging supply, but I wouldn't necessarily wake her up at night before 5 hours if there didn't seem to be a problem with supply otherwise - after 5 hours uit might be a good idea though.
My ds was sicky until about 6 months - but for him it was normal and he grew out of it fine. If it really is a lot of milk (i.e. real sicking as opposed to posseting) or she seems to be in pain, it might be worth checking for reflux.
HTH :)

[bluejelly]

Hi Formands,
This sounds very very normal and yes she will grow out of it. Breastfeeding is about food and comfort so I wouldn't worry that she sometimes she seems to need comfort more than food. It's a huge adjustment for her to get used to life in the outside world and of course she will need extra comfort!
I definitely wouldn't wake her up at night-- take the opportunity to sleep yourself
Good luck, sounds like you are doing brilliantly

[Pruni]

Isn't 7 hours a bit long to go at 11 days without a night feed, bluejelly?
Tiktok?

[Hattie05]

I think your dd has the perfect routine! The fact she sleeps so well in the night is great and i wouldn't wake her otherwise you will break that routine. It wouldn't help with feeding in the day i don't think.

It is very common for babies to want to feed constantly in the early days - possibility she is having growth spurts on those days and needing constant feeds.

I agree with you some of it may be comfort - and there is no harm in that, personally i wouldn't use a dummy, i would just continue offering her feeds.

It will change as she grows and her little tummy can cope for longer periods without feeds.

HTH

[tiktok]

Well...sorry to disagree, but no one can be sure if this is the perfect routine or not. It may be fine, but then again it might not. Yes, I would be very concerned about an 11 day old baby who 'often' goes 5-7 hours between feeds. Now, this might be ok if she is making up the feeds by feeding more often at other times, but the questions you need to ask yourself, forMands, are

• what's the baby's weight and is she showing by adequate weight gain all is well?
  
  
• is she pooing soft yellow stools several times a day?
  
  
• is she showing by her behaviour that she is transferring milk well (needs someone who knows what they are looking for to check this, probably)
  
  Withut being sure bf is effective you aren't in a situation where you can be sure a dummy is a good idea.
  
  What's the midwife say? has the baby been weighed since birth?

[Enid]

dd3 is also about 11 days old and goes roughly 3 hours between feeds - day and night. tbh I would wake her if she went 5/7 hours without a feed. She has also had two or three nights when she has fed almost constantly and although I am knackered I trust her to know what she is doing re building up the supply.

dd3 hiccups if I drink wine and I have also cut out tea and coffee although not sure why.

[Harpsichordcarrier]

hi there!
well done with getting this far
wanting the breast all the time evert few days is extra normal - growth spurts or just feeling hungry or wanting comfort.
5-7 hours at night is a LONG stretch imho. I would wake before that time, because my breasts would be rock hard
If I were you I would try to feed as much as possible during the day and wake in the night after about 4 hours, at least for the time being.
are you co-sleeping? that might help - she might smell your milk and want it more often in the night.
hiccuping/posseting also v normal but likely to be to do with what you're eating... though it can be very difficult to isolate what in particular causes a problem ime.
I would also NOT give a dummy just yet, until bf is well established
good luck!