Newborn breast feeding and sleep

[Newmum78]

Hi all my baby is now 11days I haven't looked at symbols yet thought I'd just get this going first by the way, And I'm wondering about if I'm feeding too muc and baby not sleeping enough.. Me and dad hav system, I feed, he does nappy and soothing, I hav been keep ing diary for my own to c if any pattern emerging,, so from yesterday morning feed times as follows, and I count from start of feed to next one to c how long she lasts

7am, 9.15,1.15,3.15,6.50,8.00,21.50,12pm,4.00am,6.20,8.00,10.30,1.25,3.50... So prob another 1or2feeds before 7pm which is 16feeds. Vary in time about one hr, sometimes more but that is with burping , nappy change , trying to waken to offer second side, dad finds it hard to settle her but she will sleep for hour. Sometimes more if u look at pattern, at night longer breaks for me but hard work for him to settle her,, what do any of u think of this first of all.... I hav a million questions but this will star me off... Thank u all

[tiktok]

Hi, newmum. All that sounds normal but you might be making life hard for yourself if you continue to stick to dad settling her - it's normal for babies to want to settle and sleep as they feed, and for feeds to slide into sleep and then for sleeping to slide back into feeding :) There is no need to try to wake her to take second side - why would you do this? Just let her set the pace. If she wants side 2 she will wake up after a short time - and you don't need to count or time feeds as long as she is doing well weight-wise and is pooing and weeing :)

No pattern will emerge at 11 days - not one you can be sure of continuing, anyway.

Just enjoy your baby and feed and snuggle with her and let her sleep and feed when she wants :)

You can call any of the bf helplines and talk more about this if you like.

[ABitLesMis]

All sounds totally normal to me. Please try not to get too fixated on times etc. I did this with my first DS and it almost took away the enjoyment of his first few weeks as I was constantly worrying about it.

I gave birth last Saturday to my second and have started with a different, much more relaxed attitude to the feeding/sleeping and it feels so much more enjoyable.

Just let you're baby lead it, the routine can come much later. Also, I don't offer my baby the second breast unless he is clearly still hungry after the first. If he falls asleep I leave him to rest.
Good luck & congratulations

[Newmum78]

Thanks for help, so are u saying that if baby feeds for half hour. And then either sleeps and looks up for bit more just do that? This happens in evening and I know they do cluster feed at night either for comfort or stocking up... I find it hard to know if she uses me as a dummy sometimes... She starts feeding with eyes open and then eyes will close after a while but she appears to continue to feed if I try to pull her away she will clamp down again, do I wait to she just comes off.. She has fed for forty mins in one go ! Is this not loads??

[Newmum78]

Oh sorry reason I offer second is due to guidelines given by midwifes here..

[Meringue33]

Yes thats it :)

Not for a newborn, 40 mins is perfectly normal, so is one hour. My LO (now six mo) sometimes falls asleep but keeps feeding, you can tell if he is swallowing as after each swallow there will be a little exhalation of breath (sounds like "keh"). Sometimes he stops or slows to hardly anything then I gently detach him with pinky finger and try and put him down.

Don't worry, you can't over feed a breastfed baby. And the time commitment gets a lot less by around 12 weeks.

[Meringue33]

I think the thing about offering second is only if they're still awake and have emptied first breast

[Newmum78]

It's such a mind boggling thing .. But I really do enjoy doing it I just want to make sure I'm doing right.. She was 7 12 on birth and lost 8percent and was 7 10 on Thursday past so I know she getting enough as not two wks to Tuesday .... She has a dirty nappy nearly every time it's so hard to know about wetting nappy...Which thy keep going on about.. Importance of wet nappies is what?? To make sure her kidneys working or dehydration???

[Newmum78]

Oh btw how do u know she has emptied ??

[karinmaria]

The midwives where I am advised me to feed every three hours with my newborn - they should have told me to feed on demand and to not let it get more than three/four hours between feeds in the first few weeks. Knowing this would have made me less stressed and I'd have enjoyed those first weeks more.

For offering the second breast, absolutely do as Meringue said. Also, feeding is really tiring for a newborn so she might sleep for ten mins and then start up again!

You know your boob is empty when it literally feels empty and baby is really having to suck to get anything out. If you hold each boob at the end of a feed you'll feel the difference.

Wet nappies show she's not dehydrated - you could try the pampers newborn nappies as they have a stripe on them which goes blue when wet (and doesn't seem to when it's poo!).

You sound like you're doing really well

[tiktok]

You don;t have to empty the breast(s) - impossible to do this anyway. No idea why your midwives told you she has to have both breasts. Yes, offer second, but she can have a nap or even a sleep before she takes it. Normally no need to wake the baby if she is asleep.

Everything sounds normal, honest! What's wrong with sucking for comfort ('using you as a dummy')? This is fine and is nice for your baby and important for security and milk supply :)

Wet nappies are important as they indicate your baby is not dehydrated.

[lurcherlover]

You could always try weighing a dry nappy with one she's been wearing to compare the two - obviously a wet nappy will be heavier. Or put her naked on her change mat with a towel under - you'll soon see she's weeing!

It's a bit of a myth that you can "empty" breasts. Think of them as rivers, not reservoirs - they're constantly making milk and there's always some there. Obviously if you've not fed for a while they will get engorged. Don't worry too much - as long as she feeds regularly from both breasts, she'll be getting enough from each.

The golden rule with a newborn is if in doubt, feed. Feeding is usually the answer to everything in the early days. Yes, some of it is comfort sucking, but that's good and normal - and if a tiny baby can't have lots of cuddles with her mum, who can? Enjoy this time as it goes so so fast and congratulations!

[lurcherlover]

And what tiktok said

[Newmum78]

This is all great help thank u so much ...right ill hav to start And hav a good feel !! T get to know what's what... So for eg she has been feeding on and off now but because its only for five ten mins at a time should I keep going with the one side to it feels flat as then she will get the fattier milk as such which will help her sleep more?.

[lurcherlover]

Again, fore and hind milk is a bit of a myth too. Honestly, it all evens out, don't worry. If she's only fed for a couple of minutes I'd offer her the same side, longer than that I'd swap. But honestly, as long as she gets both sides regularly don't stress about which type of milk she's getting, it will all work out.

[Meringue33]

My boobs have been "emptied" before when LO is cluster feeding. But they refill pretty quickly, usually in time to swap sides again. A couple of times DP had to take LO and rock him for 20 mins til my supply recovered! It doesn't take long though so no need to panic and drive to the supermarket for formula.

[Badgerwife]

I'm not surprised she's feeding loads in this heat, she needs all the hydration she can get; sounds very normal and that she and you are doing really well. Your boobs do continuously produce milk, and as other people have said, you can't overfeed a breastfed baby so keep doing what you're doing!

[Newmum78]

I phoned my health visitor today just to check when she is coming out and was asking her a few questions.... Again she agreed with all of u, it is normal for baby to feed so much at this stage. But only my dhis so great the is no way I could do this. ... She said normal to feed for hr and break for hr and feed again be ause breast milk so easily digestible.. My concern was that baby not getting enough sleep. But as she having some cat naps and decent hrs at night which she is doing its ok.. I'm always full of energy in the morning but c nine o clock I'm exhausted and as she not sleep for long during day I can't get sleep back... How do people do this with other kids????

[lurcherlover]

I'm on baby no2 and have found it easier second time round...partly because I'm already used to exhaustion(!) and also you feel more confident as you know what you're doing. There are practical things to do too - the two biggest things that have helped me are firstly, using a sling to carry baby everywhere so I've got my hands free to play with my eldest (I use a moby wrap which is brilliant, but a bit hot in this weather, so I've just ordered a Hana Baby wrap which is the same but made of lighter material). The second thing is a co-sleeper cot - you can buy special ones, but DH made ours from a £30 ikea cot just by assembling it with one side left off and cable-tying it to the bed at the same height. It makes nights much easier as I can feed dd without even getting out of bed - I feed lying down and then roll her back onto her side without really waking up properly. I wish I'd thought of this with my eldest as I've had a lot more sleep second time round!

You are doing really well - persevere, it only gets easier and it will all settle down as your baby gets bigger and her stomach can hold a little more.

[Newmum78]

Thank u... The bonus of course with all of this apart from how good it is from baby is my weight loss!!! Was 11 11 when I went into hospital and 2wks later I'm 10 4 !! I'm so pleased and my stomach going down daily so all this does boost me!! And I really do love doing it ...

[FriendofDorothy]

When my baby was very little I just fed on demand, usually from one breast at a time. We had very little routine for a while and if he fell asleep at the boob then so be it and he would usually be transferred to his moses basket. Don't get too hung up, just enjoy it. If you have an iphone or ipad i found the iBaby Feed app very helpful to help me keep track of what I was doing.

[Quinandthem]

My dd is 6 days old and feeding well but always falls asleep on boob - how do you wind without waking them up?

[curlyclaz13]

I would like to know about winding a sleeping baby too ! mine is 5 weeks tomorrow and feeding a lot in this heat but not sleeping much so would be good to try and keep hin asleep at least for a bit after feeds if he drops off.

[tiktok]

Some babies need winding. Most babies take part in this ritual (with which we are somewhat obsessed in this country :) )without actually needing to take part in it....I am an NCT breastfeeding counsellor and parents to be on courses who merrily accept they really 'know nothing about babies and feeding yet' will mostly all 'know' about 'having to wind a baby'.

If the baby is asleep, all contented and milky and full and dreamy, there is no need to wind him/her.

Honestly.

There isn't.

Exception would be if you are consistently concerned that he is troubled by wind he would have otherwise 'brought up'.

Most babies' systems cope very well with excess air, without any assistance.

[Quinandthem]

Thanks tiktok - dd doesn't seem to be taking in much air (rarely bought any up when I do wind) but as you said 'everyone knows you should do it...'