baby falling asleep after 10mins bf!!

[dennant]

So we came home yesterday with our 5 day old newborn dd, who was feeding and sleeping like textbook yesterday, but today is wanting constant feeding, but only lasting 10 mins on boob beforebfalling asleep on me and nothing will wake her up to carry on, she'll sleep for 10-20 mins then cry for more and the cycle repeats itself! She is being topped up with formula as we need to share the feeding with dp but even that is only going down in 1oz doses over the course of an hour or two.
Today she also seems to be crying a lot with tummy pain, i think, knees balled up to chest, not winding properly, few farts and explosive poos coming out!
Any advice, we cannot get her to feed and settle!!

[ThursdayLast]

Sounds like growth spurt behaviour to me.
Just what babies do I should just settle in and feed her when she wants. Make sure you're eating and drinking plenty of fluids too.

And congratulations!

[ThursdayLast]

Btw, this website was incredibly useful to me in the early stages
kellymom.com

[hollie84]

Sounds normal for a newborn! If you just get settled on the sofa holding/feeding then your DP can concentrate on looking after you.

[dennant]

Omg this is getting hard! She was happily latching on albeit falling asleep, but today has been totally fussing, not latching on at all and bobbing on and off my nipples all day!
Has she got nipple confusion already?

[Iwillorderthefood]

Try winding her, this is what my 7 week old does when she has it.

[hollie84]

Are you topping up with a lot of formula? That might be causing problems with your supply. Can you just breastfeed until your supply is established and then start mix feeding?

[RoseberryTopping]

It probably is quite confusing for her. Breast feeding is a skill she needs to learn and it can take a while with some babies. Is it possible for you to exclusively breastfeed until she's a month or so old, and then introduce a bottle?

[RoseberryTopping]

It probably is quite confusing for her. Breast feeding is a skill she needs to learn and it can take a while with some babies. Is it possible for you to exclusively breastfeed until she's a month or so old, and then introduce a bottle?

[dennant]

We had to start bottle coz she was getting dehydrated by not getting enough from me coz my supply is delayed. Have just expressed to see what was going on and barely got an ounce out of both breasts together!
She cant survive on just that. At a loss. Am still putting her to my breast to get things going but its not satisfying her. In a vicious cycle!

[MissRatty]

What you can express is not indicative of supply, as a baby is more efficient than a machine. A lot of research suggests that there is very little evidence of nipple confusion...

Our LO would do this, fall asleep then wake up shortly after for more food. Holding his hand and giving it a smooth, and rubbing his head at the back seemed to help him start suckling again, and frequent winding too...he was just filling up with wind, falling asleep then realising he wasn't full after all.

There is also a spurt about now if I remember, and my LO seemed to be permanently attached! Let her suckle for as long as she needs as it will help boost your supply, but obviously don't withold top ups if you feel they are needed.

Is there a BF cafe or support you could get in the meantime? It saved my sanity! (And was very helpful).

[dennant]

Had a lady come see me today, from the local bfeeding group. Appears that my milk is not in properly still after 7 days! Got to try abd feed through it!
Have tried all the above suggestions to keep her awake. Still no joy!

[whitemusk]

Hi there, you can't beat an actual IBCLC Lactation Consultant to check your positioning and talk everything through especially to check why your milk isn't in etc. Meanwhile one tip to keep a sleepy baby feeding actively for longer is to use breast compressions, it wakes them up when it triggers another let down breastfeeding.support/what-is-breast-compression/you Also to reduce confusion you may find it useful to 'bottle feed in a breastfeeding way' using these tips breastfeeding.support/tips-to-bottle-feed-a-breastfed-baby/ or (with your IBCLC's help) you could consider topping up at the breast with a supplementer you can read more here breastfeeding.support/supplementing-at-the-breast/
Pumping with a good electric pump will stimulate your supply with the aim of eventually expressing enough to replace the formula top ups... or until baby can feed well breastfeeding.support/how-can-i-pump-more-breast-milk/ Good luck xxx