Should I wake DD to feed?

[CheerfulYank]

DD was born on Monday so very little yet. She is sleeping ALL the time...honestly I'm not sure how many times she fed today as it's all a blur, I'll begin keeping track right now.

We're having a very rough time with nursing. I was using a nipple shield but at her last feeding about an hour ago she latched on and nursed without one, so that's great.

I gave up bfing DS after a few months and he had issues with his formula; I felt massively guilty and really want to keep at it with DD.

I hate to wake DD and it makes her really angry, but should I be doing it to make sure she nurses enough? Also we can't feed skin to skin because she seems to need to be swaddled while eating, otherwise it's too hard to get her to latch as she pushes away, sucks her fingers etc.

Any advice gratefully received! TIA. :)

[Indith]

talk to your mw and try to get a visit specifically for bf to get more help as sounds like skin risking would be very helpful for you if you can manage. as she is still very little then yes make sure she feeds lots. the occasional 4 hour sleep is fine but she would want to be feeding more than that most of then time.

[Indith]

skin to skin not skin risking! goodness me auto correct is not my friend today.

[CheerfulYank]

I'm in the States so have an OB instead of a midwife, but she is lovely and I will give her a call.

I'm just trying really hard not stress about it all...I just really want it to work!

[lilystem]

Maybe try downloading one of the baby apps to note how often and when she's feeding. It might be more than you think.

Good luck!

[CityDweller]

Do you have access to a lactation consultant? May be more use than your OB. My sister lives in LA and she went to this place called The Pump Station when she had probs bf her dc.

[Forgetfulmog]

Congratulations on your dd!

When my dd was born I was told not to let her go more than 5 hrs without a feed so I would only wake her if she was sleeping more than that. A good way of waking a newborn is to do a nappy change.

As another poster said, lots of skin to skin & put her to the boob as often as you can - bf is a blur in the early days, but it will build up your supply if you feed frequently.

Good luck - there's loads of good advice on the Breast & Bottle Feeding section

[Smartiepants79]

I would say yes if she is not feeding. Every 3 hours at least I think is what I was told.
She will get less sleepy but can get dehydrated if you're not careful. Mine have been fed swaddled so that can work ok.
They do recommend feeding as much as possible to establish a good supply.
Has your milk come in yet?

[Splatt34]

with dd1 i had massive supply issues & set my alarm 4hourly overnight to feed as she would have gone 6/7 hours even at 3 weeks. Felt so wrong. ultimately we started combo feeding at 6 wks due to poor weight gain.
DD2 was born yesterday, I've been told to not let her go more than 3-4 hours so am setting my alarm again, just in case

[itsaruddygame]

Can your DH hold her arms out of the way whilst you latch her on for skin to skin feeding? My DS used to be very squirmy and I found this helped in the early days. You soon become quicker at getting them on even with the octopus arms!

[EauRouge]

LLL have lots of groups in the US, you could try giving them a call. You can look for a local one here.