Almost ten weeks and still feeding constantly!

[SallyMischievo]

I have posted before about my endlessly ravenous offspring, DD who will be ten weeks on Wednesday. She is still feeding and feeding - we are lucky to have 45 minutes between feeds before she is bobbing her head and crying to go on the breast again! Dismayed as hoped this would have levelled out by now. The good news is that she is sleeping for seven hours at night but I am finding the constant daytime and evening feeding rather draining and sore on my nipples not to mention restrictive, as it means I am struggling to venture very far or to get much else done. DM hasn't helped matters by speculating that the constant feeding is due to me not entertaining DD enough! I talk, sing and read to her, massage her, play peekaboo, action rhymes, time on the play mat, on her tummy etc and take her out when I can, (although she hates the pram which is another issue!) so I am trying! Any advice would be fab!

[TarkaTheOtter]

Ignore your mum, a ten week old baby doesn't need entertaining, the whole world is new and entertaining for them.
Do you think your baby feeds well and just really likes milk or could there be tt or bad latch eat which means she needs to feed lot to get enough?

[TheOddity]

Ignore your mum, it sounds like perfectly normal behaviour to me. Could just be a normal growth spurt, could be that the baby is still cluster feeding and building up supply for her new growth. It sounds like you are doing everything right and just need to keep having a moan now and then. I found a lll facebook group really supportive in my area to just hear from other mums doing the same thing at the same time. I found after 12 weeks the feeding was plain sailing. There always comes a week when bab? starts to clatter feed again and you get sick of them being on the breast but after 12 weeks it never lasted longer than a couple of days. Baby isn't doing it out of boredom for sure!

[TheOriginalWinkly]

It's very draining, isn't it. My DD was the same. I remember at 10 weeks I went to visit a friend. I fed before we left the house, then she demanded a feed on the train, then on the tube (and had a very quick nap) and again on the bus. This journey was only about an hour and a half in total. To be honest, she's 7 months now and still loves boob, she isn't really one to go 3/4 hours between feeds normally. She's more of a snacker. But we visited the same friend the other day and she was far too busy looking round to demand milk, so she can be distracted easily now. It gets easier, I promise :)

[tiktok]

:( :( Sally that is so demoralising for you....your mum needs to keep her (daft) ideas to herself.

This is normal behaviour.

It passes.

It is far more likely in a baby who sleeps well and continuously at night.

There is nothing wrong with it at all.

You can think about making the evenings a little easier by starting an evening routine, but it will take a while to set in place.

[TheOriginalWinkly]

Oh and my DD hated the pram too. She much prefers being carried in a sling, plus she was happier when we put her in the pushchair part (with an infant support). I did wonder about silent reflux and comfort sucking with her because of her preference for being upright, but I think she's just nosey.

[Allstoppedup]

Sounds totally normal (if not frustrating!) to me. DS was a boob monster for about the first 12-14 weeks then it did calm down although he still hasn't slept 7 hours and its 14 months!!

Ignore your mum, it sounds like you are doing a great job. 10 week old babies are basically interested in faces, feeding, cuddles and sleep- entertainment doesn't come into it!

Breastfeeding is so relentless and exhausting at first but for me one day it all just seemed to click on place and got so much easier.

I also second the advice about a sling, my DS fed a great deal and we later found out it was reflux, I don't think that's the case with yours as I think you would be seeing more sleeping issues but I found that when DS was in the sling he comfort fed less as he was happy with cuddles.

If you don't have it already lansinoh up the sore nipples before and after every feed. Hope your LO settles soon.

[SallyMischievo]

Thank you so much. It's easy to doubt yourself when you are led to believe that babies feed every three to four hours and none of your friends seem to have produced babies who are as obsessed with the boob as yours! Endlessly hungry babies weren't alluded to at NCT classes, at the breastfeeding workshop I went to or in any of my books so it's very reassuring to hear that it's OK! Thanks again!

[squizita]

I've found some ante natal bf classes gloss over the challenges a bit. Slightly short sighted as all it does is cause worry when the baby is doing something normal we weren't warned about!

I've got a little hunger monster too. She's a bit better now at 21 weeks ... but has added a 10.30pm feed to our usual pattern recently. It helps in the day as she now feeds 2-3 hourly not 1-2 hourly.

And she looks tiny/dainty! Dunno where she puts it all!

[SallyMischievo]

Thanks Squizita. I feel a campaign coming on...

[TarkaTheOtter]

I'm not sure it helps when they're more honest though. We had an exercise at our NCT classes where we had to read the day in a life of the parents of a small baby. The leader then asked us if we thought that was a depiction of a hard, average or easy day. We were all shocked but deep down assumed that our babies would be easier. If they told it like it is people would just say they were scaremongering or worse case scenario.

[Hazchem]

feeding babies that little is just relentless. Ds1 was like that and DS2 is following too. I find preparing snacks helps. I cook a batch of things on Sunday so can either grab a snack or quickly pack a lunch box to go out with.

[splendide]

It's certainly within normal but keep an eye on other things. This sounds very like my DS (the feeding frequency and the crashing out for long periods after feeding all day). That turned out to be tongue tie meaning he was never efficiently feeding and having to work very hard for his milk. That also meant no naps as he was always feeding. He started losing weight around the 8 week mark then his tie was diagnosed but it seemed to be too late and I ended up supplementing.

[poppet131]

@SallyMischievo In a similar boat with the really frequent feeding. How long did it take before your little one lasted a bit longer between feeds? I’m utterly exhausted! X