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Infant feeding

Hungry Baby Sucking Me Dry....?!

5 replies

fourtythree · 20/07/2009 19:53

Help needed!

My 11wk old DS seems to be constantly hungry. He feeds every 2 hours in the day and every 3 hours at night. Up until 9 weeks he was feeding 3 hourly in the day and only up once at night but since then he seems to need a lot more food. I thought he was just unsettled but this has continued and he is always eager to latch on. His weight gain has slowed down too, not much but a bit. HV visitor said he was on a growth spurt but not for 2 weeks!!

I used to have lots of milk in the morning but since he has been waking up more at night i am not so full in the morning. I express 3oz for a night dreamfeed my DH does. By the time we get to 6pm i feel empty, and DS keeps falling asleep on the boob from sucking so hard and not getting much, then waking up 20mins later still hungry.

Don't know what to do about perhaps not having enough milk....and also having to feed him so often as am exhausted! Am eating and drinking lots.

Any ideas????

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HumphreyCobbler · 20/07/2009 20:08

Sounds like you are doing all the right things already. I found that my boobs stopped feeling full at around three months, it just means that your body is better at making the right amount of milk.

Is there anyone who can help look after him so that you could catch up on some sleep?

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HumphreyCobbler · 20/07/2009 20:10

Forgot to express my sympathy, it is so hard when you feel this tired.

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Pendulum · 20/07/2009 20:14

With both DDs I seem to remember a growth spurt at around 3 months. (That fits with your DS falling asleep a lot). With both of them it passed after a short time once my supply had increased- yes it was definitely longer than a few days. I know that makes it sound easy, but believe me I struggled and wept over it at the time! Have a look at www.kellymom.com for more info- I found it v helpful and supportive.

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CatIsSleepy · 20/07/2009 20:18

sympathy from me too
dd2 ( 4 months ) also feeds 2 hourly during the day, having fed less frequently when she was littler, which i find a bit odd
very variable at night -can be feeding once, twice, or 3 times after the dream feed
have just accepted that's what she does....it is knackering though...
don't worry about not feeling so full, I think that's just what happens
do you feed lying down at night? i find it easier to get back to sleep that way, esp if you feed in the dark too

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IsItMeOr · 20/07/2009 20:20

Blimey, you must feel exhausted. From discussions with my ante-natal class, I'm not sure that this pattern is unusual tbh, although I'm sorry that probably won't be much comfort to you at this precise moment.

I'm trying really hard to think of some ideas, but it sounds like you've covered everything obvious.

When our little one was really struggling to sleep, we spent a fair chunk of money on hiring a night nanny (through the agency night nannies). Initially this was just so that we could all get some more sleep, and I did decide to let her give him one of his night feeds as formula, as I could never express very much. This saved our sanity while the difficult (6-week long) patch was going on. Then, once his digestion settled down at around 12-13 weeks, the night nanny helped us get much better at settling him. She also helped me to be more conscious of my feeding, which cut the time I spent down from about 10 hours per day to around half that, pretty much overnight.

Sorry, not sure this is helpful. It does get easier, honest.

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