Newborn constant night feeding

[Ritchie5170]

I'm currently bf my week old twins. At night Twin 1 latches for about 20 minutes. I wind and he settles back in his cot. He then stays asleep for about 2 hours.

Twin 2 will latch for 5 minutes, fall asleep & come off. So I wind & try again but there is no waking him! If I put him back in his cot he will wake 15 minute later for another 5 minute latch. I am getting no sleep at all! My partner helps with the winding & nappy changing but he is back in work next week

Any ideas how to get twin 2 to have longer more spaced out feeds! Everyone keeps telling me to bottle feed if he continues but he'd putting on weight well & I really want to bf!

Thanks

[Heloise1982]

One of mine was like this. Totally exhausting! I used to wet my hand with cold water and sprinkle it on his tummy to try to wake him up; sometimes worked, sometimes didn't. But newborns are just very, very sleepy, especially if they were prem. He did grow out of it and become a much more efficient feeder, by about 8 weeks I think.

Would a dummy help? That would enable him to comfort suck, maybe space out feeds a bit, and hopefully mean that when he does feed he is properly hungry and takes a decent amount.

Just by the by, if you want to exclusively bf that's totally fair enough (and well done you!) but the odd bottle here and there won't be the end of breastfeeding. I breastfed mine, but was never shy of using bottles on the nights they were particularly 'snacky' and I was at the end of my tether, even when they were tiny. It never did their breastfeeding any harm.

Good luck - it will get easier!

[Twinnypops]

Have you spoken to a lactation consultant to see if there are any issues with tongue tie etc? Both of mine were rubbish feeders, feeding for up to an 1 hour until they fell asleep, then immediately waking up and wanting more milk if I moved them. At night I always gave formula top ups as otherwise they wouldn't have gone to sleep any place other than me. I gave up the night breast feeding all together at about 3 months (after I fell asleep mid feed and my DH came in the room to find one of them sliding off the pillow and slowly heading towards the floor :-( ) and was glad I did as I got so much more sleep! As the previous poster said, having a bottle doesn't mean that breast feeding has to stop.

[rubberducker]

DS1 was a sleepy feeder - my midwife advised me to strip him off to his nappy for feeds so he wasn't so warm and snuggly - cold kept him awake longer. Also to flick his feet when he was starting to drop off to keep him awake. I felt like the meanest mum in the world undressing and flicking my lovely warm snuggly baby - but it did help him to feed for longer.

[angelicjen]

It's been said but do get tongue tie checked.
I used to have to blow in my baby's face to keep him awake long enough for a decent feed.

[SpaghettiMeatballs]

I used to wet a muslin and pat that against my DD's face to keep her awake long enough for a decent feed.