Hi I was wondering if anybody can relate or is able to tell me if it this is normal - after 4 months of lots of difficulty with feeding (had been combi feeding of breast and then expressed milk top ups), my little girl is finally exclusively breastfeeding (hurrah!). She has always been small for her age and is being weighed monthly to check she doesn't go below the 9th percentile but the HV and dietitian have been very supportive to continue breastfeeding now that she is showing preference and latching well.
She has never napped well in the daytime, though sleeps through at night (11pm to 8am)so cannot complain!
I am now however, finding that she falls asleep during feeding, almost every feed! She only feeds around 5 or 6 times a day so wondered if this was the problem but doesn't show signs of wanting more or more often and she suffers with reflux so don't want to be overfeeding her to aggravate that more (unless I should be?). Her latch seems fine at the start of the feed and I use shields (it's the only way she will feed) so can see the milk is there so supply doesn't seem to be an issue. She had a tongue tie procedure that made her tongue movements worse and was supported by specialists and tongue movement is now resolved.
I was wondering if she's now just effective at getting enough in the first 5/10mins and so is sleeping as she's full, but then if I try to move her to her moses basket or even pull out of her mouth, she wakes up and will clamp straight back on for a few more sucks before nodding off again (and if not there, she will wake up instantly and want to feed again.. Then back to a few sucks and fall asleep again). I've tried to get her to nap independently as feel she might be overtired but she just won't sleep in the day unless on me or moving in her pram or car. I feel like I'm moulding into the shape of the sofa atm and spend most of the day trying to feed, wake her up to continue her feed or letting her sleep on me. I use slings but can't get her to go into it until she feels completely full (otherwise she screams until she's fed more)
... Does anybody have any suggestions please?