to wish my baby had an off button?

[Terrense]

He's 5 weeks old. He's beautiful. I'm completely smitten. I would do anything for him. But...

... he has been attached to my boob for 3 hours. Solid. My nipples are bruised. Sore. I'm tired. DH is at work. I need to eat. He's still going...

Growth spurt?

AIBU to want to switch him off?

On a serious note. Anyone else find their baby would very, very occasionally feed for hours at a time? He's never done this before...

Oh and mine are 12 and 10.5 and I still long for an off switch!

OP please don't feel pressured to let your baby cry, yes it's fine for them to, but if you don't want to, you don't have to let them. If that makes sense? Don't want to get preachy. But just do what you feels right. I never really let my LB cry even now, and he's two. He's not learnt to "self sooth", we bed share (oh yes I'm one of those) but that's partly because I am back at my mums at the moment and we share a room, and partly because every fibre in my body just felt wrong when I did try and let him cry and do "controlled crying".

5 weeks is such a little wee bubba still, keep snuggling and cuddle and sitting for 3 hours (if you want to!). It's what Netflix subscriptions are for, right!? 😂

My son cluster fed for 18 hours when he was three weeks old. I texted my cousin who is a doctor to check there wasn't s something wrong! Read up on the fourth trimester. It won't last forever

What to do when your baby is screaming every time you take them off your boob but you can't physically stay awake much longer... :(

Argh! Thanks for all the advice. I just can't bring myself to leave him to cry!

OP you hand them over to your partner and go as far away as possible and sleep, my love. Try and get some rest ❤

Oh my goodness, I really empathise, I have a 6month old and went through a few phases like this in the early weeks, it does get better I promise .
I tried Or got my husband to make a sandwich for me for the next day and had handy to eat one handed snacks.
We did try and use a dummy but for me as an inexperienced breastfeeding mother I got all confused with his feeding cues, so ditched itZ
I have two older children who were not breast fed for as long and they had dummies, honestly keep going it’s not necessary . My baby is the deepest sleeper now and there’s none of this running in and out to put a dummy back in.
That’s just my opinion though , you do whatever you need to do.
Five weeks is definitely tough, it will get easier in the next week or so. You really are doing amazing .
Hold him in , give him a big sniff, inhale, exhale .
Failing all that ask someone to come round tomorrow and let you get in the shower or have a nap while he gets taken out for a walk xx

@BonnieandHyde DH works away Mon-Fri at the moment so I'm screwed!!! 🙈

Op have you tried baby wearing? It didn't really work out for me but lots of mums I knew did. Especially when they're extra clingy. It's not bubbas fault, they're designed to feel extra safe when they're next to their mummas ❤️
I bed shared just to get sleep those early days. Look up safe Co sleeping and bed sharing, it's not recommended but think of all the places around the world where bed sharing is the norm. Even if it's just to get by every now and then.

(she says before trying to get into bed with a star fishing 2 year 3 month old 😂😂😂😂😂)

I really feel for you!!! The days are long but the months / years are short.

Can you get any family to pop round tomorrow so you can have a nap and then your family get baby cuddles!? Win win surely!
Xxx

The day I fell asleep sitting up holding my baby was the day I started cosleeping. Thankfully my legs were up and when my arms relaxed she just laid in my lap, but it was the shock I needed. Better to set up in a planned space where I could get the rest I needed.

Also start looking into slings and carriers. Some babies just need to be held.

Finally, pre-cut cheese, fruits, and veggies are your friend. In this early phase, just get them pre-done from the grocer if you can possibly afford it.

Is your dh working away or you just don't want to disturb him cause he is working?

If it's the latter I am afraid he will need to put his big boy pants on and get used to it to give you a bit of help, there will be many times in the next year that your baby just won't sleep and you can't always be the one to bear the brunt. If it's the first then have you got anyone who can stay with you in the week that can help?

If baby is screaming, doesn't need burping, feeding, changing and not bringing up physical milk it may be silent reflux. My dd had this and it took another mum getting her baby diagnosed for me to realise. It's basically like acid coming up. If it is you can get gaviscon from the doctor. Mine was ebf but would take a bit of gaviscon in water from a bottle. It stopped the majority of the screaming.

If you want to try a dummy Amazon prime is a wonderful thing!

You can try co sleeping. I did it on occasions would never sleep fully but got enough rest to keep going.

You are doing a great job.

confused there is a world of difference between letting a baby cry for a few minutes while you grab a snack or something and doing controlled crying.

And I don't think even the most hardened CC advocate would suggest it for a 5 week old.

Learning to feed in a sling is a brilliant solution. However I never managed it.

Definitely set yourself up in a safe sleeping space and take a nap together! Side lying to feed is a great skill which you can pick up easily! Getting an hour of sleep in the day can give you a mental boost to keep going. It does get better, I promise! Second the advice about a carrier. It's a great way for baby to feel close to you, but you've also got your hands free. I had a Moby wrap (though I never really got the hang of feeding in it and being able to tighten it up again. But it is possible, there are many YouTube videos!), I also have a soft structured carrier (beco 8) which I found much easier to loosen and tighten, so easier for feeding.

Also, if you sit with your baby latched when they're not actively drinking milk, you're not a "human dummy", you're providing comfort and connection to your baby that they crave when they're so tiny. If it's fine for you, do it!

It's hard when they are tiny (or was for me) but follow if you follow safe cosleeping guidelines eventually you can feed lying down, I couldn't actually sleep like that but it lessened the fear of falling asleep somewhere unsafe and harming her.

I breast fed for 4 weeks and then it got too much and I wasn't producing enough so switched to bottle and it was such a relief

My baby also had a dummy from3 days old and iy helped sooth him when I was cuddling him but he'd still smell the milk and want my boob lol xx

Also please be careful with feeding lying down, alas recently in our hospital did and she fell asleep while breast feeding and suffocated her baby with her boob

.

I had a super clingy baby (now have a super sling toddler...) I found the only thing that would help was wearing him in the sling constantly. I learnt how to feed in the sling but found he didn’t need that comfort because he was so close to me anyway, and it leaves both hands free!

That’s supposed to say super clingy toddler! Autocorrect!

OP this is normal. Please don’t panic or feel you have to teach your 5 WEEK old baby to self soothe

Google the fourth trimester and cluster feeding. Kellymom is a great website.

kellymom.com/hot-topics/frequent-nursing/

Look up safe cosleeping guidelines (safe seven) and one final thing, have you ruled out silent reflux or tongue tie? Both can be reasons for constant cluster feeding (poor milk transfer with the TT, or soothing the burning/comfort sucking with silent reflux)

Does this ring true at all??

www.reflux.org.au/information/common-characteristics-of-reflux/

BF is hard work in the beginning but so worth it. Get organised. Get your DH to make sandwiches the night before, or set up lots of feeding stations: baskets with cereal bars, apples, bananas, crisps, biscuits, bottles of water etc so you don’t get stuck under baby.

Also, you can feed one handed while walking about (practice!) if you use the cradle position and support baby’s head with your elbow.

Keep it up OP your doing grand

I breast fed for 4 weeks and then it got too much and I wasn't producing enough so switched to bottle and it was such a relief

My baby also had a dummy from3 days old and iy helped sooth him when I was cuddling him but he'd still smell the milk and want my boob

Not to be rude but this is likely why you didn’t have enough milk. Cluster feeding is how babies build up milk supply. If you give them a dummy so young it interrupts their need to suck the nipples to stimulate milk production.

It’s a supply and demand thing. Baby’s demands grow (because they are having a growth spurt) so they suck and suck and often appear frustrated by the lack of milk. But this is all stimulating the milk supply. If you go with it for a few days and just feed on demand after a few days your milk supply catches up

Also, if you sit with your baby latched when they're not actively drinking milk, you're not a "human dummy", you're providing comfort and connection to your baby that they crave when they're so tiny. If it's fine for you, do it!

Yes this! I hate the term “human dummy” a dummy is actually a “nipple substitute “

If your husband works away I’d definitely try cosleeping. Or at least feeding lying down on your side. My ds was in a sidecot as dh was also in the bed but we did have a couple of weeks when dh moved out the bed.

Totally normal behaviour from your baby OP. Totally normal reaction from you! It’s really very very tough.

My DH worked away a lot when my first was very young and BF. Safe cospeeping and a sling saved my sanity. Know it WILL pass.

You do long for an off switch throughout the ages though

Lie down and keep on feeding. It's totally normal at this age, trying to up your supply.

Human dummy...what an odd phrase...that's what they are supposed to do! The dummy mimics a nipple!