6 week old that won't be put down and eats constantly!

[MummyGina]

Hello all! My first time posting - my apologies if I rant!

I need some advice for my 6 week old boy. He constantly wants to feed on the breast and will not be put down to sleep.

In terms of sleep, me and hubby are lucky to get him in his swing for a couple of hours, otherwise he wants to sleep on us. In the day he mostly won't be put down, and if I dare to (when I need the loo or something!) he gets very upset.

As for feeding, he cannot get enough boob! Problem is he mostly falls asleep within the first five minutes then if I try and move him he will wake straight away and ask for more! I have logged the number of feeds today (purely where he seems to be eating) and he has fed 32 times (ranging from 3 mins to 12 mins)!!! Some of that is where I have just had to keep trying to wake him up, but it is fairly consistent throughout the day.

If I leave him to sleep a while on the breast to try and put him to down to sleep he wakes up as soon as he hits the mattress and asks for breast.

Any ideas how to solve this? I'm at my wits end and health visitor is no help! Thanks!

Hi,

I remember with the early weeks my son was feeding very frequently for a few minutes at time. Babies will often cluster feed rather than feed solidly for 30 minutes. Here's a really good article on it: kellymom.com/hot-topics/frequent-nursing/

I know it can be frustrating but it won't last it will pass xx

Another thing to keep in mind is ensure you offer the same boob a few times in a row when baby is cluster feeding or only going for a few minutes just to ensure he is getting the calorific hind milk and not just the watery fore milk!

6 weeks is still really young and I do really recommend the Kellymom website for tips and advice on BFing.

Good luck. Hang in there and remember it will pass. Hopefully someone on here might give you some useful tips on sleeping (we were lucky in that as soon as i saw my son get sleepy i could put him in his cot and bum pat him off to sleep) xx

Thank you so much for getting back to me! I think it is just the frustration, don't get me wrong, I love the cuddles with him but it's just so tiring! Especially when he refuses to sleep in his crib at night!

I am now considering trying co sleeping to hopefully at least improve the sleep side of things, but that has me a bit nervous... I don't want to wish time away but I look forward to him being a bit more settled!

Feeding sounds normal to me, sorry!! I try to stroke cheek, gently blow on face etc to keep baby awake and feed longer. Then wind and let fall asleep on me, then after 10 mins of sleep I slowly, gently transfer to cot/bouncy seat/buggy and usually get 20 min - 2 hour sleep from him. But that was just my baby, every one is different.

You are doing fab. Keep doing whatever you have to. You will be knackered but it will get better (and better).

All of this sounds completely normal to me too . Could DH take him out in the car for an hour so that you can sleep?

Co-sleeping worked for us, it was the on,y way we could all get any sleep.

If you are trying to get him into his Moses basket, try warming it, not too hot obviously. Other things to try are putting a tshirt that DH has worn in there away from baby’s head so that the smell is comforting and try white noise too.

The only thing that worked for my DN was swaddling, like people have said, they are all different, at least yiu have got a few things to try

Have to tried getting him checked for tongue tie? He may be finding it exhausting to get the milk that he needs and doesn’t feel full enough to sleep without the comfort of your warm body.

I had some feeding problems and was told by the nhs that tongue tie was very rare and they wouldn’t check for it. I had it diagnosed at a breastfeeding clinic and snipped privately. Things improved dramatically after that.

I’m not saying that’s what it is, but could be worth looking into.

Great to get along to a breastfeeding clinic if you can anyway as they’ll probably have some useful tips. There’s an app called breaststart that’s free to download and you can search clinics in your area. Go to one that isn’t run by the nhs. Some of them specifically check for tongue tie and other problems.

Good luck! It does get easier!

Perfectly normal feeding pattern for a 6 weeks old. I remember vividly with dd2 going through the same thing. Dd3 is almost 5 weeks old, we have good and bad days but mainly bad where she wants to be attached to me all the time.
Both dd2 and dd3 have tongue ties but dd3 also has a lip tie too so this makes things extra difficult feeding wise.
I find she will fall asleep quite quickly or slide off the breast and just be on my nipple which then makes her more tired. If she does this I’ll change her or just open up her nappy if she’s not in need of a change just to wake her up again. I’ll pop her back on the same side 3/4 times before I swap sides. Also I squeeze my nipple to see what colour the milk is. If it’s pure white I know she’s got to the hind milk, perhaps go one more time that side then swap over.

With dd2 I called my health visitor who visited me several times to help with my latch and also put me in touch with a peer supporter who’s child also had a tongue tie, it really helped to talk to someone who understood how difficult feeding a newborn can be and to know it’s normal, you’re not alone.

Sometimes lo’s want to suck for comfort and not real hunger. I’ll try to feed several times before I decide if dd is truly hungry or just sleepy and in need of comfort, I’ll then pop her in my wrap carrier and get on with the housework which soothes her and allows me to get on or put her in the pram and go for a walk. Sometimes I have to just let her cry for 5 minutes to at least get dressed or go to the loo. She hates her crib and vomits as soon as she gets in there too!

These early days are so tiring and worrisome but trust me, it doesn’t last forever 😊

Thank you for your responses!

I've tried the blowing on his face, tickling toes and such but to no avail - he just falls straight back to sleep! As for the crib, I tried heating it up and the shirt but nope! He does now have a grobag though, so he shouldn't feel too much of a temperature change anyway. We had a little success one evening when I fed him and gave him to DH to burp and he fell asleep on him instead of me and stayed asleep when put down only one stint of sleep though...

I don't think tounge tie is an issue, he sticks his tounge out when hungry... he does quite well there! And im pretty sure he gets enough, if anything maybe too much...! I can see some milk in the corner of his mouth sometimes after let down and if I try to hand express, flow doesn't seem to be an issue!

I think with him a lot of the feeding is for comfort, and I think it really must be linked strongly to the sleep issue as generally he will only ever fall asleep nursing! In desperation I have tried dummies, but as much as I try he won't take them - just spits it out and looks at me like "you think I'm stupid, i know that's not boob, that's not the good stuff!"

I did try getting some sleep with him in bed too, but if I nurse him laying down, wait for him to be nicely asleep and detach to shuffle back like an inch... he still knows!! And I don't want to sleep feeding him because I'm ehum quite large upstairs! Don't want to accidentally smother him!

Wow, my apologies for the essay!