Baby girl, breast feeding in first 24 hours

[preggersshock]

Can't sleep, had gorgeous baby girl today :-) She's amazing :-) Struggling with a couple of things if anyone has any advice? She won't sleep in her Moses basket, gets distressed and when I try and feed her she just falls asleep so worried she's not getting anything... Is this normal for day old babies?

Congratulations! Have you BF before? Is she your first?
Can you let her sleep next to you in bed if she won't go in the basket?

Flat firm surface no pillows or duvets.

You lie on your side with arm stretched above her head (see pics)
www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bf-info/early-days/breastfeeding-while-lying-down

Keep bringing her to the breast as much as possible was best advice I got. Ent push boob at her, wrap her gently into your heartbeat and curl her into your breast, when she gapes or waves her fingers, use your hand to lift your breast and nipple into her mouth and let her draw it deeply into her mouth, so she latches on with a good mouthful of breast and draws the breast back into her mouth, then as she sucks the milk producing area around the delicate nipple tissue will be pressed, instead of her just pulling at the nipple which will hurt you.

Very new babies have a small supply of fuel to keep them going so are often sleepy first 24 hours. She needs to nuzzle, root and suckle as much as she can to get yr boobs going over the first days so when she is awake, try and do skin to skin and let her smooch and suckle and lie close to your heart. She is used to your smell and your heartbeat and voice so not surprising she doesn't want to go in basket.

Ent = Don't.

Sorry, iPad fail.

You will get expert advice if you repost in Breast and Bottle feeding forum here.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding

Meanwhile, kellymom is a great site and here is a good article abourst week of BF.

kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing/

She's my first so nope not done it before... Great info thanks, I did wonder if she's full of mucus maybe and not that hungry cos of it...going to have a look at websites now , thank you

It's normal for a baby to fall asleep whilst bfing (my 15 month old daughter is doing so right now) and for newborns to feed little and often. Very often. I used to tickle my children's toes whilst they were latched on to get them to keep suckling when they fell asleep on the boob.

Aww, the first night of wonder and amazement and exhaustion and joy!
Try and get some rest if you can, cuddle up and sleep both of you
You will wake when she wakes, you have felt every kick and you are in tune, but after birth you both need to rest.

Mother Nature is wise, if you both stay close and heart to heart and let her lie on your breasts - you can't do enough skin to skin and cuddling when learning to nurse, you can do too little - you should find your rhythm together and get the hang of it. The way it works is that she sleeps and cuddles and nuzzles and this is what gets your boobs working. Your job is to let her nurse and everyone else's job is to get you drinks and snacks and create a peaceful atmosphere.

Get your supply going by snuggling your lovely girl on your chest.The world can wait. Everything can wait.
Rest up and be proud, and massive congratulations again!

Your milk won't come in for a few days so all she's getting is tiny amounts of colostrum which is all she needs.

Breastfeeding is extremely comforting as well as nourishing so completely normal to fall asleep.

And finally, new babies just want to snuggle with their mum so it can be pretty hard to settle them in a Moses basket. Either persevere, or have her in bed with you, even if co-sleeping is not what yoy want longer term. She is far too young to get into "bad habits" so don't worry about that.

Congratulations

My DD is 3 weeks now ans I had exactly the same thing. She wouldn't sleep in the basket for the first 3 nights so I more or less stayed up all night with her lying on me and feeding whenever she wanted to. She fell asleep every feed in the end.

On night 4 she did settle in the basket between feeds so I got more sleep, though she still now feeds to sleep, then I transfer her to the basket. Sometimes she wakes during that so grizzles a bit and other times I feed her again if she persistently stays unsettled. it's tiring but also lovely!

If you are trying to stay awake there is a thread in the breast and bottle feeding topic - can't do link on phone but it has an obvious name....do join us over there for random chat!

I can't figure out how to get onto bf forum? Having a nightmare time with my little girl, finding it all very painful, she went on at half eight and is still feeding, in agony and everyone keeps telling me to persevere, it'll be worth it... Not so sure myself, what are the benefits of breast over breast milk in a bottle?

it does hurt when you first start feeding. It's like anything really if you start something different and do it almost constantly every day it's probably going to hurt. i agree,persevere it will get easier after a few days. it hurt for a while at first with each one of my babies.
My DD slept for the entire day after she was born. I even passed her around to people and she didn't wake up. I think she had a feed about 8am and then I woke her for another about 6pm!

Congratulations!

Have you got some lanolin cream, like Lansinoh? If so put it on nipples before and after feed. You can take paracetamol for pain as well.

Don't use soap on breasts when showering, it will strip the natural oils and make it feel raw when you BF.

It IS hard at first. I linked to BF forum in my post earlier on thread? I hope they can help you there.

If latching on is painful try relatching a few times until she has a good mouthful of breast and is suckling the area round the nipple not just the nipple itself. Bring her to the breast and then as she gapes, put it into hr mouth like you are holding a burger. Hang on will try and find link.

here, the first link on you tube for exaggerated latch/flipped technique

Thanks all, your advice is all gratefully received! slowly getting easier although still painful, working through it (it's her sucking that hurts) cracked nipples I can cope with, even the latch for a few seconds but it carries on through the whole feed, (which can sometimes be 2 hrs and more) had 3 different midwife check the latch now and she's on ok apparently... It just hurts. Have tried using nipple guards and that seems to help loads

If it hurts throughout the feed, as opposed to a few seconds of intense sensations at the beginning, and she is on for 2 hrs at a time it suggests the attachment may not be spot on - can you get to a breastfeeding group at all? Or speak to a counsellor on one of the BF helplines?

But keep going, it is fabulous when it all starts to fall into place. And if you are finding things tricky, ask ask ask for help

Mmmm, I'd say that if the pain is lasting for the whole feed, then that is indicating that something is not quite right. Although the midwives might have said that the latch is OK, they obviously can't see what is going on inside the mouth.

Perhaps get the mws to watch her latch on, observe the feed and see what happens as she comes off the breast- is your nipple mishapen for eg? Might be a good idea to get them to have a look for tongue tie too if they know what they're looking for.

Finally you might find Biological Nurturing helpful.

Hope things get better soon, and congratulations.

Another link for you from the Armadillo about latch

My midwives told me my latch was fine.
It wasn't.
DS made clicking sounds and when he came off the boon my nipple looked like a lipstick shape.
He had a posterior tongue tie, hard to spot but as soon as it was snipped the pain stopped.

Clenching your toes during let down and first thirty seconds sucking is normal in the first weeks but pain throughout feed isn't right. Really second the suggestion about finding a BF counsellor or group to drop in.

Hope you have a peaceful and better time soon.

For getting to settle in. Moses basket, wear a muslin cloth close to your skin for a while, then put in basket just before putting baby in. The warmth from you having it close and it having the smell of you works wonders. A cold strange smelling bed is not what a baby is looking for. Fooling them with the smell and warmth works in the early days. Hope this helps

For getting to settle in. Moses basket, wear a muslin cloth close to your skin for a while, then put in basket just before putting baby in. The warmth from you having it close and it having the smell of you works wonders. A cold strange smelling bed is not what a baby is looking for. Fooling them with the smell and warmth works in the early days. Hope this helps

Sorry posted before realising how. Old the thread was- whoops

Mumsnet is really fab - but you cannot beat real life person looking at your latch. Are you still in hospital

Google 'infant feeding coordinator' or breast feeding support or look at local sure start type places. You can do what you want depending opn how much support etc you want. I personally found that breast feeding was great but if changed everyweek! I found going to a weekly group was brilliant - I could go and ask random questions (what happens when she gets a tooth, what happens when I go back to work, can I mix feed etc etc), have lovely chats with Mums with younger and older children AND qualified lovely professionals. ANd we had lovely lunch and usually cake together... I really looked forward to it each week.

I then found.... which surpirsed me after weeks of asking my own questions... Mums were asking me questions and I found I could give my own opinion and reassure them it happens to many epople etc. i did peer support trsining and found that there is sooooooooo much to learn about this awesome stuff called breast milk.

Soooooooo smiley thinking of you with your new little person... desperatet o keep hold of you... so lovely.