2 week old nibbling for hours- help please!

[ElphabaThropp]

Hi Everyone,

Sorry if this is way TMI but I am desperate for help!!!! I'm trying to bf my first baby and we are really going through the wringer. To begin with she was not latching on/ constantly falling asleep at the breast. She lost weight and we were lucky enough to be readmitted to hospital for help - incredibly lucky. Since discharge I've been expressing and feeding on demand as well as making sure she's on the breast every 2-3 hours and she is gaining weight now.

However the last 24 hours she has been on the breast nearly all the time. She seems frantic, gets latched on, has a few good sucks and then seems to go on nibbling for hours. When I have to reattach her for any reason I've noticed my milk kind of squirts out like it's under pressure. She is still producing wet/ dirty nappies, though the dirty ones come in waves 20 + hours apart. Does this sound normal? I'm worried that she's not getting enough milk but also worried that she's using me as a pacifier and not really feeding. Any advice really gratefully received!!!!!

No that all sounds normal I would say that at 2 weeks she needs to be at the breast more frequently than every 2-3 hours, so what she's doing at the moment is increasing your supply because she's having a growth spurt. Just go with it and things should calm down in a few days.

Be aware that she will have another spurt at 4/6/12 weeks at the very minimum, and maybe more often. These are completely normal and you shouldn't try and limit time at the breast as that just makes them go on longer!

I completely understand your anxiety, DS wouldn't latch on to start with and he lost a lot of weight. He was 5 weeks old before he was back at birthweight and used to feed for hours especially in the evenings, but it is all normal and to be expected at this stage, and you are normal to worry!

Congratulations

Thanks Alibaba. I'm just amazed by how difficult this all is! Lo has no pattern, I feel like I can barely leave the house because I'm scared of getting stuck in bf'ing for an hour in a toilet somewhere. I don't know how much longer I can do this.

It's really a help to read through all these threads though. I want to keep going buy I guess I'm scared that it's not going to get easier. I'm finding it hard to bond as whenever lo's awake I am stuffing a boob at her. I'm sure sometimes she just wants a hug or to be talked to buy I'm a real one trick pony with the breastfeeding

Elphaba - no need to go to the toilet to breastfeed . With practice and confidence you can bf anywhere!

It's normal for your baby to want to feed a lot. Feeding is much more than food and drink - and to a 2 week old, feeding is a way of establishing love, social contact, feeling reassured, trusting, 'checking in' with you. This is absolutely not being 'used as a pacifier' - this is being the number one person in your baby's life which is 100 per cent how it should be at the moment

She is gaining weight and thriving. You are doing well.

The spurting you notice is normal, too, BTW.

It might help to hook up with other bf mothers in your area. Have you got a bf support group nearby?

Oh please don't hide in a toilet - you are doing something amazing for your baby and it is nothing to be ashamed of I used to feed in front of a mirror sometimes to practice and it really reassured me that people can't see very much at all - gave me much more confidence when out and about.

She won't have a pattern at 2 weeks - well the pattern is that whenever she's awake she wants her Mummy Remember that just 2 weeks ago she was inside you, part of you, and the outside world is still strange to her - you are what is familiar to her.
Do you need to get out of the house much? Can you do internet shopping etc and then just go out for walks for fresh air? It is not easy running errands with such a tiny one

You are doing brilliantly - hang in there and in no time at all you will be a dab hand and all the stress and worry will be behind you

It does sound completely normal - I think people who say they should be in a pattern are remembering much older babies - just feed and feed her and don't let anyone tell you that you shouldn't be doing it or that you are spoiling her.

Do you have a sling? (not a baby bjorn) but a soft cloth sling like the Close or even a Babasling? When my baby was at that stage I found the sling a lifesaver because with a bit of practice I could feed him in it and use it to cover him up if I felt a bit exposed! Once he was about 8 weeks we could bf walking down the street with no one the wiser - it meant I could actually leave the house without worrying that we would have to stop immediately in order to bf.

Sounds completely normal. DS2 was attached more often than not at 2 weeks.

She doesn't even have any idea that she is a separate being from you just yet, you cannot spoil her and sucking for comfort is awesome, it provides nutrition and comfort at the same time. It really is all she wants and needs.

No toilets for you! Is there a nice cafe somewhere near you? Grab a newspaper, order a coffee and let bubs feed feed feed while you while the afternoon away.

Normal. Normal. Normal. But HECTIC - poor old you! Establishing feeding. I went through exactly the same stage, and it didn't last longer than a week for us. Hang in there, find your Zen. It's screamingly frustrating to be glued to the sofa for so long - I once fed my baby on and off for SIX HOURS.

I also had 'spurty' milk by the way - I found later on baby was chokey and pulling away and struggling at the beginning of each feed, and it was because my letdown was so strong I was slightly drowning her (poor little duck.) Solved by expressing a little before giving her the breast (a tiny amount).

Good luck! Hang in there! This WILL pass!

thanks everyone. Tiktok, I'll have a look for groups nearby- I could seriously use some company and the sling sounds like a great idea. Being able to walk down the street breastfeeding sounds absolutely idyllic!!!!!! I guess I'm a bit fried - I was going back to the hospital to get advice and mostly everyone was saying "Keep Calm and Carry On' and then suddenly the Dr starts talking about dehydration and that they might have to put her on a drip . As it turned out she wasn't dehydrated, thank heavens, but we were lucky enough to be readmitted and I got loads of help with getting her latched on- which she wasnt doing before. Then when we are discharged again the community MW got awfully shirty because she hadn't regained her birthweight - at 10 days old !- and scared the hell out of me again. So its great to know that things are normal, even if I am going completely bonkers

I'll definitely work on the cafe thing- that sounds wonderful

Thanks all

Whereabouts are you Elphaba?

Elphaba - you can imagine the hysteria of the community midwives when DS still hadn't regained his birthweight at 4 weeks!! Some of the comments I got were awful 'ooh he's a bit scrawny, you should top him up' was about the kindest.
They shall not enter my house next time around!

Hi Morloth, I'm in Bradford, W Yorkshire.

Alibaba -I can imagine & I don"t blame you. If there's a next time for me, i'll move house rather than deal with one cmw in particular. She's made my & my dh's life a misery & been no help at all. At one home visit she was in such a rush- as she kept telling while i was trying to ask about my baby's runny eye- that she was trying to examine my stitches on a couch in full view of people passing in the street! The hospital mv's were brilliant so we really didn't expect that and were just desperate.