normal for 3 week old to feed pretty much all the time?

[SqueezyB]

DD2 is 3 weeks old and so far I'm exclusively BF. i had a difficult time with dd1 when bf - she would feed for hours and hours, and get very frantic and upset especially in the eveni ngs, lost lots of weight and eventually i started topping up with formula at 2 weeks, which i think led to her preferring the bottle and refusing the breast.

this time i was determined to make bf work, so i've just been going with the flow and letting dd2 feed on demand. She seems contented, hardly cries, and is putting on weight though still hasn't quite reached birth weight, and has plenty of dirty nappies. BUT she just seems to want feeding all the time! i must admit sometimes she seems to be gulping it down while other times she is just nibbling and i doubt she's getting any. is this normal for this age? should i go with it? she often falls asleep on the boob so i put her down then she wakes up 20 mins later rooting for food and chewing her fist. the only time she sleeps for long periods is either in the buggy or at night - she feeds and feeds all evening then conks out around 9 or 10 and sleeps for 4 hours.

is this normal or should i be trying to space the feedings out? i'm just worried about her slow weight gain and also don't want to interfere with my supply, especially after what happened with dd1.

sorry for bad typing - one handed while feeding!

Yup totally normal, try to let her at them as and when she wants.

DS2 fed for what felt like every 10 minutes for about the first 4 weeks. I would say he was attached more often than not.

Something of a shock after DS1 who was more of a 3 hourly type.

Cluster feeding of an evening works out brilliantly in the long run I find, they get used to filling themselves up and then having a big sleep.

DS2 (15 weeks) now feeds every two hours from around 6am until 8pm but then sleeps in between that.

It is a lot easier to just go with them and adjust your thinking as opposed to trying to get them to act to a routine.

Sounds completely normal to me.

I went to my nephew's birthday party when ds was three weeks old, and I swear he spent the whole time, from when we arrived in the morning till when we left at 6pm, clamped to my nipple.

Go with it, if you can. I seem to remember it calmed down quite soon after, although he was always quite a long feeder. Some are, I think. My dd just wanted to get on, get the job done, get off, but ds spent hours. I quite liked it, when there was someone else to give dd some attention, as it meant I spent hours sitting on the sofa with a book, shrugging and looking at my husband whenever anything needed doing.

Completely normal. You're doing great .

thanks for the quick responses! good to know it's not just me. my instincts were telling me she seems happy so it must be ok, i guess i have to learn not to listen to the 'maybe you've not got enough milk' demons in my head!

V normal - she's doing this so that you will have enough milk for her! The more she feeds, the more milk you get...go with it and it will get easier!

Yes, sounds normal, just go with it. I know it can be exhausting at this stage but it will get better. Alot of mums think that they dont have enough milk (I did!) because of the constant feeding but its very rare for mums not to have enough milk to feed...have a look at kellymom if your unsure...

www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing.html#afterweek1

normal, go with the flow and eat loads yourself