How do I know my baby is getting enough milk

[wrighty2010]

My daughter is 6 weeks old and I am breasfeeding every hour to hour and a half. She wont take a bottle or a dummy and I am worried she is not getting enough milk, how can i tell as think she should be more settled than this by now. She does sleep at night usually between 3-5 hours. The only problem is my husband is getting upset as she wont settle with him and I cant even have a bath without her screaming the house down. Any ideas??

If your baby is weeing and pooing and gaining some weight then she is getting enough milk. It is perfectly normal for her to feed this often and although it is hard work you are doing a great job.

well done for making it to six weeks. I am impressed with the sleep! DS did not go longer than three hours at a time til he was ten months!

She is very young-there is plenty of time for all dummies/bottles etc. She just wants to be close to Mum-perfectly normal. Time between feeds is perfectly normal too, as relentless as it may seem right now. It WILL get better and she WILL get easier to settle. Your DH could do nappies/bath/dressing/walking around when you are having a bath....
On the bath thing, are evenings more unsettled? Can you have a bath at a different time? I used to grab a 2 minute shower and then spend the two minutes really tense.

I know it's hard but try to trust the process. If she is gaining weight etc just like LaDi says, and your HV is OK with things then try to ride it out. She's a clever wee thing-telling you what her needs are and you are responding in kind! If in doubt, the MN mantra might help "this too shall pass"....

Babies have a growth spurt at about 6 weeks and that can feel like you are just a milking machine who can't move from the sofa.
She may want to feed more on an evening - lots of babies like to cluster feed at this time (one after the other almost constantly for hours. they only have little tummies and so want to feed more.
As has been said before as long as you are getting plenty of wet and dirty nappies are a good indicator of plenty of milk.
You are doing a fab job and 6 weeks is still early - you are both still learning.