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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

5 wk old only goin 2hrs - pls help!

11 replies

louloupoo · 17/09/2010 12:43

My 5 wk old will only feed for about 10 mins b4 losing interest or falling asleep. As a result he is only going every 2 hours, including through the night which is a killer :-(

Also at about 3-4am every night/morn he wakes and wont settle again properly until about 6-7 am, sometimes crying sometimes just grunting and lying awake.

I'm a first time mum exclusively breast feeding and cant help but wonder if I'm doing things wrong. He's a very healthy weight and is passing poops and wees consistently. I keep reading very conflicting opinions on routines but when we tried he just wouldn't follow any pattern of sleeping and feeding. Will he just sort this out himself or is there something i can do?

Any advice welcome ... Just in need of some reassurance.

OP posts:

narmada · 17/09/2010 12:49

It's hard work but totally normal I'm afraid! I am 36 wks at the mo with my second, and fearing I will be doing similar things in a few weeks....

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 17/09/2010 12:50

loulou that all sounds really normal. Just keep feeding on demand and he will slowly fall into his own pattern.

Are you getting some rest during the day when he is asleep?

kveta · 17/09/2010 12:53

hey, my DS was the same - I'm sorry to say he didn't sleep longer than 2 hrs until he was 8 weeks old. We had a sort of routine from day 1 (i.e. DH and I get up at the same time and go to bed at the same time EVERY DAY.) Between 2 and 8 weeks he would only sleep 2 hrs a night in total - then he was feeding and grizzling from about 2am-8 am. He cluster fed all evening too. It was such fun :o

In all honesty, I'd say just go with the flow - if he's happy and you're coping, then just enjoy these early days. Don't stress over a routine - most babies I know of seem to ignore the routine anyway, stressing the mum out more. See if you can get someone to take him out for a walk for a few hours at the weekend so you can sleep. It's worth looking into co-sleeping to see if that will work for you - or a bedside cot which you can lie down and feed him in. feeding lying down really helped me a lot.

and well done to keep breast feeding - it's so easy to get disillusioned in the early days and weeks! :)

preghead · 17/09/2010 12:57

I think every 2 hours or so is normal at this stage from what I remember, unfortunately. Am also about to find out again in a few weeks. I seem to remember with my previous 2 that there was a bit of an improvement at about the 6 week mark - they could go a bit longer - hang in there.

The 4 hour routine thing is for bottle fed babies and is bollocks for bf babies. I personally don't even think about any sort of routine til about 6 weeks at earliest (apart from putting them in moses basket at 7 ish when older children go to bed - pointless as it is) - they are too little until then and need a while to get used to the whole digestive system thing is my feeling.

Original poster

louloupoo · 17/09/2010 13:09

Thats really reassuring to hear...

I try to nap when he does in morning but I can't in afternoon. But its not so much the tiredness as all the other mums telling me that their babies are feeding at specific times and going a good 5-6 hours through the night without waking. Makes me feel I'm doing something wrong.

But its good to know I'm not alone :-)

OP posts:

preghead · 17/09/2010 13:11

you're not. they're bottle feeding their babies or overexagerating - trust me. will get better soon. hugs.

kveta · 17/09/2010 13:14

oh all my mumfriends did the 'she slept 28 hours last night, I'm so refreshed!' thing when children were very tiny. then babies hit 6 months and same mothers were whining that DC had never slept more than 3 hrs at a stretch, 'why oh why, right that's it I'm stopping bfing'. it's all bravado, so really don't worry! it will get better soon :)

MoonUnitAlpha · 17/09/2010 13:16

My 6 week old often does one 5-6 hour stretch now, but feeds every 1-3 hours during the day. He goes longer between feeds if he's out in the pram, but obviosuly you need someone else to take him out for a walk so you can rest! Completely random feeding times though - just whenever he is hungry/thirsty rather than to a schedule. But I am the same and have my lunch/snack/cuppa whenever I fancy it and not on a schedule either

MoonUnitAlpha · 17/09/2010 13:19

And when he does do a long stretch I wake up before he does with sore breasts anyway

RubyBuckleberry · 17/09/2010 13:26

totally normal! and these things are so fluid, yours might be sleeping longer in a month or so whereas their's might get worse. you can never ever tell! wait for the 4 months sleep craziness to hit everyone.

fwiw min was hopeless for about 10/11 months and now is great. a fiend's was great at first and is now rubbish! hahaha nothing will stay the same! they are yours for 20 years or so too so try and think long term. you might have a tricky baby/easy toddler etc etc

and anyway, with lots of people i know, once you start digging deeper, lots of them get up a million times to replace the dummy lol

MumNWLondon · 17/09/2010 14:22

Normal. My DD was the same and I found she could go a little longer if I really tried to keep her awake during a feed.

Ideas - designate a whole hour to a feed. Take off all clothes apart from nappy (and vest?). Stroke jaw/toes etc to try and keep awake. When he falls asleep put him on a blanket on the floor, he'll soon wake up and then continue the feed.

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