knackered new mum - will I ever sleep again?!

[malteser1981]

My lovely little boy is 3 weeks old, so I know it's early days but...........he just feeds all the time! Every 1 1/2 - 2 hrs for 30 mins during the day, long cluster feeds from 8pm until 12md, my longest break(!) until 2.30am and then 30 min feeds every 1 1/2 - 2 hrs for the rest of the night. Pretty sure he is feeding well, I can hear gulps, at least 4 dirty yellow nappies every 24hrs and at least 8 wet ones. He is very windy and farts like a trooper.
8lb 6oz at birth
8lb 4 oz 10 days
9lb 1 oz 19 days!!

Any ideas to settle him? I would just love a bit longer than an hour sleep inbetween feeds!

If the answer is just to stick with it, it will get better, fine. But maybe there is a magic answer?! Thanks

I don't have magic, but I know it will get better sooner or later.

Are you co-sleeping or feeding lying down, it's a lot less of a strain when you can doze while feeding.

co-sleeping, my baby is 4 weeks and if i didnt co sleep i would never sleep! He has started to go a little longer between feeds past 2 days.

Can't offer any magic, but can tell you all babies do this, and it does pass. Sounds like you're both doing fantastically.

Feed laying down so you can get some rest, or co-sleep if you are able to. Ignore the washing and make sure someone else is there to do it. Have a load of ready meals / pasta / easy foods so you don't have to wait for ages to eat when he is settled. Drink plenty of fluids, and healthy snacks like nuts and fruit to keep your energy levels up.

It Does Get Better. Promise.

It definately gets better and the fog will lift. My dd is now 7 weeks, she did exactly what you describe but started to space out at around 4 weeks. Funnily enough she spaced out during the day before the night as i think she was still building up the supply. Don't worry about the milk, if there are dirty nappies he's fine.

The other thing that has helped was realising that she wasn't always crying for food but sometimes with tiredness. Over the next couple of weeks you may find that you can settle him into longer sleeps and stretch the feeds slowly.

We are now on 3-4 hrly feeds so feeling a million times better.

Sleep when he sleeps, do nothing else but feed and rest, just like SirBoob says....and congratulations :)

I found the first 6-8 weeks ds just fed constantly - co-sleep and nap in the day where possible to survive!

2-4 months we had a really good run of 8 hours at night - it was 7pm-3am so not ideal but still pretty good.

4 months there's a sleep regression, and we were back to waking every hour or two at night

Now at 5 months we seem to be through the worst, and just feeding twice in the night again - don't hold out much hope for sleeping through until well weaned on three meals a day though.

However, from 8 weeks onwards my ds has always fed 2-3 hourly in the day, it's never spaced out more than that.

Thanks everyone, I feel so much better for the reassurance!

Matchsticks at the ready for the eyelids.....

On a positive note my lovely mum is getting the train to see me tomorrow, for a cuddle, but plans to iron, wash and batch cook for the day.

What would we do without fabulous mums