Feeding problems - b/f six week old baby

[Em32]

Advice please, I have an almost 6 week old daughter who is exclusively breastfed. I haven't attempted any sort of routine with her but seem to be misreading her cues (you'd think I'd have learnt from ds who is now nearly 20 months but no.......) She wakes twice a night which is fine but things start to go wrong at around 6am as she demands a feed but feeds badly and then goes straight back to sleep - she wakes around 7.30am. She starts to complain and look for food at around 8am. I then try and feed her but she feeds half heartedly again. We go through this on and off all morning bar a short nap until eventually she drops off at 12pm. She then sleeps for 5 hours wakes up starving and then screams and feeds constantly until about 8.30/9pm when she drops off for the night. I can't seem to settle her any other way but she seems so unhappy - she comes on and off the breast screaming but if I try and stop feeding her she continues screaming. This continues even if you wind her, try and get her to sleep, put her down, etc etc etc. I am obviously doing something wrong. Do I need to wake her from the very long sleep she's having in the afternoon? My instinct is probably yes but it is currently allowing me some time alone with ds which is why I haven't been. Should I start making her wait 3 hours for each feed? Help gratefully received.....thanks and sorry for the long post.

I'm wondering if five hours is a long time to sleep for a 6 week old, whether day or night. Maybe if you can be brave enough to break her 5 hr afternoon sleep, you can guide her into a morning sleep as well, so that you have two, albeit shorter, chances for 1-2-1 with your ds.

5 hours does seem a long sleep at 12md but i have to say at 6 wks my dd was "cluster feeding" (ie non stop!!) at about 6 pm, after a hellish week it did settle and we happily bfed for 6 months. Although dd slept lots in comparison to ds I would wake her up (during the day) after a 3 hour sleep. Difficult though when you have another little one who needs attention. No perfect solution. Hope that helps

Congatulations Em32 on your new baby and the b/feeding!
It is hard..there is no magic solution. My first baby was like this for three months and the second was just so easy.Don't know if he was/is naturally more laidback,but I did used to wake him in the day for a feed if I felt he was sleeping for too long.
It may have helped.
Hard to say....

I have exactly the same problem em32 - my dd is almost 4 weeks and sleeps well in the night(ish) until about 4am then she feeds badly on the hour every hour untill about 11am!! its quite exhausting sometimes isnt it? she is my third - i have 2 older boys and so i found with those 2 that by about 3 months we had a good routine going - its just those first few weeks that are all out of order and rather chaotic! dd never slept AT ALL last night until 4am - then ds2 got up at 4.30am singing - im a zombie now

hello at this stage b/f babies feed every two hours during the day, i did with my dd. even if she is alseep then just offer the nipple. i know it can feel neverending and a 5 hour break must be nice but its too long in the day, be better at night.

i fed my dd once through the night and she slept through from 12 weeks then as she had enough in the day.

so i would def wake her by undressing or napy change to encourage her to feed more in the day and reguarly.

good luck

Thanks everyone,guess I have to wake her up then! I knew that already really just putting it off...

Good luck!

I would like to echo everyone else's advice; 5 hours is too long for a nap at that age. Be aware that she is going through an appetite surge at 6 weeks so is herself adjusting to her body's demands. Why not try giving her one breast, then the other, then one breast then the other then having a rest together, still holdling and cuddling. That way you can be sure she has had ample opportunity to feed and that she is reassured by your closeness. Try that every two hours in the day.

I know that getting one to one with your toddler is very hard, the toddler may not really mind but it sure tugs on the mother's heart strings, good luck - and she may well adjust to her new appetite in a week or so.

now my dd wasnt b/f so it could be different but i used to have to wake her to feed her too, i started at 2 hrs and that was too short she wasnt interested and eventually worked out she needed about 3 1/2 hrs between feeds or she didnt want to know, but if didnt wake her she would just sleep through feed time, then try and drink loads next time and make herself unwell.

hope it all goes well!