My 6wk old feeds hourly and always has done

[DeeDee1977]

Hi - looking for some reassurance and advice, am at the end of my tether, completely exhausted. My gorgeous girl is 6wks old today and has from day 1 fed hourly, apart from when she's asleep (thankfully she goes 3-4 hours at a time overnight). She's on the boob for around 25 mins at a time, which leaves me 35 mins to run around and get things done before she's screaming hungry again. We've tried all the usual things; changing nappy, checking she's not too hot/cold, burping, entertaining, cuddles, but she is genuinely hungry! sometimes she'll go 2 hours, if I'm lucky. Come the evening im just shattered and can barely hold a conversation with DH. What do I do? Am I doing something wrong? She's gaining weight brilliantly, gone up from 25th to 50th percentile which is great but am I feeding her too much? Please help!

She's obviously getting the milk if she's gaining! Was going to suggest that someone have a look at he latch. Do you think that sometimes, it's cuddles and reassurance she wants rather than 'just' the comfort of lovely milk? Could you get a sling and carry her close to a lovely warm parental body if you're sure she's had enough? Not every time she wants a feed, of course, but if you feel she's full up and you could do with a bit of a break? Sounds like you're doing a fab job, btw. 6 weeks is very much still in the 'totally exhausted' zone for parents - I know it was for me and DH, both times! Things will change soon, honestly. The times between her feeds will start to stretch out. They will.

6 weeks is very very small still, and feeding that frequently certainly not unheard of.

Sorry, that should be 'the latch', and what I meant to say was - I would have suggested someone like a BFC look at the latch, but if she's gaining nicely it does sound like she's feeding efficiently.

Thanks for such a lovely reply! I have wondered whether she's just comfort sucking and using me as a human dummy! We've tried an actual dummy but she just doesn't get a hold of it and eventually gets hacked off that she's not getting milk out if it! We tried a moby wrap sling but omg she hated it! I've got a baby bjorn which I've tried her in a couple of times and she wasn't very keen on, but didnt hate as much as the moby so I do keep trying with it!

Thanks for the reassurance that it'll get better - I just feel like it will never end and I'm sooo tired! The good thing is she's obviously thriving, it is so amazing seeing them growing on just your breastmilk! I've been to a couple of bf clinics and they're happy with her latch so dont think it's that.

I have wondered about reflux because she sicks up A LOT, which doesn't seem to bother her (blummin pain for me though, I'm constantly covered in sick!). Took her to the doc and that day she was absolutely fine - she does have days where there's hardly any sick - so doc said it was just normal posseting.

She's just had a feed and fallen asleep on me so I'm giving her major cuddles :)

Thanks again for replying xx