6w/o wont stop feeding!! Not even for a minute, help!

[kayjaybabe]

my DD is now 6 weeks old and im quite sure she is going through her six week growning spurt. She has been feeding every 1-2 hours for the last two days which is normal but today its changed.
Just this afternoon since 3pm she has not stopped feeding except for a 20 min break at 6pm its now 11:30pm.

I tried settling her, letting her cry and even a dummy (which she spat straight away). Im exclusivly breastfeeding and have a good milk supply but she wont get full, she constintly sucks and if she detaches from my nipple straight away she starts sucking at it again.

Is this normal, has anyone else gone through something close to this? I would really appreciate some tips or advice :)

If its a growth spurt they usually only last 1-2 days of really intense feeding - she may be trying to signal to your body to produce more milk but it should get the hint quickly. May also be she is coming down with a bug. Either way just go with it, she knows what she needs. I know its knackering and stressful but it won't last forever.

Even those who developed Controlled Crying etc don't recommended to leave a baby under 6 months (possibly a year) to cry for long periods - they are just too little to know you will come back. Obviously go to the toilet and do what you have to do, they will survive for a couple of minutes.

Ill also add that as she sucks and feeds she does a little annoyed cry/scream while still attached. I have no idea if thats normal either!?

Thanks albrecht i had been told i was spoiling her as i wouldnt let her keep crying whenever she cried. I am sure it is a growth spurt although she just seems so ditressed and after 9 hours she still is not sleepy.

Sorry for the bad spelling, on iphone and half asleep!

For goodness sake how on earth are you going to spoil a 6 week old baby? She's practically still a foetus!

Ok I will try and off my high horse a bit and stick to the basics. Yes it's completely normal, yes I've been through the exact same thing and if advising myself before it happened with hindsight IYSWIM I would say this; forget about EVERYTHING other than feeding yourself and your baby - other than bathroom breaks (take her with you and learn to do it one-handed) and changing her nappy.

THIS WILL PASS! It will probably get worse before it gets better but it's just a phase which involves a growth spurt (ie more food must go in so she can grow at a faster rate), a few development leaps (google wonder weeks, there's loads close together at this stage), building up and maintaining your milk supply, learning to breastfeed (its a skill, DS is now done in 10 mins each side unless falling asleep and comfort sucking) cluster feeding and non-nutritional sucking for comfort.

You are the only thing she knows at the moment, she doesn't even know she's a separate person to you. PLEASE don't leave her to cry, it's the only way she can communicate. Responding won't spoil her; it will build her confidence until she is able to develop the skills to look after herself.

If you maintain the attitude that your job is to breastfeed right now, life will get a lot easier. It also might help to learn to do it lying down so you can get some rest too.

Listen to your instincts, if you want to BF you need to work hard at it to make it pay off. Trust me it is very much worth it in the end.

You're doing a great job feeding that baby, she finds it comforting so you are doing the right thing. maybe try carrying her in a sling also? This helped us immensely during the colicky/fussy evenings.

Hope some of that helps :)

Oh and most things you read tell you a baby sleeps more during a growth spurt, that's not always true!

ouchcharlie that makes me feel so much better thank you. She ended up stopping at 1am (ish) and slept until 5am fed for 15 minutes back to sleep till 8am and we just had a half hour feed.

She seems happy again and no screaming at my nipple this morning. I think she may have been over tierd and was trying to comfort suck and id say her jaw may have been hurting from 9 hours of feeding!!

I took her for a car ride and she fell straight asleep after only 2 minutes of screaming. Lets just hope she is a bit better today and that her growing spurt is almost over!! (i will admit i love watching her get so big and chubby seen as she was only 5pound when she was born) :)

Back to normal today!! Except the midnight feed turned into a play time as well... She nevers seems to want to sleep at night

I think we have the same baby!

Mine is now 8 months old. All of a sudden at about 12 weeks he got himself into a "normal" feeding pattern. I didn't know what to do with myself when he stopped.

He still comfort sucks though, but only at night when he is going to sleep. I don't mind that, as he only does it for about 5 minutes before falling asleep

Im just glad im not alone!! But honestly its now 3:30am and still no sleep. It has been "playtime" for her since 10pm i dont understand how she can stay up so much!!

The thing that saved my sanity more than anything else was feeding lying down, I could doze while he was having his mega feeds. And also, I watched A LOT of TV!!

Oh, meant to say, feeing lying down in the dark seemed to make him more dozy too, and less likely to want to play when he'd finished.

I remember the 6 week growth spurt. I thought I knew aaaaaaall about cluster feeding but I had the shock of my life!! I came out of it with a bit more sympathy for the mums who give up at this stage. It does pass though, and it sounds as if you're doing an amazing job :o You can't spoil them at this age and you're not making a rod for your own back or any of that twaddle.

She is scared of the dark as soon as i try and make it dark she screams untill i turn her night light on. And yes lying down feeding and tv has saved my lafe for the last week.

My Dp put about 60 movies and 20 odd different tv series on a hard drive for me, keeps me busy.

Although i have to say that i put DD down for bed at 7 she woke at 10 for a feed and then slept through untill 3am awake till 5am then asleep till 8am, so fingers crossed we have beaten then 6week stage.

Ah I remember this! I had a particularly thrilling day when my 5/6 week old DS (now 4) gave me a grand total of 25 minutes off. In 24 hrs. I'd like to say I was serene about this in an 'I'm such a responsive parent' kind of a way. In fact, I would quite happily have thrown him out of the window.

Needless to say I didn't and these days he refuses to eat anything except raw carrots and chicken drumsticks. So it's all swings and roundabouts I guess.

Yep, I'm here too. Since yesterday DS has wanted feeding near constantly. Very unsettled all last night, managed a 3 hour stretch 1-4am, but other than that nothing but a doze. I too tried the dummy - after an hour of dummy in - baby sleep - dummy falls - baby screams I gave up.

The worst bit is that every time I put him down - asleep - he will stir slightly then rub his eyes madly and with tremendous force to wake himself up again. Then yells.

And of course he's now smiling contentedly at me, and he's all cute. He'd be cuter if he'd let me have a couple of hours sleep.

My breasts feel completely empty though

Another wounderfull night! Slept 8 till 12 12:30 till 3:30 then 4 till 7.. I dont mind the heaps of wake ups as now she actually sleeps after each feed.

Dummys would never work with my DD she absoulutly hates them, although im not sure if they are just to big for her mouth she is only just newborn size.

i think it frustrated me a little more when she would just lay their happy and smile at me, i wanted her to realise she could be just as happy ASLEEP. But i am glad i stuck with it and ignored that throwing out window feeling

Its so worth it in the end and now i value the nights even more!