New to breastfeeding, gentle advice needed

[lalabaloo]

Hi, I am looking for a little bit of advice and reassurance please. My baby is 1 week old and we are breastfeeding. He latches on well but I have some worries.

Firstly, how many wet nappies and poos should I be seeing, and can this change day by day? Over the last couple of days poos seem to have decreased a bit.

Also, when I feed he falls asleep but when I try to move him off the breast he sucks slightly again and then falls asleep again. This can go on for ages if I let him, should I let him or does there come a point where I take him off to offer him the other breast (my breast usually feels empty by this point).

As for feeding cues, I get very few before he cries, am I doing something wrong as everyone says crying is a late hunger sign but I barely get enough time between him first stirring and sucking fingers to crying.

I feel awful for not knowing what to do as he seems to just know what to do and I have no clue, I don't even know how to tell he is getting enough other than he has only lost a tiny bit of weight so far but I feel like he could suddenly lose weight or get ill at any moment and it would be my fault :(

Hello, congratulations on becoming a mum.

It sounds to me like you are doing great, if overthinking things a little!

Babies cry, it doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. And your baby is so new (he may not even realise he has hands to suck yet!) he is going to cry no matter what you do. It's how he talks to you.

He's falling asleep when you feed him because it's lovely and comforting and perhaps because of some hormones he is getting from your milk. But that's totally normal. As is the starting to suck again a bit when you move and wake him a little. With mine I figured once they started to suck more shallowly and sleepily that they were sucking for comfort not milk, which is ok but it can get a bit sore so that's when I used to put them on the other breast and see what happened.

The nappies thing sounds fine too. As a general rule I think if everything seems normal above the waist it is probably fine below!

I honestly think you're doing really well, just keep putting him to the breast whenever he cries and before long you'll start to understand each other more.

lots of good signs in there! when he falls asleep is this after he's had a really good feed with lots of active feeding? if so , that's fine , some babies then just like to hang in there and start sucking when you try to take them off!! it's ok to take them off, you may want to change his nappy at this point if it's wet or you may find he wakes up again naturally at which point offer the other breast. Sometimes they have one, sometimes two!!
Feeding cues can be a bit hit or miss, you will pick them up as you get to know him, but don't worry if he cries before you notice...doesn't make you a bad mother!! Sometimes you may feel full before he cries for a feed. If you are uncomfortable it's ok to offer him the breast as thsi is a two way thing. If I was really full with mine, I'd wake them...the relief was great!!
Might be worth finding a breastfeeding cafe or breast feeding counsellor in your area for a bit of support and reassurance.

Rancer beat me to it!! but singing from teh same hymn sheet!!

Hi lalabloo congratulations!
Sounds line you're doing very well. One thought in addition to the good advice you're already been given...how often do you put him in the breast? It may be that he needs to feed a bit more often if he gets to the stage where he cries if hungry. perhaps try offering the boob every 2 hours from previous feed?

You sound like you've made a great start. What worked for me for my two dcs was if in doubt, offer a breast! If they're good at latching on, they'll feed when hungry and won't bother if they're not. Also, when dc has nodded off, but is still sucking when you try to move him is the ideal time to offer the other side in my opinion.

Congratulations! You're doing a great job!

The number of wet and dirty nappies varies wildly with tiny babies, so don't bother counting. Just as long as they're weeing loads they are fine. The number of dirty ones depends on how much they're absorbing from your milk, which is variable. They apparently absorb more from breast milk than formula because it's so tailormade. The colour can change alarmingly too!

Sounds like you're doing really well. At one week we weren't eve home from hospital - you are right at the beginning of learning about each other and how to feed so take each day as it comes and trust your instinct. You know him the best of all.

When you feel ready tog et out and about go to a breast feeding support group - less Alcohol anonmous type group [what I thought it would be like!!!] more lovely Mummies who like top chat and have lunch :)

Number of nappies will vary massively so agree with above and not counting too much. I also foudn watching youtube vids of good latching was useful sometimes.

Wow. One week. Me and DD were just about to go home from hospital. She is 4 now and during a long wait at chemist yesterday she was asking me all about what it was like after she was born and I was telling her all about me and her being in our cosy secret tent (curtains round hospital bed) having lovely Mummy milk and snuggles all the time, and how the nice lady [health care lady] held baby's head on the boob as Mummy has poorly arms. An intense time and so lovely to think about it.

Don;t worry about housework, work if you;re on materinty leave, routine or looking dressed and made up - just snuggle and booby feed and the routine will sort itself.

Many congrats on your new son :)

Thank you all, you have made me feel a lot better, he has just finished a good feed and he had a dirty nappy so feeling a bit more confident now. Thank you all for the advice. Olimpia he doesn't give me much time at all between being fast asleep and then being awake and crying so I think I will try waking him at 2 hours like you suggest whether he is stirring or not, at least in these early days, as he usually will have a feed. One more quick thought, tonight he had both sides and then still seemed to want more so I put him back on the first breast. I think it was just for comfort as he only stayed there a few minutes but if he actually wanted more would that breast even have had time to make more milk?

Your breasts make milk as the baby feeds - like a combi boiler which starts heating the water when you turn the bath taps on ! So yes, if he wants more there will be milk for him, even if he's fed recently on that side.

Yes, you can put him back to the first side again, and if he's interested continue back and forth between the sides repeatedly (useful when they're having a growth spurt!). A good analogy I read on here was to think of breasts as rivers rather than lakes - they don't run out; milk is being made all the time.

This page gives some advice on judging whether your baby is getting enough milk. If he only lost a little weight, that's a really good sign it's all going well!

lalaboloo you don't need to wake him up properly, you can just try to do skin to skin on your breast and see if opens his mouth and goes for it! I guess that he will you're doing really well, keep it up!

Agree with above, don't necessarily wake him, but i used to stroke their noses and lips with nipple (sorry if TMI!) or stroke their cheek and see if they opened their mouths and 'rooted' around for something to suck. Your milk ducts empty and fill in a staggered fashion. You will always have milk available. Even if you were malnourished, your body would try to feed your baby.

I bet you're completely smitten! It's amazing and totally awe-inspiringly scary isn't it?!

Thanks, I will try that to see if he wakes up, glad I don't have to wake him fully! I've told my husband and my mum to try that too if I am sleeping so they can bring him to me in plenty of time, as they look after him while I get some rest. It's amazing how breasts work, I never really gave them a second thought until I was pregnant! I am completely in love with him, his little face and everything he does! He is starting to get his own personality too, he definitely has his daddy's laid back attitude, I can see they will both drive me mad in a few years time!

. Good to hear you're getting a bit of sleep. It sounds like you've both made a fantastic start. It's lovely to hear!