been feeding DS, 23 days old, since 1pm, it's 11 pm now .......

[smk84]

Hi, have been feeding DS since 1 pm almost non-stop ! He has had about 3 half hour naps in this time, and one spell of about half an hour of being awake and content.Apart from that, on most feeds he hsa fallen asleep, woken up a couple of mins later and then been crying for more. He has been cluster feeding in the evenings a lot, but today has been ridiculous. Has this happened to anyone else? Is this common to go on for so long? Should I expect more of this? He is gaining weight, latch has been checked by various people and fine. I am so knackered I have been feeling like I just can't face another feed, and have unfairly been getting cross with DS :( We did discover yesterday that he has a slight posterior tongue tie - being snipped on Tues so hoping this will help a bit. Would really welcome any encouragement (again!). Thank you.

ok, you ask for encouragement so here goes :)
you are in growth spurt territory, dont fight it.. just go with the flow. Comfy position, blanket, skin to skin and someone bring you tea, cake and water. Try feeding lying down or lying back in bio nurturing position.
You have done amazingly well with a tt ds. From what I have read even a 'slight' tt can have a massive impact on the tongue function. Hopefully once its snipped you will notice DS going a wee bit longer between feeds but hes still pretty tiny so needs little and often.
Would reccomend looking up stretching excercise's to prevent reattachment after release and also a cranial osteopath. I had DS snipped and now its reattached.
Some info on growth spurtskellymom.com/bf/normal/growth-spurts/
Its relentless at this stage, but you can do it and it will get easier.

Yes yes this happened with me. If you can possibly ride with it without going insane, it'll be ok in the long run I promise. Get that latch checked again and that your nipples aren't being shredded or your back getting sore sitting down for so long. Also a bf counsellor will be able to advise on possible techniques for increasing effective milk transfer eg breast compressions (see kellymom). A bf counsellor also advised me to pump to increase milk production - hahaha when?!

Basically DD2 had two or three days like you describe and at least two weeks of cluster feeding 2 or 3 hrs in the evening. I'd say we turned a corner at 4 months, when feeds went down to 15 mins or so. I know that will feel like ages away for you now. Consider it to be nature's way of getting you to rest after the birth and bond with your new baby and watch boxed sets and eat cake.

smk agree with the others that this sounds like a growth spurt and should calm down soon.

How has he fed overnight?

Have you got someone who could take him out for a walk for an hour so that you can get some sleep?

Some Mum's find that white noise and or swaddling help them to settle. Have you got a sling too that you or someone else could pop him into? When DD was cluster feeding I could get a bit of respite if DS took her out for a walk in the pushchair or sling.

You are doing everything right though. This is normal and will calm down soon .

DS1 had undiagnosed tt and lip tie and I completely understand what you are going through.

If I said to the doc or the HV that he was feeding all the time, they all just said, oh yes, new babies feed a lot. But I really meant that he fed ALL the time. One particularly bad day, I remember he was latched on for 16 out 24hrs. I quickly learned to sleep and feed at the same time which helped a bit. He did sometimes nod off in the sling, but not always.

Nearlyreadytopop is right, you should do stretching and massaging of the site of the tt snip to prevent it reattaching. Cranial osteopathy will also help to release the tension caused by the tight frenulum. You should have a session prior to and within 48hrs of the snip.

You should also check for a lip tie. There's a good chance that he may have one of those too which can also prevent a good latch, despite having the tt done. I don't think there is anywhere that does lip ties on the NHS, but the more people that ask, the more likely it is that they might start thinking about it

Good luck on Tuesday!

Gosh, you must be exhausted but it does sound like a growth spurt - just think of the that lovely milk that you 'll be producing come Tuesday when he has his TT snip and starts guzzling it down - well done you for such a mammoth feeding session and sticking with it - what a great mum you are!

hi smk, just wondering how you are getting on today?

I hear you! DD is 19 days old and fed yesterday from 3.30am until 1.30am this morning with no more than about 45mins off the boob at any one time. I then had a blissful 1.5hr sleep and she started again! Please god she will give me a break today coz I desperately need to sleep!! Damn these bloody growth spurts!

thank you so much everyone, and would like to send encouragement back to others going through the same thing. cluster feeding seems to have settled down in the last 48 hours. We are now onto another problem of fussy latching and strange feeding behaviour :( It's driving me mad and it's so upsetting - you get over one hurdle then there;s another one, and my DS is gettingg so distressed today :( (If you would like to read our new problem I will post the link below if I can - thank you.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding/1507705-BF-DS-25-days-old-strange-feeding-behaviour-please-help