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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

New Baby, HELP!

19 replies

frillylemons · 11/09/2012 04:55

Hi, I had my first baby early hours of Monday morning. The plan is to breast feed and she took to it straight away. Only fed 3 times at hospital, but fine since we got home at 8pm last night.

She fed at 9.30pm and we put her down afterwards. She grizzled and brought up some mucus but woke for a feed at 1am. Finally latched on at 1.20 and has wanted to be on a boob since then. Literally. Is this normal?

DH just went to tesco to get a soother in case she just wants to suck.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

OP posts:

AmethystMoon · 11/09/2012 05:03

Hi yes very normal in my experience! My DD is 12 weeks old today and it took a good 6-8 weeks to get to the point where she has feeds which have clear starts and finishes. Before them she would sometimes be feeding for hours. They ate so very small and it is all so different and new so they just want to be close to you go with it and do as much skin to skin as you can. Enjoy your baby as they grow so fast and are only this tiny for such a short time. It seems an age ago already to me. The first 6 weeks or so of breast feeding can be so hard but it will suddenly fall into place and then it is lovely snuggly time well done and good luck x

AmethystMoon · 11/09/2012 05:08

Oh and I would avoid a soother as baby might get confused with your nipple and the soother whilst still so young. You're doing really well by the way babies have to learn to breast feed so do it lots early on to get the hang of it and practice. The more you let them practice the easier it gets. My 12 week old is feeding right now but it took us a while to learn together!

DoubleYew · 11/09/2012 05:10

Congratulations!

Yes I would say normal. She has a tiny tiny stomach and bm is very easily absorbed. Plus good lord she was inside you getting all that food and all cosy and warm and now she has to learn all about the world and who she is. She loves you as your smell and taste are familiar so keeping feeding is a way of keeping the best thing in the world close to her.

I wouldn't introduce a dummy so early personally, although I know plenty of people swear by them. In these early days she is sucking to stimulate your body to produce plenty of milk (ordering it up) and something to do with hormones being higher or more responsive or something at night means now is the best time to stimulate your body.

Right now you are probably still producing colostrum is she was only born on Monday, which is amazing stuff. Have you had dirty nappies? I presume so if you have been let out of hospital. That is a good sign milk is going through her body.

In the first few weeks you can't feed too much tbh, just concentrate on that as your no 1 priority and let dh take care of the two of you.

AmethystMoon · 11/09/2012 05:12

It will be very tiring for you so get your DH to bring you nice drinks and snacks and something to read or MN from your phone to help you stay awake you can also try feeding lying down on your side or look up biological nurturing for another reclining position which ease the strain on you. If sitting up get lots of pillows to support you and baby so you aren't straining yourself. Sorry for multiple posts I keep thinking of things

Ihaveaveryleakybrain · 11/09/2012 05:12

Yes sounds normal to me too. My DS would feed about 5 in the afternoon til 3am for a while. I'm sure you know but they recommend not using a dummy for the first month if you're breastfeeding.

Congratulations on your daughter - amazing isn't it?

armedtotheteeth · 11/09/2012 05:23

Yep normal

Your next thread on Mumsnet will probably say "She sleeps all day then feeds all night..." (also normal I'm afraid - all great for milk production!)

Congratulations on your lovely new baby

Original poster

frillylemons · 11/09/2012 05:26

Thanks everyone!

Yes, we have already had 4 poos!

OP posts:

armedtotheteeth · 11/09/2012 05:29

Ps. Dummies can stop babies from feeding as much as they should. I think you're supposed to avoid them for the first 6 weeks but I would say at least wait until feeding is properly established and she has started putting on weight.

Good luck - it's hard to begin with but you will look back on this as such a special time

ReturnOfTheMunx · 11/09/2012 05:36

Yep that next thread would be the one I would start... My ds is 4 days old and has been pretty much constantly feeding from 8pm tonight, latched on as I type.

Can't put him down, am exhausted..... It's normal though I hope.....

armedtotheteeth · 11/09/2012 05:48

Yes normal but hard I know.

It does get easier although dd3 (almost 4 months) has her first cold and has got me up all night again

Try to catch up on some sleep in the day if you can. Even if you're the kind of person who can't normally sleep in the day, you may find it surprisingly easy if you've been up all night!

Rachog · 11/09/2012 06:17

Another newbie feeder here with a glimmer of hope for you. Ds is 8 weeks old and it is already getting easier for us of a night time so stick with it and tell yourself this will pass.

BabylonPI · 11/09/2012 06:33

Ah congratulations on your little girl

All sounds totally normal, she is working on building your milk supply.

Well done for getting this far with BFing, it gets easier I promise

ThisOnce · 11/09/2012 08:09

Normal, hard, but great! If she's latching on so well for so long she'll be a champion breast feeder :). This is a fab way to get your milk in and get off to a good start. It's also in the early days that you're setting up your supply for the months to come. The more time on the breast the better.

That's not to say its not hard or overwhelming but it will get easier and is exactly what you should be doing at this stage.

OnlyNiceSwearing · 11/09/2012 10:48

Congratulations! As everyone else has said all perfectly normal for a newborn. I am nearly 6 months down the line and I am so, so glad we persevered. Baby is a chubby, happy little thing! I took each day as my goal, then weekly, 6 weeks, 8 weeks etc. Before you know it you are both experts As Armedtotheteeth said the next thing is baby sleeping in day, feeding all night. That too settles by around 6 weeks I found. Then often they go a little longer between feeds and your boobs feel ok and you will be reading these threads offering your support to new mums!

Tigresswoods · 11/09/2012 10:50

Normal! No one tells you that there will be a day, probably in the first week, where they just feed and feed and feed!

Mandinga79 · 11/09/2012 14:01

Yep. DS was permanently attached to me for weeks. An HV said something which, almost four months down the line now, has proved very true. Bottle feeding starts off much, much more easily than breast feeding, and you're not going to encounter any of the same problems with a bottle, but persevere and BFing is by far the easier of the two in the long term. BFing was horrendous for a good 5-6 weeks for me due to pain, bleeding nipples, thrush etc etc but I grit my teeth and it was so, so worth it and so much easier now than it would be faffing with bloody bottles!

Original poster

frillylemons · 12/09/2012 01:43

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the advice and reassurance. I'm still trying to get a good latch, but DH is being great and helping me out. LO slept a lot of the day yesterday and is a rather sleepy feeder so trying to crack on with feeding a sleepy one at the moment! Decided not to use soothers on your advice, thanks

OP posts:

AmethystMoon · 12/09/2012 22:24

Glad you're okay frilly my DD is still a sleepy feeder at 12 weeks but it is great as it is a good way to get her to go to sleep because of this she is easy to put down after a feed for a nap or at bedtime, which I love her for

MumOfTheMoos · 13/09/2012 21:22

Sort yourself out a little nest on the sofa, have a DVD loaded and ready to go at all times, keep your phone, tv remote and anything else you need to hand in a little basket or bag that you can keep on the sofa with you and don't try and do anything else.

Congratulations, you're doing great!

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