Can a breastfeed babe have too much???

[kiwicath]

It only seems like last week..... infact it was last week, that I was worried my little fella (now 2 weeks old) wasn't getting enough milk as he was sleeping ALL THE TIME!! Now that he's a little more alert and feeding better he is possetting a lot. Sometimes digested other time undigested milk. I've tried to rule out some possibilities why - watching what I eat, not handling him too much after feeding etc but the problem still seems to be happening and more frequently too. He even throws up after waking from a 2.5-3 hour sleep by which time I would have thought the milk had been digested. Could it be that he's sucking on my breast for comfort and receiving too much milk for his little tummy?? or is this just normal. He's never yet told me that he's had enough. I feel he would carry on indefinitely if not taken off. I'm a first timer so every little thing is making me jumpy. Any advice??

Hi Kiwicath. My ds went through a stage of possetting a lot, also sometimes hours after feeding. It sorted itself out in time ? hope this is reassuring. Even now, at nearly 6 months, if he falls asleep after feeding (usually around this time of day) he doesn't bring up his wind, however hard I try although doesn't cause as many problems as it used to ? maybe to do with the way the digestive system matures?

Hello, congratulations new mammy! Its lovely but scary!
I breast fed my dd for 8 months, at the beginning I felt like that was all she did, i even breastfed her whilst sitting in the bath (i was thinking, will i ever have a minute to myself again???). I fed on demand, 2 weeks is still very early to establish any kind of feeding routine, it does take a while. I myself just left my dd to sort her own routine out which happended around the famous 6 week land mark. They also have growth spurts, cant remember when but that makes them feed nearly the whole day but its all ok so just relax and go with your baby. But if you notice that the constant feeding is not getting any less you may have just hand your baby to youe partner and make them take the baby out for a walk or just away from you for a while so your breasts can have a break to produce more milk. When my dd was demanding constant feeding usually in the evenings when she was a bit older my health visitor said that by constantly feeding her she was just getting the first watery milk as my boobs did not have a chance to make full milk. so i just deprived her, took a few weeks for her to settle but then she did. It;s nice when it gets to the stage where you just have to breastfeed 4 times a day, all of a sudden you have time to take your time on the toilet... heaven - i used to think of others things that made me say that! anyway dont worry for now you breasts will be producing plenty of fatty milk, ity wont run out yet, they are still adjusting to how much they need to make, your little baby is just helping them know how much he needs, if it does not settle by weeks then you coukld ask you hv for some advice. take care

It has a lot to do with the immaturity of the digestive system, and also because little babies adore breastmilk and can be greedy little monkeys! Your baby will not take too much milk, so don't worry about that. He is going through a hungry stage, and you have obviously got lots of the good stuff for him, so he is just having a bit of a feast and probably thoroughly enjoying it. It will settle as he grows.

Sounds just like my dd - slept solidly for 2 weeks and then became the champion breastfeeeding -vomitting baby! The vomitting went on right up to about 3-4 months when the quantities of milk brought back up gradually began to reduce. Like your ds she could be sick even hours after a feed, though it was worse just after I'd fed her. In the early days she also never 'told me' she'd had enough by coming off the boob. She would just fall asleep on there every time.

I was always told not to worry about it because she was obviously healthy and gaining weight. But it did drive me mad - I was constantly covered in sick for one thing! I had to have about three muslins plus j-cloths to hand to mop up the mess after every feed. Even other mums would express astonishment at the quantities produced! It is very unlikely to be anything you've eaten - I've read all sorts of theories about foods to avoid when breastfeeding, but I've never seen any quantititative evidence backing it up. Some babies are just sicky.

So, as long as he's healthy in other ways - no need to worry.