Should you offer the breast whenever baby cries?

[BoraBora]

So I know when my baby (6 weeks today!) is obviously hungry (rooting, sucking hands etc), but I've realised that she'll take the breast whenever I offer it (and she's not showing signs of hunger, and she's eaten recently).

Should I just be offering the breast whenever she's crying (which seems to he all the time ) of just when she's showing other cues?

It can do no harm at all to do so. I always did. Bfing is so much more than food - I found it be pretty much a universal cure for a tiny (and not so tiny) baby's problems.

I always did too. Some days it was constant cluster feeds, sometimes he could go a couple of honours between feeds. He's tiny - give him what he wants!!

I did too. After a few months I learned to distinguish different cries but at first I didn't want to risk leaving him hungry. Most babies want to bf 24 hrs a day at first anyway, it's comforting and their tummies are so small they have to snack a lot.

I wonder if this is where I've been going wrong, as I've just been thinking not to offer the breast as as she's fed recently she needs something else

Both of my babies went through periods is feeding constantly at that age, partucularly in the evening - classic cluster feeding (which I had never heard if and no mw or HV bothered to tell me about until I rang the out of hours number worried). Perfect excuse for you to put feet up with a magazine.

Ah - she is a nightmare in the evening! Maybe that's the problem!

I do. He might not be hungry but might want comforting. It's not just for food.

I always have. In fact i think this is one if the main reasons bf has gone so well for us. In fact i don't even wait till dd cries. I offer as soon as squeaks..sometimes she feeds, sometimes she just suckles, sometimes she just likes to be close. Now at 8months in she looks at me sometimes as if to say "put that bloody boob away woman!"

At 6 weeks I'd say yes. Then, as someone else said, over the next weeks and months you'll need to learn to distinguish between the cries. Good luck, and congrats!

Always have, have bf 5 dc and offered breast in every situation! Works a treat, they grow brilliantly and I have never had to " walk the floor" with a crying baby. They are all normal weights btw so don't worry about over feeding them.
Hth :)

I do/did with both DD1 (now 2) and DD2 (10 weeks) as like previous posters have said babies bf not just for hunger but also comfort.

You can't over feed a bf baby so I always try to offer boob in the first instance and if it doesn't help at least I know she is definitely not hungry and can try something else. I find that 90% of crying can be calmed by bf as they get the comfort of being close to you and suckling even if not hungry.

Evening cluster feeding is the perfect excuse to snuggle up with your baby, get your DH to wait on you, and read/MN/watch tv.

I always did (although check nappy too!). When he got to an age where the breast didn't always get him off into a good sleep when he was tired, then it didn't always work as sometimes they just need sleep! But at 6 weeks I would have thought it's the easiest way to get her to sleep

God yes! Offer before the crying if you can. I found it was pretty irrelevant whether DS was hungry or tired (or bored or irritable) breast was the solution for everything.

Yep. I did with both of mine. Means you have a great milk supply too. Iirc 6 weeks is a growth spurt so they may feed constantly for a few days. Exhausting so make sure you eat and drink lots.

Pretty much Feed change wind. Feed change wind and repeat. For the first few months.

Thank you so much. I particularly like the thought of reframing the evenings to be a pleasant opportunity for cuddling, rather than the nightmare we've come to dread.

I do with my 5 week old and it has helped establish BF so well. I did with my other 2 too. If he doesn't want to feed, he just keeps the boob in his mouth so I suppose it's comforting too

If in doubt, get your boob out.

That is my motto and breast feeding is.going really well.

If a baby is hungry, thirsty, tired, in pain, lonely, scared, a bit too hot or cold, feeling sick or a bit bored, then breastfeeding will generally sort the problem out quickly.

If the baby needs a new nappy or change of clothes, then, sadly, boobs will not help.

Yes, just do it. I always offer boob before anything else. It's the lazy way out of any problem!

Dd is only feeding once, before bed now she's 13 months, so I actually have to work at stopping her crying at any other point.

Oh yes!

If Ds (14 weeks) is crying through tiredness I help him fall asleep rather than feed him. He does not seem to have mastered the art of suckling without drinking loads so if I feed him too frequently he is sick and ends up with really bad wind - possibly because he is getting too much foremilk.

I could have fed dd whenever she cried without her being sick, but when she was about 12 weeks I started a loose EASY schedule and found it helped me to quickly learn what her cries meant.

I just offered a boob every time my DD1 squeaked and it worked well. DD2 (now 21 weeks) is a totally different kettle of fish. Screams blue murder like someone is trying to kill her if I offer a boob when she hasn't expressedly demanded it. She is/was a very sucky baby but wants to do all her sucking on a dummy (introduced in desperation when she wanted to suck but on anything other than my nipples after 4 weeks). No harm in always offering but as I have found some babies see it is a source of food only where others quite like the cuddling/snuggling side of things too

Yep, i find getting the (.)(.) out works for most things, especially at that age. She might not always be hungry but as the others have said, comforting skin to skin is what she might want as much as milk.

:)

Even if mine made a whimper, my boobs came out. I could never distinguish between cries until mine where a lot older - around 6/7 months ish when it's easier to tell.
I tried to get DD1 in a routine at bedtime instead of clusterfeeding and found it stressful. With DD2, after her bath, I just let her stay on the boob for hours clusterfeeding and cuddling while scoffing chocolate and watching TV. Gradually around 4/5 months she stopped clusterfeeding and went to bed at 8pm.
Part of it is mentally accepting they may want to spend hours on your boobs, it's just finding pleasant things to do while your sat there so you don't resent it. May I suggest a Kindle

I did.

For just over a year.

Co-sleeping is great for this (I was alone), just make your bed(room) nice and cosy....

Large double bed. Against the wall (so (s)he can't roll out). But you can when you need to..