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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

12 day old breastfeeding habits!

28 replies

abi2790 · 14/12/2012 22:45

Hi everyone!

Basically I'm just looking for advice on how to get my 12 day old breastfed baby to sleep better at night. He currently sleeps well in the day and has regular feeds but at night he can feed for hours and is comforted by being on my breast so it's hard to get him settled in his basket. Any advice on how to get my baby into some sort of routine where I'm not up and out of bed constantly throughout the night would be greatly appreciated! At the minute he feeds for about 20-30 mins and falls asleep. When I try to put him in his basket he wakes up and wants to go back on the breast!

OP posts:

backinaminute · 14/12/2012 22:47

I have a 14 day old Ds and he's exactly the same. He just wants to be near me and to be fair will settle after a feed on me. I dot think there is an answer other than just going with the flow. I'm watching with interest though. Congratulations.

SamSmalaidh · 14/12/2012 22:48

Easier just to keep them in bed with you and feed lying down so you can doze than to struggle with putting them in a basket at this age.

JiltedJohnsJulie · 14/12/2012 22:51

All this sounds perfectly normal abi. He's spent 9 months with you constantly and its only normal for him to want the warmth and comfort of you.

Don't panic though, there are some things you can do. Have you tried feeding lying down, so that you don't have to get out of bed and have some rest?

Some people also find warming the Moses basket helps, some find white noise helps. Other things you could try are putting a t shirt DH has worn in the Moses basket, yours will smell of BM. Have you tried swaddling too?

ThoughtsPlease · 14/12/2012 22:52

What does the day look like, what time do you get up?

When does he feed and sleep?

Does he fall sleep when feeding in the day?

Where does he sleep in the day and at night?

When you say he wakes when you put him in his basket, I assume he cries, do you immediately pick him up again?

ThoughtsPlease · 14/12/2012 22:53

Yes and I agree with swaddling.

JiltedJohnsJulie · 15/12/2012 08:34

I think it may be difficult to answer thiughts questions because at that age everything can pass in such a blur. Just try to make sure he has plenty of times he can feed in the dat if he wants to and go with the flow

If you want to read some more try googling kellymom Breastfeeding your newborn, have a look at the dr sears baby book too

Original poster

abi2790 · 15/12/2012 15:57

Today has been a stressful day! He's been feeding around every 30 mins since about 10 am! He just won't sleep and I'm starting to worry. He also hasn't poo'd since early this morning and he normally has a dirty nappy after every feed! I just don't know what to do.. It feels like I must be doing.something wrong :(

OP posts:

BertieBotts · 15/12/2012 16:00

Has he been weeing? I know that after a certain time they stop pooing so much and their poos get crazily far apart, like, once a week far apart. But I think that's when they're a little bit older.

Do you have any pain while feeding him at all?

jkklpu · 15/12/2012 16:06

2wo babies don't do routine ...

JiltedJohnsJulie · 15/12/2012 16:51

abi agree with Bertie, not having a dirty nappy since this morning isn't a worry if you are getting plenty of wet nappies.

Do you think this may be the 2 week growth spurt come early? The first one is at around 2 weeks, but doesn't happen exactly on day 14 for many babies. Growth Spurts are a normal part of baby development and usually the best way to deal with them is to grab a book or dvd, the phone, a drink and cake and put your feet up and feed, feed and feed some more .

How are you though? How is the regular feeding leaving you? Are you experiencing any pain or soreness?

Here is the link I mentioned before, Breastfeeding your Newborn: What to expect in the early weeks.

And here's the book I mentioned.

Keep posting and let us know how you are getting on .

FruitSaladIsNotPudding · 15/12/2012 17:07

I have an almost 3 week old and things have settled down for us a bit in the last few nights - getting 3 hour sleeps rather than 30 mins. I haven't done anything except make sure she takes both boobs during nightfeeds and trying to keep daytimes light and noisy and night time quiet and dark etc.

My oldest dd was similar - awful at 2 week old, much better by 3. Hang on in there!

charlottehere · 15/12/2012 17:11

I have 3 week old, sleeps in bed with us, getting better at feeding lying down, bob ds on and often get to go back to sleep while he feeds.

FruitSaladIsNotPudding · 15/12/2012 17:25

Forgot to say, dd is in our bed too, i'd be getting no sleep otherwise. I plan on trying to get her in the sidebar cot next week. I love the idea of co sleeping but in practice i get backache from lying strangely all night!

FruitSaladIsNotPudding · 15/12/2012 17:26

Sidecar, not sidebar!

nickelbabylyinginamanger · 15/12/2012 17:34

yeah, we spent about a fortnight trying various things to get DD off to sleep for more tghan 10 mins wen she wasn't attached to me.

in the end, we gave up - realised that she was still very new and soooo not used to being away from warm and squishy mummy.

she was (and i was!) a lot happier after that.

just go with the flow - sleep when he sleeps for now, even if it means not sleeping in the night and just during the day. :)

congratulations

DangerMousey · 15/12/2012 17:43

Hey abi i nearly wept in hormonal sympathy when I read your OP earlier....it sounds exactly the same as the experience I am currently having with my DS (he is my DC1 and is a week old and I am all over the fecking shop at the moment). In fact I started a thread earlier which was very similar to yours:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding/1636950-BFing-a-1-week-old-newborn-does-all-of-this-sound-normal?msgid=36017787#36017787

I have tried waking DS every 2 - 2.5 hours during the day to feed today, in the hope that it will make him less likely to want to cluster-feed in between midnight and 0500.

I also cannot get DS down to sleep.....i think he can smell my milk or something. I would be open to the idea of co sleeping but I find it hard to feed lying down. At only 7 days I am still getting to grips with my latch and dont feel comfortable doing it lying down.

Currently, DH and I are doing a weird tag team thing in the night where I sit up in the living room and feed him, and then DH comes in and tries (and usually fails cos the little monkey wants to cluster feed) to settle him in his basket. We live in a flat so the living room is next to the bedroom. V frustrating cos he settles well enough with DH rocking him during the day.

I dont really have any advice cos I have no idea what the hell I am doing but I wanted to share and let you know that you're not the only one experiencing this right now.

DangerMousey · 15/12/2012 17:44

ps - oh, the only piece of advice I do have is start cancelling visitors now. We have started saying no to family and friends who wanna pop in during the day so that we can grab 20 mins sleep here and there on the rare occasions he actually goes down.

ThoughtsPlease · 15/12/2012 21:02

2 week old babies can do routine jkklpu well at least be guided towards it!

iwillsleepagainsomeday · 15/12/2012 21:08

thoughts, even breastfed babies??? you should write a book!

ThoughtsPlease · 15/12/2012 21:24

I have EBF 3 children and yes with each one I have right from the start had a 'routine' in mind. A variable, loose routine, but yes a routine!

Waking in the morning, regulars feeds, regular quality daytime sleep including sleep in their cot, bath, feed and to put to bed at 7/8pm at night. Wake for feed at 10/11pm, and after a few weeks they only woke once between 11pm feed and 7am, and between 5-7 weeks they didn't wake at all from 11pm-7am, by 7-12 weeks no feeding at all from 7/8pm until morning.

My experience is the earlier you think yourself about guiding the baby the better, if you want to go with the flow that's great but if you don't and I guess most people who post here asking for advice probably prefer not to just go with the flow, they are looking for advice to help their baby sleep better.

Gingerbreadlatte · 15/12/2012 22:17

Thoughts- have any of yours clusterfed?

What time do you wake them up in the morning ?

Gingerbreadlatte · 15/12/2012 22:18

Sorry - context is that I've got. 6wk I'd I'm trying to get to go to bed at 7 but she wants to cluster feed all evening. I am fairly sure she wont settle at 7 til she is ready.

monsterchild · 15/12/2012 22:19

I am also watching curiously, as I am due any day now. For us baby can't safely sleep on our bed, as I'm concerned it's too soft (pillowtop) for breathing properly.

ThoughtsPlease · 15/12/2012 22:33

Wake at 7/8am, with DDs I aimed for 7pm-7am, but DS has to go to bed a bit later as he has to tag along for the school run and after school stuff which the girls never did, so he used to sleep more like 8pm-8am, but now at 7 months he wakes at 7ish.

I'd wake her at 7ish, feed all day at every request!

I have found that my DC have cluster fed around 4-7pm. They all had a main sleep after lunch for several hours, and after this they fed a lot. This sets them up for sleeping well at 7/8pm, and also means they are ready to feed again at 10/11pm, so that you can then get the longer night stretch between 11pm and 7am.

ThoughtsPlease · 15/12/2012 22:35

Obviously I mean the longer night stretch once they can drop a night feed not straight away, my aim was to guide them to drop the 3am feed first, so you can go to bed and get 8 hours as soon as possible.

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