4 week old feeding constantly (for comfort?) but now oversupply causing issues

[bogbean]

My 4 week old DS wants to suckle all of his waking hours...

However now my supply has gone haywire and seems to be causing him discomfort, with posseting and painful wind.

I have tried spacing his feeds by distracting him, but can only manage 45 - 60 min gaps at most.

I am now trying to keep him on one boob for several hours to let the other become overfull before switching (advice on kellymom).

I feel as though I need to get to the root cause of his need to feed constantly... Is he comforting due to discomfort from something? (dairy sensitivity, reflux etc?).

Any thoughts?

I think he's doing exactly what he should be doing.
I'm no expert, but my dd was an utter fiend for the first few weeks and I had tonnes of milk as a result (yay!). She was windy etc, but grew a lot (in fact did not lose weight after birth) and slept through early (7 weeks!).

Eventually - around 6 weeks or so - I managed to pace her feeds so thry were two hourly in the day. And that's how she went on until she started solids.

Could be reflux but tbh constant cluster feeding is completely normal at this age - my dd bf continuously for 11 hrs at that age one day !!

Don't worry about over supply - you're only over supplying as your body hasn't got your milk supply established. Your DS needs to feed constantly in order for your supply to get established. Ignore the advice that says to feed on one side for a number of hours, atm it's best if you keep switching your boobs at each feed - so feed from one side for a feed & then offer the 2nd boob at the next feed.

Lots of fluids, lots of cake food & lots of rest (ha,ha! ).

It will get easier & then they hit a growth spurt

Honestly it does get easier. My dd is 8 mo & feeding her now is as easy as pie

Good luck & congrats on your LO

Thanks that has made me worry a little less.

Its a battle just to get time to brush my teeth or have a wash at the moment. I know it will get better.

Just feel so sorry for him when he has a sore tum/guts :-(

My ds fed like a monster at this age, I was tied to the sofa for a while. 7 hour cluster feeds were not uncommon. i didnt enjoy the 1am to 8am cluster feed though! It did ease off eventually, once he had got himself up to the 98th centile!
I just switched boob every time he came off one and tried to offer both in a sitting, I don't know what else you can do really. I just worry if you let one build up it is going to be almost an explosion for him when he comes to feed on that side? Be careful to empty your breasts regularly as you can get a blocked duct if you let the milk build up too much.
You could pump off the early let down then put him on the boob when the force has dropped a bit?

Bean, when you have a newborn it is unbelievably hard to find the time to do anything at all, but just getting through each day is an achievement. If you think about it, you have fed & cared for another human being, all by yourself (sorry I didn't mean that to sound patronising ).

I used to shower in the evening while DH held dd, don't know if that would work for you too?

Oh yes, the best thing about the oversupply was that I very soon could pump one boob in the morning while she had the other, and get a full bottle out. Then DH could feed her at 11 pm and I could have a glass of wine!
Like I say, she was quite windy at 4 weeks but in time learned to pace herself and not get such a faceful of milk so the guts thing did get better, and honestly even without the oversupply (which I had the opposite of with DD2) I think tiny babies are just ruled by their guts. My two always seemed to be thrashing about with wind or explosive poos or something else.