Please help - newborn feeding constantly and not sleeping

[Bambozzledbybabystuff]

Hi

I'd be grateful for some advice - even if the answer is this is all normal (and will get better!). Apols for long post.

My newborn is 6 days old. I was transfused after delivery due to a large bleed. I didn't manage any immediate skin to skin either due being unwell.

I have been breastfeeding my baby. My milk seemed to come in on day 4 but I have not yet had the hugely swollen spurting breasts people describe though they are a bit fuller today and now obviously empty.

My main concern is that my boy feeds constantly. He comes off a breast, sleeps for 10 mins then starts rooting and crying again. I put him back on and he will only feed for 2-3 mins then asleep again. This pretty much goes on all day. One midwife recommended pumping to increase supply but there is no time for that and it seems odd to be removing milk he could be taking.

Latch is fine and he is now swallowing much better but today he went from 9am to 5pm with this constant feeding and therefore neither of us got any rest. He eventually conked out for 3 hours in which time my breasts got fuller but he then emptied those (10 and 8 mins each side). I thought we'd cracked it but when trying ti settle him he started rooting again do now we are back in the chair doing short feeds again.

He has lots of poo and pees and is back up to 5% weight loss today from low of 7.5%.

is it simply that my supply is sluggish at coming in and he is having to work hard for milk? If so, please assure me it will improve soon!

Thanks!

My baby was like that at the beginning and I thought at the time he was building up my supply but he did end up having a small tongue tie so it could have been that. When it got cut, he became so much more efficient at feeding.
Congratulations. It is very hard at the beginning, the feeding, buT it does get easier. I am sure someone will be along soon with better advice for you.

It sounds really normal tbh - newborns feed little and often as they have tiny stomachs and the milk is digested quickly. He's probably really thirsty in the heat as well.

Lots of newborns also won't be put down away from you - the baby that sleeps 2-3 hours in a basket between feeds to the exception not the rule! They need the comfort and closeness of the breast while they adjust to the birth/outside world.

Definitely no harm in being checked for tongue tie though.

I wouldn't bother expressing personally. Can you make your bed safe and try feeding lying down so you can doze? If your partner is at home get them to keep an eye on you until you are more confident. Never do this on a sofa though.

DS was similar and ended up having severe jaundice. I thought he was just a fussy baby but turned out he was sick: it's easily sorted once it's spotted though so no need for panic.

So as well as tongue tie, it's worth getting him checked over for jaundice.

Thanks everyone.

I was a bad mummy and let him sleep for 5 and a half hours overnight as I didn't have the energy to wake a sleeping baby. Breasts felt a bit more full this morning and he had a 16 mins of feeding this morning with plenty of swallowing. Certainly plenty of poo to show us milk is going in the top end!

He does have a small tongue tie. Severe tie runs in our family so I was not concerned as he can stick out his tongue but I may ask for referral just in case (plus my cousins had speech issues due to theirs so want to avoid that). His latch is good though and my nipples are surviving which I would have thought makes the tongue less likely to be the issue.

While typing this he has started rooting again and had another 5 min feed just 15 mins after the last. I am not sure I can cope with another 5 mins on 10 mins off day! The nhs breast feeding advisor came yesterday but I don't think she quite understood the frequency of the feeding - plus they always come in the morning when I have had some sleep and have at least some milk and I am feeling optimistic that things have improved - not the case if they saw me at 8pm! I will try and make my point more clearly when she comes back today. He is a bit jaundiced but it was below treatment level and is improving.

Thanks again - if anyone has more suggestions I'd be grateful.

Bambozzled if you think of this as a 'job' and one you can do sitting down while someone else does everything else but feed the baby, would this make it easier? :) Your baby's feeding pattern sounds totally normal for a new baby - small feeds with a few mins between them lasting for a period of hours, then the occasional longer sleep, is normal and does not last forever.

Hope you have a good day - just going with the flow makes things feel better, I think.

Agree with tiktok - get some dvd boxsets on the go, get your partner/visitors to wait on you hand and foot, and enjoy sitting down and resting!

I'd get the tongue tie snipped anyway, as it might be causing a problem and there's no harm in snipping it. 5 hours sleep at night sounds lovely.

My baby is now 12 days old and spent the first 2 nights cryinf as she fed constantly as you've described for 9 or 10 hours at a time. I was convinced she wasnt gettin enough and nearly gave in and bought formula. When speaking to my midwife she said it was completely normal in the first few days. I felt so much better. I didnt mind i just wanted to know that it was normal. She now has a feed around every 3 hours and lets me put her down for a sleep!

I was told by a lactation consultant and 2 breastfeeding counsellors that my baby's tongue tie was very small and as he had movement and could stick his tongue out, it might not be worth cutting. So I worked on the latch, had cranial osteopathy but nothing improved (he fed a lot and it was very painful). When it was cut (6 weeks), it changed my experience. He fed so much more efficiently (20 mins feeding every 3 hours which dropped to 5-10 mins by 12 weeks) and it became pain free - I had been crying at feeds.

The way that babies need to feed almost constantly at the beginning though was a total shock to me, and yet I had done breastfeeding workshops and had at least 4 people over in the early days to check the latch etc. Sounds like you are doing brilliantly though. It must be even more tough than usual getting breastfeeding established in this heat.

Thanks again everyone. Today was much better as he actually had some daytime sleeps! Feeding for around 25 mins total a feed (over about an hour) and seems to be swallowing better and lots out the other end to show it is getting into him! He is currently fussing +++ refusing nipple and just simply crying - he has gone to daddy and ewan the dream sheep to try and settle :-)

I was so excited that he was asleep when midwife came today that I forgot to ask re tie - will do so tomorrow as would hate to leave it and he them have speech issues later on.

Thanks again - here's hoping to a further substantial improvement tomorrow!

Just to update:

Things stayed this way with constant feeding and no day time sleeping until he would conk out with exhaustion (he had permanent bags under his eyes). He only regained birth weight at 3 weeks gaining just 80g in 10 days despte all this sucking. My nipples had become misshapen and I was going slowly mad. I couldn't believe this was "normal" as while breast feeding is hard for almost everyone, if it was all like that no one would ever do it! I eventually got the energy to get assertive, contacted the tongue tie clinic myself who gave us a next day appointment with no referral as symptoms were so classic. He had his small anterior and severe posterior tongue tie divided today at 4 weeks old and feeding is already completely different, so fingers crossed. I have learned a valuable lesson about trusting my instincts.

Really well done Bamboozled. I am sure my eldest had a tongue tie as I had such a massively different experience feeding him to the later three. So many professionals are quick to assure women that horrendous breastfeeding experiences are normal, it's no wonder people give up.

It's normal for babies to feed like this - also, get the tongue tie snipped as early as you can. My DS had his done at 7 days and it was no bother.