Newborn ds constantly feeding

[cogitosum]

Ds was born sat morning. Saturday he fed about every 4 hours, hardly cried and slept really well at night (I understand this is normal as they are tired after labour). Sunday he was the same but from Sunday evening he hasn't stopped feeding.

He'll feed on each side for up to 40 nins. Will come off himself but then immediately start rooting and will scream if he doesn't get the breast again.

I don't think my latch is too bad. Midwives didn't seem worried and his output is good but I'm worried he's not sleeping. He got two 3 hour stretches last night, and one 2 hour stretch today but other than that it's been half hour at the most once or twice and the rest of the time he's either feeding or crying.

Midwife said it could be my milk coming in. Is it normal for them to feed this often while that happens?

Dh read some pamphlet today that said a newborn should cry only about half hour a day! Is that right?

I don't mind the feeding it's just I need to sleep and I think he does too.

Does anyone have any suggestions or assurance that it gets easier?!

When my dd was born she would not feed at all and slept constantly due to the pain relief I had when in labour. On day 4 started to feed and there is no way that she slept for 18 hours per day! She fed lots and slept in between. After a week or so we were into a better pattern where she fed every 1.5 hours and slept in between - so she would have been getting very little sleep. She did doze at the breast frequently. My main concern was that she was gaining weight, feeding and pooing and peeing.

When my dd was born she would not feed at all and slept constantly due to the pain relief I had when in labour. On day 4 started to feed and there is no way that she slept for 18 hours per day! She fed lots and slept in between. After a week or so we were into a better pattern where she fed every 1.5 hours and slept in between - so she would have been getting very little sleep. She did doze at the breast frequently. My main concern was that she was gaining weight, feeding and pooing and peeing.

all i would say is that when my dd was that age, and for many more weeks to come, there was no difference between night and day, constant feeding, little bit of dozing, and barely scraped through. i was utterly exhausted. the fog lifted for me at about 4 months from memory.... please dont believe everything you read, every baby is so different, just trust your instincts.
my mother once said to me "everything is just a phase" you'll realise this is true.

You need a sling or baby carrier. DD was exactly as you describe, until I started using a sling. Feed for an hour, winding very regularly, then put him in a sling and go for a walk. He will probably fall asleep. With a bit of practice you may be able to transfer him to his moses basket without waking him. I carried dd in the sling nearly all day every day when she was tiny, as she wouldn't sleep anywhere else. I even 'wore' her when I ate. It saved my sanity!

Sorry didn't return to thread for ages!

Well he eventually slept for a couple of hours between 7 and 9 am but for the rest of the night it was no more than half hour at a time and certainly nowhere near 18 hours in 2-3 hour stretches. I spoke to midwife who thinks it's my milk coming in (I'm beginning to leak so hopefully it's coming) and will get better!

As someone said upthread I'm happy to sleep at odd times for short periods but for the last two day and nights it hasn't been more than 3-4 hours per 24 hour period!

I've been feeding him in bed at night and then putting him in co-sleeper. I've tried waiting til he's asleep in my arms before moving him but he seems to be a very light sleeper and wakes up shortly after moving to his own crib.

I bought the co-sleeper thinking it would help with this!

I've got a sling and he slept in that on a walk but I can't sleep whilst he's in it!

Midwife is very happy with latch and output so he does seem to be getting a lot... He was over 2 weeks late in the end but quite small at 6lb15 so she thinks maybe he didn't get much nourishment in the womb for the last couple of weeks and is catching up now.

Thank you for all comments and suggestions!

Cogito, sympathies. I have an 11 week old that will only nap in a sling and only sleep at night if I lie down next to him in the dark, rendering my evenings rather dull.

But just wanted to say that you need to wait far longer than seems reasonable before putting a sleeping baby down - around 20 minutes for some. And swaddling might help if you're not already. It makes tiny babies feel more secure. But my son still only sleeps about an hour at a time if in the co-sleeper as opposed to 4/5 hours in bed with me. Guess which I choose...?

Stiffy - my 13 week old is EXACTLY like yours, day sleeps in sling, night sleeps in bed (and only a 45 minute cycle if I put him into the cosleeper). If you find anything that works, do let me know!

Just to give an example I fed him for about half an hour with what I think is good latch etc. he came off naturally and dropped off but woke up when I winded him. I then offered him the other side and he fed for about 15 minutes before being sick so I assumed he was full but whilst winding he started rooting again.

He hasn't slept (apart from 5-10 min bouts at the end if feeding) since 8pm when dh took him out in sling to give me an hours sleep.

I don't trust myself cosleeping as I'm so tired

When babies get wind it can make them think they're full, so they stop feeding. Once they've burped/thrown up they are ready for food again. It's annoying and disheartening. Maybe try taking him off to wind before he falls asleep? Could your dh watch you sleeping with him for a while?

Sunnysummer, I will do!

But he's not properly asleep, he's just dozing. I don't mean winding him then in any case, but winding him while he's feeding, to stop the doze/wind/snack cycle that might be going on.

Cogito if he is asleep after a feed, there's no need to wind him if it wakes him up. If he needs to he will just bring wind up himself while sleeping still. It's totally normal for a newborn to wake up when you wind/move them or put them down. He may just prefer to sleep on you.

It does get better and fairly quickly too, especially once your milk comes in. The 'behaviour' of your baby is well within what is normal for a newborn and they do feed very often and for much of the time in the early days/weeks, it can be exhausting and it's important to get what rest you can, even if that is just laying down to feed him and then staying next to him watching a film/TV while he sleeps. Perhaps someone else can hold him for an hour or two while you sleep? It's often easier to transfer them gently to another person than anywhere else without waking them again.

It will get better though. I found it was much easier to go with it and get what rest I could than to hold any expectations about what DD should be like (especially after 3 previous DC who hadn't been so high needs).

If he's asleep definitely don't wind him.

We have a bit of a cultural obsession with winding in this country, you might find you don't need to wind much/at all in reality. I only winded DS if he seemed uncomfortable (he did this thing where he tried to latch on but couldn't) and generally just needed to be sat up or put over my shoulder and if he needed to burp he would. All the vigorous patting/jiggling that is the cultural expectation here might not really be necessary.

I agree with getting your DH to watch over you while you co-sleep - make the most of having him around. Once you've had a decent stretch of sleep things will seem much more managable.

I barely ever winded DD but DS seems to need it more, and I've noticed that it does mean more on/off feeding. I read the tip about proactively winding somewhere fairly reliable(!) and it does seem to help a bit.