Worried Ill give up- advice needed please

[malachismum]

Its been 4 days of bf now and so far only minor tender nipples and a fairly contented baby. After my first ds and the hell I went through trying to feed him I feel quite proud of myself this time.
However...... Flynn feeds every 1-2 hours through the day and stays on for an average of 30 mins but not sucking all the time. But night time is hell every time I put him down, whether it be in my bed or the crib he gets upset and wants to feed again. This went on from 10pm until 1am last night. Im feeling very tried as I have a 2 year old ds too. Am I doing something wrong? Surely feeding constantly for 3-4 hours is not right??? What would you suggest?

Hiya... My son fed for 3-4 hours... i rung HV and they said its perfectly normal... its just hes not very efficient. I just kept him on my lap all day and he fed and slept there (1st week he slept during day in pram next to me, but soon decided he didnt like that anymore!) at 3 1/2 months he is not going 1-3 hours between feeds. Try exspressing the last night feed (during the day when you have milk & time) and give him that one for bedtime... they dont fall asleep on bottle, and you can kinda get it down them in a shorter space of time. They then last a little longer ( well, my son did). I soon resorted to feeding in bed and falling asleep like that, with son in bed too (make sure its all safe, not too hot etc.) If he was woken, he realised he was still hungry. He would fall asleep on the breast before he was totaly full. He also didnt suck all the time... few sucks, then a break, few more, then a nap, but kept latched on. I wouldnt advice limiting his feeding time - if he feeds for four hours, he needs to. The best thing I can suggest with another child is express some feeds as he will eat them quicker... also your partner can give them to him. But as I was told by HV anything with a breastfed baby is normal. (when he went on a 2 day feeding frenzy at 6 weeks)

sorry - he is now going 1-3 hours between feeds

Malachismum,your mil doesn't know what she is talking about either.If you follow her advice you will mess up the delicate balance/supply mechanism.
Your baby is feeding a lot in order to prime your boobs to produce a lot!!

As Welshy says,it is indeed mad with a newborn and easiest way to deal with it is be kind to yourself and delegate everything but feeding to someone else.If mil really wants to help,then how about her cooking,cleaning or taking your 2 year old for a walk??

If in doubt,always listen to what Mears and Tiktok have to say,if noone else.

Congratulations btw!

Dont worry I didnt listen to mil! She has been ironing boxer shorts, knickers and tea towels for 5 days!
Im just going with what Flynn wants and yesterday when I woke him to feed him after nearly 3 hours Im so glad I did as my boobs were hard, lumpy and sore, all relieved now though.
Thanks again.

Good to hear it MM.

MM - i admire you battling through this demanding time. I got to 4 days and was in the same position as you, I had no advice about BF and nobody prepared me for the demand that my baby would want. I sat for 6 hours one day, feeding and cuddling my son. After he had fallen asleep that evening i emotionally broke down my breasts were sore and because he hadn't latched on properly a lot of times, my nipples started bleeding. I was exhausted and couldn;t imagine another day like that. I decided that the best thing for me and DS was to try him on a bottle of SMA. he loved it and it was definitly the right choice for us, but i do wish i could have gone on for longer.
You are doing a wonderful job, keep it up.

Thanks Diddle. Dont feel bad, the same thing happened to me with ds1. This time Im more prepared.