Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Infant feeding

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

Flip

Original poster

Week old DD's constant feeding!

16 replies

SallyMischievo · 18/12/2014 00:29

Dear All,
Help required pleased! My week old DD has been having two to three hour spells where she feeds on and off for the last four nights. She then sleeps for three to three and a half hours. Starting to feel anxious that there is something amiss. MIL is currently staying and is astonished by the baby being so ravenous! Feeds during the day are less lengthy - 30-40 minutes with periods of being awake and sleeping.
Many thanks for any reassurance anyone can give to an anxious first time Mum x

OP posts:

britishbakeoffblues · 18/12/2014 00:35

Sounds perfectly normal to me.
You'll get into a pattern but at the moment, it's all about building your supply.
Well done! Don't worry.

Middleagedmotheroftwo · 18/12/2014 00:37

Yep. Normal

Notfastjustfurious · 18/12/2014 00:38

In the first 6-8 weeks (more like 10 for my little cherub) the feeding is constant. It's all about establishing your supply. My baby fed every hour to 90 mins to start with and it was exhausting. In the end I found it easier not to clock watch and just go with whatever she wanted to do. It will calm down eventually and it's perfectly normal so don't worry.

yellowsnownoteatwillyou · 18/12/2014 00:39

Building supply, you are doing great, it will settle out.
depends on the age of your mil or if she ff, she might have been used to a strict feeding schedule with new borns.

northernlurker · 18/12/2014 00:39

Tell Mil to wrap up. This is totally normal for a breastfed baby. Evenings are often a hungry feeding time. Just go with it and eat lots of finger food for your meals

callamia · 18/12/2014 00:42

Hello, congratulations on your lovely new baby!
This sounds perfectly normal to me - do you know about cluster feeding? Nighttime feeding also really helps to establish your supply. Essentially, your baby somehow knows what to do to make sure she gets the milk she needs.

Keep an eye on her weight gain and wet/dirty nappies of course, but she sounds like a typical baby, doing what she needs to. Mine used to clusterfeed for around three hours, I used to go to bed early with a hot chocolate and my laptop and watch iplayer :)

Cluster-feeding starts to reduce in length and intensity before too long. Also, your baby will feed more around and during a growth spurt, partly to 'order in' the milk she'll require during this period of growth. This happens fairly frequently in the first few months, but by around 12 weeks, everything should have settled down.

mumonashoestring · 18/12/2014 00:45

Completely normal :) I used to get DH to cut my meals up for me so I could eat one handed and just settle in with a big glass of water, some decent boxsets and let DS get on with it. It tailed off, then we had it again around 4 weeks, then it tailed off a bit, another growth spurt would come along... As a previous poster said, he's building your supply up (and just enjoying the closeness with you)

PragmaticWench · 18/12/2014 01:01

I had a few cluster feeds of 12 hours with both of my DCs!! Just go with it, it will pass really soon. It's likely your MIL was taught to feed to a schedule and so finds feeding-to-demand strange. It's now known that feeding-to-demand is best for establishing your maximum milk supply, times have moved on. Maybe look at the kellymom.com website for explanations of cluster feeding, it's a great site if you have breastfeeding questions.

Original poster

SallyMischievo · 18/12/2014 01:01

Phew. Thank you so much! I thought I was in the know about feeding on demand but had no idea that there would be this much demand! Thanks again. I think she's going to be a chunky monkey - she was 6lbs 11oz when born last Wednesday and when weighed on Monday, she had gained 2oz!

OP posts:

PragmaticWench · 18/12/2014 01:05

I found gently explaining about establishing supply to my DM stopped her being shocked at some really long feeding sessions I had. She just had been taught a different way, it was good to chat about different approaches with her.

PragmaticWench · 18/12/2014 01:06

Well done on the weight gain btw!!

ZenNudist · 18/12/2014 01:19

Count yourself lucky you're getting 3.5 h sleep out of her !

How about a little laugh at MIL ' isn't it funny what you forget about having a newborn? Must be natures way of getting you to do it again' (true though!) or if she didn't bf then she isn't qualified to comment!

Box sets and don't plan to do much other than chill out at home with your baby. You might as well relish the cuddles and the relative ease of a baby comforted by boob and staying in one place.

I'm up with teething 10mo ds2 and I never get to snuggle with a long feed any more. Enjoy! It will pass quickly.

northernlurker · 18/12/2014 07:31

It might help mil to understand if you point out that last week (on the inside ) dd was getting 24 hour a day continuous nutrition. No surprise then that she wants to feed a lot now.

43percentburnt · 18/12/2014 07:45

Normal. Cuddles, feet up, films on the TV, mumsnet at the ready. You are doing great!

Enjoy the cuddles.

squizita · 18/12/2014 10:18

Perfectly normal and it improves over time.
I think people forget the true pain of sleeplessness after a while. Probably a trick of nature to make us broody! Hence mil surprise!

squizita · 18/12/2014 10:22

...my mum scoffed at pj's all day till it slipped she too was in a dressing gown when dad came home from work! With a baby on one boob and another with a bottle (twins) no wonder. But the memory fades.
They have tiny tummies and v fast metabolism at this stage. It's eat/digest/poo all at the sane time!

Flip