My DS2 is 10 weeks on Monday and ebf. He has always been a baby who likes sleep but at the same time needs a bit of help to get to/stay asleep and sleeps a lot better/longer in my arms/the sling/car seat than if I put him down elsewhere. As this isnt always possible he tends to cat nap and wake up a bit grumpy.
I have never been able to read any distinct feeding cues from him so I tend to offer him a feed any time he cries or gets grouchy. However I feel that he doesnt take/ask for many "big/proper" feeds a day. It is just a series of short, what feel like poor quality feeds where he will either feed a bit lazily before falling asleep, or he will fall asleep soon after the immediate let down and will only take one side. Sometimes I dont even feel a let down although he is sometimes sick so he obviously has got some milk.
What I feel are "proper" feeds tend to come after a long period of sleep. e.g. yesterday we were in the car/pram in town and he slept for four hours before waking up for a good feed. Even when he does have a longer feed he will usually not stay on each breast long enough to stimulate a second let down. These feeds can only last 5 minutes too sometimes which is worrying when he might not have fed for a few hours. Although possibly he is just efficient as he does get the milk drunk look even after 5 minutes.
At night he is waking approx two hourly or possibly 1.5 hours at times and again will have a quick feed before falling back to sleep. It has been a problem too that I am tired and fall asleep when feeding however ive made a concerted effort to stay awake the last few nights and all my efforts to keep him awake by stripping him off, changing his nappy etc arent having much impact on his sleepiness.
My breasts feel quite soft in the morning, more so on the left side which never appears to fill up and I am so worried he isnt feeding well enough to maintain supply.
Nappy wise he is having enough wet nappies but dirty nappies tend to be maybe two small smudges a day and one to two more significant poos a week.
Weight wise he is gaining well on the 75th centile however when I last got him weighed he had gained 10.5 ounces in 12 days when he had previously been gaining about 10 ounces a week so im scared its beginning to slow. My DS1 also gained well for the first 12 weeks before having a bit stall in weight gain from 3-6 months so my big worry has always been of history repeating itself.
Am I worrying unnecessarily or does it sound like he is nursing poorly?