Is she hungry?

[MissTwister]

My 15 day old has taken to waking every hour and immediately screaming to be fed. However when I put her on the breast a lot of the time she sucks for a minute or two max and then pulls away or falls asleep. Only to repeat. At other times she does feed properly but does anyone know why she is doing this as it is meaning a very tired new mum!

Do you burp her? She might be feeding a little to soothe discomfort from wind. Then lies down to sleep and the problem repeats. Hang in there. It gets easier and everything passes.

There's a feeding frenzy growth spurt at around 2 weeks IIRC. Could be that she's feeding lots to build up your supply and getting annoyed that not enough is coming out yet? Should settle in a few days if that's the case I think.

Will she be settled without a feed?

I usually try a dummy and reassuring hand on the chest first. If that doesn't work, then I would feed. But I find it a useful habit to develop in the long term to try to settle before feeding.

Sounds pretty normal to me.

Thanks for replies.

I do give her a bit of a burp but it's fairly rare that she does one. How long do you rub their back for to get one out?!

In the day she feeds every few hours and sleeps for quite long stretches (did almost 5 hours yesterday) but from about 7pm through to the morning she is doing the hourly feeds and fussing and is really hard to settle. I've not tried a dummy - is it okay to give one at 2 weeks as I heard you should wait a while?

I've also tried waking her up, both during the day and for the night feeds when she falls asleep but nothing wakes her up - tickling, cold compresses - all water off her baby back!

Given your update it just sounds like she is a typical newborn who doesn't know night from day. Keep daytime bright and noisy and exciting, try to keep it dark and quiet (no jolly chatting!) at night and she should learn the difference and switch to long sleeps at night and short naps in the day. As I said up there, hang in there, it gets easier!

Coukd you try and wake her for a feed in the day? I wouldn't leave her for more than 3 hours.

Are you getting her outside in the day? She won't understand the difference between day and night now, as a pp said, but it's been proven that daylight exposure helps with sleep at night.

Some people find that getting DH to take them outside in the morning for 10 minutes whilst you have a shower works

I gave a dummy from week one as it gave small breaks between cluster feeding. With formula fed babies they actively encourage a dummy from early on as it helps with sucking reflex.

My DD gets fussy on the boob if she is having a growth spurt and wants my milk supply to build or if she has wind. I lay her across my tummy so her head is laying between my boobs and then stick my tummy out and rub her back. Sounds weird but the pressure of my stomach against hers helps wind her, as going over my shoulder doesn't work for me. She then falls asleep in that position so gets skin to skin for five mins and then I pop her back down in her crib.

Breast compressions might help you keep her awake and actively feeding. All sounds very normal - is the weight gain ok?

We took her for a walk outside last night at 9ish and she then slept for almost 5 hours - not sure what happened there! She then reverted to every 1 1/2 - 2 hours after that.

Yes weight gain is good - was born at 6lbs 5 then dropped a little to 6lbs 2 at day 5 before being weighed at 7lbs 2oz at day 16 yesterday.

I have tried to wake her for a daytime feed but when she is properly asleep it's impossible. Tried taking clothes off, cold compresses but nothing wakes her for more than a few minutes

I'll try and get out more in the daylight but it's hard as I've got pelvis problems.

It does sound like typical newborn behaviour and cluster feeding. It will pass, but it is quite intense. Sounds like you're doing the right things though, putting her to the breast when she seems like she wants it (and not letting her sleep too long without milk) and trying to help her understand night from day. It's hard, but it gets miles better

It does sound like you are doing everything right and agree that it will get better.

If the walk worked last night and you have pelvis problems, could DH take her for a walk tonight whilst you sleep?

Have you read this Miss

The link doesn't work!

Yes DH did take her last night and I slept for 3 hours - it was bliss!