big appetite in baby, can't take the pace!

[spots]

So CAN you overfeed a breastfed baby? My book says no, then proceeds to talk about babies who feed 'for comfort'. I don't know if this is what my 3 week old dd is doing or not... maybe it's a growth spurt? but she's practically one hour on, two hours off at the moment. I seem to have plenty of milk, evidenced by the gush that comes out when she is sick (overfeeding?) - loads of nappies, good weight gain. Anyway, I don't know what's going to blow first, my mind or my nipples. Am in the dark about all this - help!

Never needed to myself but have yopu tried a dummy?

I thought with breastfeeding on demand babies were supposed to regulate themselves as it were - maybe it is a growth spurt? Also I think that some babies are sicky babies (my ds was) and some aren't (dd doesn't seme to be) - I'm not sure sickness necessarily means overfeeding. Your dd should get more efficient at getting her nourishment from you as she gets older - don't know what you do about the 'comfort' feeding though...
Sorry, not sure I've helped much

Does it help to know that things change from week to week - no phase lasts for ever...

I tried 'demand feeding' with dd1, assuming it meant that every time the baby squeaked it was hungry and needed to be fed. She went through a phase at about 4 weeks of being increasingly irritable, so I kept feeding her. Eventually she'd bring up an enormous gush of milk and then appear to feel better -- does this sound similar to what you're describing?

FWIW I came to the conclusion that she was interpreting every stomach or gut sensation as hunger, and in fact I was giving her indigestion by feeding too much. Since then I've tended to assume that any squeaks or whinges within a two or three hours of a decent feed were not hunger, and tried to space the feeds out a bit, ie. interpreting 'demand feeding' as feeding when obviously hungry, rather than feeding at every little whimper.

All three of mine were very sucky and all had a dummy -- I know some people disapprove of dummies for bfed babies, but I never had the impression it was interfering with the feeding. I did find that we had to hold the dummy in a bit at the beginning until they'd got the hang of using suction to keep it in.

hth

Actually one hour on, two hours off doesn't sound too bad to me esp for a 3 week old. Eventually you can start to stretch them out a bit, but for now just go with the flow. Do watch her though to see if she is actively sucking or just having a bit of a flutter/comfort feed. Sometimes they just like being there and they don't really really need to be there esp if you want to get up and have a cup of tea...

Funny about the dummy thing,I haven't tried it and prob. will if this continues, but it really chimes in with all my inherited prejudices ... must have got these from my own mother as I don't actually know what the arguments are for not using dummies. Maybe now is not the time to find out...

I can ride the big feeds through if I know it's normal so all your comments help. Was also thinking that DH and I are really tall but she was born average, so maybe she has a bit of catching up to do.....

Hewlettsdaughter 'no phase lasts for ever' sounds like a parenting mantra to cherish, shall save it up!

Dummies cut the risk of cot death by around half, if that helps. I've done my research (for a feature in Junior btw). Some babies really do benefit from them IMO. My ds amoung them. Using them does not have any effect on successful breastfeeding.

Aloha - how do dummies cut the risk of cot death? Spots - we use one for our 9 week old. He has a bottle of formula about once every 3 hours and it says on the tin it should be 5 bottles in a 24 hour period so we're giving more. I'm paranoid about overfeeding too!

Dummy Dummy Dummy - if you don't want to feed like this (but if you're happy then carry on)
Every 3 hours sounds fine (measure timings from start of one feed to start of next) but if she's doing an hour of constant feeding , then vomiting, she probably is getting too much milk and could cope with only sucking on a dummy. My dd had one at about 6 weeks I think, and gave it up herslef after about 6 weeks use, so it doesn't have to be a permanent decision.

I may be wrong about dummies - but I think it regulates breathing and stimulates then to suck regularly....
some please correct me if i am wrong...

I suspect it works because when they fall into deep sleep the dummy slips slightly and they feel the urge to suck harder which arouses them slightly - in very deep sleep very young babies seem to forget to breathe sometimes - this is why keeping the baby in with you is also protective against cot death. However, the exact mechanism by which dummies are protective against cot death aren't proven, but there are endless studies showing exactly the same effect. It's pretty dramatic, I think.

SIDS cot death: essential info for parents

Get the latest info on SIDS cot death from the 2000 SIDS Conference.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome it is a terrible enigma that visits itself on thousands of families every year, devastating them beyond repair. It is a reality so horrible that we simply refer to it by its acronym SIDS. One day a beautiful healthy baby, the next a dead infant. Medical authorities have been wrestling with the why questions for many decades. In recent times some of their long held theories have been turned on their head. So, what is the current state of medical opinion with regard the causes and preventative measures related to Cot Death? Recently an International Convention on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome was held in Auckland, New Zealand. Their findings are summarised below:
(1) Passive smoking has been shown to be a leading factor in cases of cot death. Studies show that a baby with just one parent who smokes is 5 times more likely to suffer from cot death than one with neither parent who smokes. According to world authority Dr, Joyce Epstein of the British Foundation for the Study of Cot Death, If we could remove all smoking from a babys environment we estimate that cot deaths will reduce by 61 %.
(2) It has been observed that babies who suck on pacifiers have about half the risk of cot death than those who dont. The experts dont know why but the figures are quite conclusive.

Interesting reading aloha!

I agree - interesting aloha.

Of course, dummies aren't for everyone but I personally don't think they deserve quite the demonising they get. Esp as my son is an addict

My dd fed about the same at 3 weeks and it just about drove me mad. It did stop at 4 weeks miraculously - the midwife put it down to a growth spurt.

At last I have a fab reason for justifying dd's nighttime dummy to my dummy-hating mother! (Though actually she only really hated them at first, but when she saw how great it was for soothing dd when she had colic and was tiny, she relented big-time). I think it's a fascinating snippet of info and I really didn't realise the SIDS-prevention benefit when she was little.
Spots - The one hour on, 2 hours off seems par for the course at that age. Agree wholeheartedly with Frogs. When dd had colic in early days I'm sure it was exacerbated by my interpreting her pain for hunger, and her interpreting her windiness for hunger too, which I think only made her tummy hurt more - hence the usefulness of the dummy, which I'd sworn I would never use.

Back to the feed for comfort thing. You need to be aware of the 3 stages a baby goes through during a feed. Firstly the fast sucks to encourage the letdown, then the longer regular sucks, lastly what is often described as flutter feeding. It is at this stage that babies can be comfort feeding. The bfc who is training me as a peer supporter advises that you let the baby flutter feed for 5-10 minutes or so then insert your little finger and take them off.

Yes I'd identified the flutter feeding as a 'tailing off' stage - think she really is chugging away for most of her feeding time. B ut as someone who myself can think I'm hungry when it's actually just wind can sympathise with a baby who makes this mistake. as you say Pook... think she does this. She is quite windy, and I'm swithering as to whether or not it is this or overfeeding that causes the sickness. But spoke to sister in law who's a midwife last night and she says a big feeding stage is the baby's way of putting in a bigger order for next phase of demand... ratcheting up the supply ... think this also sounds like good sense.

erm, my dd was feeding half an hour every one and a half hours at that age, spots! I was abt ready to give up b/f! It turned out she was going through a growth spurt AND suffering from colic at the time..someone told me that the b/m acts to soothe their poor tummies. not sure if thats true, but dd certainly seemed to think so.

I want you to know that this mega-feeding frenzy, it doesn't last.Just as soon as you reach the point where u think you'll go mad, it miraculously stops.til then, HANG in there.

(but theres more lovely mindboggling growth spurts at 3 mth and 6 mths apparently!)

Hi Spots - My ds fed every 2 hours for 5 weeks until I relented and gave him a dummy, then he slept solidly for 5 hours straight!!!

I was then able to use the dummy to stretch the time between feeds a little at a time as he got older, so he would take a proper feed in one go.

every 3 hours does sound ok at 3 weeks though, I wouldn't try to stretch it to much yet.

The only problem with dummies though is that you will be forever waking up in the night to put it back in. But it is so great to shove it in their mouths to shut them up!!

I also introduced a bottle at night at 9 weeks to start filling him up and was still able to bf the rest of the time.

Just lurking on this thread but maybe a new thread hi-lighting the dummy thing would be a good idea.

Certainly interesting and good news for dummy fans. DS1+2 had theirs until about 2.5yrs, DS3 wouldn't take one, I'm almost sorry he wouldn't now.

Agree emmatmg - a new thread for the dummy research would be good. One less thing for mums (and dads) to worry about for a change!

Pook - we found a dummy did a lot to soothe DD's colic too.