My daughter is nearly 3 weeks old. At the birth prep classes, we were told to let the baby let us know when she was hungry, that we don't make a lot of colostrum and that her stomach was the size of a seed, don't worry new mums etc etc.
When she was born, she latched okay but it was pretty painful. Again, something we were told to expect at least until the milk came in. She fed a lot at night, not so much in the day. Would fall asleep on the boob every time within minutes.
On Day 3, the midwife got twitchy and said she'd lost 6% of her weight and since she was already quite little (2.9 kg), she recommended we supplement with formula immediately.
Since then, all the advice to trust my instincts sounds sort of sarcastic. I thought she was fine but sleepy but apparently her latch was so bad she wasn't getting enough food so the sleepiness was hunger. My instincts were way way off base.
Day 4, she stopped latching altogether so we were feeding her formula out of a shotglass and I was expressing what I could until my milk came in later that day. The health visitor recommended nipple shields for the latch, and so now I can breastfeed. She's gaining weight nicely now.
At night, sometimes she goes for four and a half hours between feeds. I thought it might be the formula we still supplement with but it's also true for breastmilk if we've given it from a bottle.
My question is: when can I let her tell me when she is hungry instead of waking her for a feed? If I wake her too early, if she's too sleepy she will root but not feed.