6 days old newborn - constantly feeding??

[ashaj92]

My baby boy is 6 days old today, first baby and ebf but has also had a tiny top up of formula on the odd desperate occasion, (explanation to follow)
I’ve been breastfeeding from day one, generally been ok but had some major low points which has been really hard especially this early on.
When my milk started coming in (day 3-4), my poor boobs were so full and hard I couldn’t move them or the nipples to get a decent latch. They’ve finally gone down now - such a relief!! But the crap latch has always seemed to be more of a problem at night, and all I can put this down to is us both being so exhausted and getting frustrated with each other, leading to lots of rushed and bad latching in desperation to stop him from screaming. Hence the formula- for my own sanity (and his) when we start getting to this point, and when I haven’t slept ALL NIGHT again, my DH will give him one of the small premade cow&gate bottles so he doesn’t starve and I can get some sleep.

Ultimately, to get to the point, my main concern is he just wants feeding 24/7! Especially at night, he can spend an hour to an hour 1/2 on the boob each feed (normally being offered both), he’ll fall asleep, I put him down then 5-10mins later he’s screaming again as though he’s absolutely starving. This has been every night since he’s been born and it’s driving me crazy. Midwives etc have given me loads of support but have said he’s gaining weight and looks like he’s latching fine so they’re not really concerned. I just feel like I’m not giving him enough, or are babies really just like this and I’m being naive to expect quiet time between feeds?? I know it’s early days yet but would really appreciate a bit of advice?

[ashaj92]

Ooh and I forgot to add - we’ve now had no formula feeds at all in the last 3 days, just completely ebf 😃 feeling so proud of myself haha, and my new electric breast pump arrived today so going to give that a try too x

[Mac12345]

That's fantastic! You absolutely should be proud of yourself! Glad it's coming together for you both. My oldest had a lot of wind, we used infacol for the first 3 months and lots of burping after feeds and rubbing his tummy clockwise. Apparently cycling his legs can help with wind too.

I remember once he cried for a solid 30 mins with no break, we couldn't figure out what was wrong, he was distraught. Then he did a fart for a solid 10 seconds (no joke, it went on and on) and stopped crying instantly! Poor little guy.

That's great you get 3 hour chunks of sleep too so you're resting as well, makes all the difference when you're getting sleep in too.

Don't worry if it all changes again in a couple of weeks, there are growth spurts and mental development and teething and stuff going on all the time, so don't panic when the pattern changes!