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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Advice re frequent feeding please

11 replies

mmelody · 19/08/2007 12:11

My DS is four and a half weeks old and is exclusively BF. He has kind of got into a pattern of feeding 1.5-3hrly both during the day and night.He feeds really well and is piling on the weight.

The past four nights though he has got to 4am and then feeds hourly until around 11am when he eventually falls asleep. The night before last he was feeding hourly from 11pm to 7am which was an absolute killer(exhausted emoticon!!!) He is generally contented apart from during these feeding frenzies when he is not easily settled and grumpy.

I am just wodering if this is a growth spurt as the extra sucking has certainly sent my supply WAY up. Shall I just go with the flow and hope it will pass? Help and advice would be much appreciated.

OP posts:

Chirpygirl · 19/08/2007 12:40

There is a growth spurt around 4-5 weeks IIRC so with any luck that is all it is and it should pass. I seem to remember this being the last nightmare time before we hit the lovely 6 week mark, when it all seems to pan out (well, ours was more like 7 weeks but whatever!)
Give it a few more days and sleep when you can in the day.
DH was evicted from 4-6 weeks onto the sofa so I could feed lying down and kip while I was doing it, have you tried that? Get enough pillows to be really comfy and your DS won't be able to roll off anywhere if you put some behind him!

Good luck!

Lizzer · 19/08/2007 12:40

mmelody, I'm sure you've hit the nail on the head with the growth spurt theory and if he's a contented little chap the rest of the time then you are obviously doing soooo well.

Just remember to sleep when you can to catch up on what you're missing out on.

Keep telling yourself, it won't be for long!

agnesnitt · 19/08/2007 21:02

How about an almost three week old baby who is constantly wanting feeding? I'm not sure it's comfort feeding as he is putting on weight. All I know is that the getting up at four and feeding near constantly 'til about nine/ten in the evening is driving me to distraction. I'm even contemplating the concept of mixed feeding I'm that tired

Agnes

Pannacotta · 19/08/2007 21:06

At night have have the baby in bed with you -makes it far easier to feed/sleep, its the easiest (only?) way to deal with growth spurts (which dont last too long IME). I often fell asleep while feeding to wake up later with the baby fast asleep next to me...

crokky · 19/08/2007 21:12

if you can feed laying down in bed, you'll both be able to sleep. careful of LO falling out though

Original poster

mmelody · 19/08/2007 21:43

Hi and thanks for the replies. id love to feed lying down but just can't seem to get the hang of it. My boobs are pretty ample and is just not easy to do. Im encouraged by the thought of a lovely 6 week mark...its just having a sense that there is light at the end of the tunnel that makes it bearable at that horrid 4am.
Agnesitt I hope it gets better for us soon..

OP posts:

Pannacotta · 19/08/2007 21:47

It is quite tricky at first but worth perservering if you can, as it makes life much easier. Try lying your LO on a pillow to feed so he is the right height to reach your nipples, or rest him on your pillow just while you feed. Am sure there will be info on line to show you the easiest way (hard to describe in words).
Will see if I can find sth.

determination · 19/08/2007 21:52

just added this link to the other thread too

Chirpygirl · 20/08/2007 18:38

I am rather large of nork myself and found lying down quite easy once I had the hang of it, the trick is not to lie on your side but more on your back and then roll slightly sideways. Have LO on their side facing you and just keep moving until mouith and nipple line up, then arrange pillows behind you so you are comfy.
Another way is to lie flat on your back and lie the baby face down on your chest, sounds like they should suffocate but it does work, especially if you tip them slightly onto your arm and have cushions/pillows under your arm.
I'll try and find the thread about the breast crawl for newborns. My DD and I used to feed like this in the day lying on the sofa when she was older and I was tired.

thread here
direct link here

crayon · 21/08/2007 08:51

Sounds like either a growth spurt or just the clustered feeding you tend to get at that age as they get your milk going. Don't worry, it doesn't stay like that for long, you must be exhausted.

It may be that he is getting too much watery fore milk rather than the rich creamy hind milk behind it and is then hungry again sooner. In the day time with DS1 we tried to spread his feeds a little so that he was hungry enough to take both the fore and hind milk rather than keep snacking. We did this by taking him out in the buggy so he slept a bit beyond the stage he would normally have woken up, or wearing him in a sling.

I think the 3 hour feeds sound fine, but if he is feeding every 1.5 hours day and night, you might want to spread them a bit.

numptysmummy · 21/08/2007 08:57

You do get periods of cluster feeding - 6 and 12 wks were always the worst for me. It does get easier. As for lying down feeding, once you get the hang of it it's fab. I co-sleep and i don't even wake as dd latches herself on and my norks are big enough for her to reach both without us rolling over to the other side iyswim.Stick with it - bottles are just as time consuming having to make them up, steralise etc etc.

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