9 day old feeding and feeding. very tired mum.

[micegg]

DS is 9 days old today heas quite big at birth (8lbs 3 ozs). I am BF on demand. However, since yesterday he has started feeding for 10 mins, falling asleep and impossible to wake up. I put him down and 10 mins later he is awake again squarking for food. I understnd he needs about 30 mins on each breat to get the hindmilk, etc so a feed on one side is taking an hour. He then continues showing signs of hunger so we repeat the whole thing on the other side. Despite all this he is STILL hungry so yesterday and last night we gave him FF which finally allowed us some rest. For example, he fed 9-11 last night, by which point i was at breaking point and DH fed him 3ozs FF. He slept for half hour and woke at 2 and fed till 4. Finished with 2ozs FF and he slept till 8. The only sleep I got in 24 hours.

Whats going on? Am I not producing enough for him? Is this just a temporary situation? Seriously considering giving up BF. I have a two year old as well and all I seem to be doing is feeding her brother. Feeling pretty desparate for some advice.

Thanks

He's probably having a growth spurt. BF + sitting or lieing down feeding. Its difficult when you have other DCs but he's only brand new.

This sounds perfectly normal to me!! Newborns feed very frequently so they build up your supply. Don't worry too much about the fore/hindmilk thing - someone described to me as being like a hot tap, it's starts off cool then "warms up", and fore and hindmilk isn't separated as people used to think. i think all breastmilk has fatty deposits in it. i'm not sure though - will try to find link to kellymom for you!

Are you co-sleeping? we found this was the only way to get any sleep with ds - meant he could just help himself after a little bit of practice! Also, if you need to be getting out and about, we found the Premaxx baby bag was a godsend, as i could walk around with my boob in his face and no-one was any the wiser and ds got a lovely feed!

You're doing really well - just keep feeding in demand, as it's the best way to build up your supply.

fore and hindmilk on kellymom

hi there
poor you - the early days are really haard work and they do feed and feed, it's part of stimulating your milk production, aswell as using you as a filling station. you will have enough, esp. if you're demand feeding. supply=demand: he feeds you supply.

you sound as though you're doing really well and you are right to feed on demand as this too helps to stimulate supply and also makes sure baby gets exactly what he needs and when. try to think of your boobs as the kitchen and then think how often you go there to get a meal/biscuit/cup of tea/ glass of water etc throughout the day. he has to get all that from you.

in terms of how long they feed for... well because of above, it does vary and as long as he feeds for as long or short as he needs to he is getting enough. he doesn;t need to feeed for a certain length of time to reach the hindmilk - that's not how boobs work - which is reassuring as some babies (mine included) would never get to it.

do you mean he's feeding every 10 minutes or that he has a break for 10 minutes before going to the other side and then he settles for a bit? if he's just having a break change his nappy or whatever then put him back on the other side when he stirs so he can have his pudding, (and start the next feed on the same boob you finish on).

in the early days, and 9 days is still very early days, he might seem to be feeding constanly and it is hard going. iirc they have a growth spurt around 10 days or so and will have a feeding frenzy. they do cluster feed at times and again this helps your supply, and fills him up to sleep for a bit longer; he just hasn't realised yet that cluster feeding in the middle of the night is a killer!!

you're doing really well and you will get there. it does get easier - honestly it does (that's not just a cliche). it doesn't stay like this forever. wrt ff, don't beat yourself up about any decision you feel you have to make, you have to be able to get through the day, but you might find it doesn't make that much difference to the feeding/sleeping pattern. as you already said, he took 3 oz and still woke up half and hour later to feed for a further 2 hours.

there's nothing really i can say that will make the reality of the tiredness any easier but i do sympathise, and it does get easier, this stage does pass.

hth

Your feeding is just getting establishe dnad it takes a while to be in line with his papetite. The more he feeds the more you wiill create. Try to not worry about fore and hindmilk that is something of a red herring and timings are irrelevant. The early weeks are exhausting but it does even itself out. Paradoxically the formula you think may help now could actually prolong any difficulties of supply/demand so do try to keep to a minimum if at all if you plan to continue bf long term.

just in case - Pemaxx baby bag

i must type so slowly - there were no other messages when i started!!

should also say esp at this stage, be a little bit wary of formula if you want to bf as substituting bf for a ff may offset the supply/demand balance iyswim, you need to feed to build up supply.

x posts liz

i have a 3 yo also trying to type

constant feeding in a new born is par for the course, whether breast or bottle

let him feed until he comes off the breast, hindmilk does not suddenly kick in at some timed point in the feed.

if you give formula, then you should try to express so that your milk supply keeps up, the earlier you introduce formula, the more possibility that your supply won;t reach his demand.

this sounds like a growth spurt though, and will settle.

Micegg - hi from our antenatal board! It's EXACTLY the same here, I do sympathise wholeheartedly. I got no sleep at all last night and today have been teary and . Caved in at lunchtime and topped up with 2 oz of formula and he has now slept for 3 hours (me too - at last). Just about to stick him back on the breast now but will top up with formula again this evening if need be as I can't take any more! (Plus have a 3 yr old to look after.) It is v difficult, but people are giving good advice on here. How have you got on today?

Hi, my DS is now 14 weeks old and was EXACTLY the same as this for the first month. I felt as though I was chained to the settee and he was glued onto my nipple! Like the others say, it is par for the course for a newborn - they need to feed feed feed to get your supply going and they also need the comfort from being close to you. After 6 weeks or so, things vastly improved and feeding times went down to 30 mins, about 2-3 hours apart. Now he can feed in 20 mins and go for 3 hours inbetween.

I have nearly given up on so many occasions but kept going because I'm very passionate about bf. There is light at the end of the tunnel, I promise you! Nobody tells you this about bf, but if it's what you want to do then just ride the storm for now. It is very normal. It's entirely up to you, but I would try to avoid formula top ups at this stage - your milk supply doesn't regulate itself until about 6 weeks so you need to feed on demand to make sure there's enough there for your lo. Good luck!

micegg, hey sweetheart.
Try not to fret, it is perfectly normal for him to do this, and as urban says there is no substance in the feeding long enough to get to hind milk theory so even if you feed for 5 minutes every so often DS will get plenty.
As for not making enough milk, every time he sucks you produce more, it's like a Willy Wonka milk fountain, it doesn't run out.
I know it's really tiring, I'm a huge advocate of co-sleeping, especially at this stage.