hungry all the time

[starlover]

ds is now 9 days old and has just managed to switch from bottle to breast!
He refused to feed when he was born, and I ended up expressing milk and bottle feeding him. This was going fine, he was having his feeds and sleeping for around 4-6 hours in between, perfectly content.
The last couple of days he has mastered the breast.... i think. he will latch on nicely and have a few really strong sucks, he then slows down and often falls asleep. or he will just lie there with his eyes open, but not sucking at all. anyway, he will feed like this for around 20 mins or more, and then spit it out and fall asleep in my arms.
If i try to put him in his crib though he wakes up and screams. he roots around like he wants more food.
doesn't matter how many time i feed him he still does this!
is he getting enough from me? should i still express and top him up from the bottle to make sure he is getting enough? he just seems so unsettled now and the most sleep he gets at any time is about 2 hours... and then i usually have to givve him a dummy to get him to settle down...

what am i doing wrong???????

you're doing everything right IMHO

just keep doing it to demand and he will settle down .. he has to learn how the breast works as opposed to the bottle ..

personally I believe in demand-feeding and he's awfully young .. they do tend to sleep for 2 - 3 hours at this stage then wake

HTH (more experienced / knowledgeable people will be along soon)

wow starlover - 9 days already!

maybe your milk hasnt come in yet fully - are your boobs full and heavy?

i would just keep feeding him on demand - its hard work i know but dont worry about anything else just now (like housework) just concentrate on baby.

he will get into a routine (sort of) and your boobs should then get full and empty

congrats on everything - you are doing a great job!

starlover, you are doing fabulously well after a sticky start.....your baby is behaving normally and wonderfully! The breast is a comforting, familiar place, and it's lovely he recognises this after the first few days when he refused it. He is now acting like a normal, healthy 9 day old who is communicating his preferences for being close to you in an effective and healthy way.

In fact, 2 hours is about the average sleep any baby of this age will have at any one time.

oh tiktok you put things so lovely!

thank you all...
it just feels strange, because he has gone from being so contented and sleeping lots, to being fractious all the time and everything...
just makes me wonder if i have done the right thing.

he had a feed at about half one, then at 3ish wanted more. He fed til he spat it out and fell asleep, but when i try and put him down he just cries. He is acting like he wants more, but when I put him to the breast he just struggles and cries
I know there is milk there because it was all leaking out

maybe he has a cold or something?

No, I don't think he has a cold....starlover, it's not good for babies to sleep long periods, and 'contented' babies who are asleep a lot may be missing out on feeds (lots of case histories on mumsnet confirming this)....and he is only 'fractious' in order to tell you he wants to be in your arms, not in a crib or cot. He may not be hungry when he cries - he just wants to be close to you.

ok, i will stick with it. am just being all hormonal and tearful i think!

tiktok you are so wise

starlover, enjoy sitting with baby and having a cuddle - they dont stay that small for long. its amazing how much babies just love cuddling and your soft voice talking to them, then they drift off to sleep. your soft skin in his wee mouth is such a comfort too, and he will look for that (as opposed to just a feed)

well, he is finally asleep. following about 2 hours of him and me crying our eyes out, and dp trying to comfort us both.
when i got myself together i took him into the bedroom, undressed him, undressed myself and we had a nice cuddle together skin-to-skin and then he fed from both sides! he had previously refused to feed from both boobs and was getting very upset when i tried to get him to.
i did give him the dummy to settle him down in the crib, but it was only a few seconds before he went to sleep.
i am not sure whether to keep using the dummy or if it is confusing him. It's just so easy to pop it in his mouth so that I can get a bit of peace... but maybe it isn't the right thing to do

Lots of babies are very sleepy for a few days and then find it harder to settle. The feeding change is probably coincidental.

It does get better, honest.

Sometimes, babies get really agitated and don't know they would really like to have a feed, if only they could calm down

That's why, as you've discovered, going somewhere quiet and calm and just cuddling skin to skin, can wind them down again, enough to snuggle up and just feed to sleep.

Don't sweat about the dummy. If it's helping you, and him, it's fine. You would only worry about 'confusion' if he wasn't bf well, and was sucking on the dummy instead and not thriving as a result.

Have a good night!

I felt like this with my dd2 - going through this now - she has a dummy - because sometimes I am unable to attend to her immediately - have a dd1 with sn... there is no confusion in her mind between the breast or dummy - or bottle for that matter.

I was also told that sometimes when they drop off like that midfeed they may be a little windy...I also tried burping dd midfeed and that seemed to work.

guess what? he's been the perfect little gent today!
having lovely long feeds, AND having a little nap in between!
and when he's been awake he has been happy to have a cuddle with me, or lay in his crib instead of screaming blue murder!
I guess he was just having a bit of an off-day yesterday!