Am I 'overfeeding?'/ doing something wrong

[littleweed10]

Hi, my DS was born on 7th May and has very very long feeds. For example, he awoke at 08:30 this morning, and, as I type still hasn't settled.
I wonder if he is getting overwhelmed by foremilk - on one side in particular it whooshes out! yesterday he was v crotchety, giving lots of cues to want to feed, but refuing my breast if I tried, and when he did suckle only for about 5 minutes b4 the cycle started again.
Yesterday evening had a green poo. Overnight had good feeds, and back to yellow 'chichken korma' colour (TMI?!) He was also very burpy yesterday.

Any ideas, I am truly exhausted by the length of feed, and worry he is not getting what he needs...

At last weigh in, he'd put on 12oz in a week

Congratulations - that weight gain is brilliant - you are doing fantastically!

Your ds will be def getting everything he needs.

Not every baby feeds for 45 minutes and then sleeps for 2-3 hours so if he is wakeful after his feed you may have to try something else to get him settles.

Feeding him until he sleeps is not always the answer.

Sometimes popping him a sling and going for a walk helps, sometimes bunging him in his buggy even if he's squawking helps. Sometimes just walking him round at home showing him things helps.

Good luck

littleweed, it's great to have such a generous supply but maybe he is a tad overwhelmed by it....call any of the bf helplines and ask to talk about what you can do, and search block nursing or one sided feeding on mumsnet....but do discuss it with someone who knows what's what first. There may be other things going on, too.

Poor you sounds exhausting. Pls dont worry but dont like the sound of poo changing colour the way it does. It should be quite consistant colour by now. Sounds like he could have a belly ache, ie. change of poo colour, and refusing boob but really wanting it. Good Luck

My DH read up on green poo last night - it was suggested too much foremilk if I am overproducing might be the cause...
tried expressing a bit off this off first last night, before doing a feed, and he did have a settled night with good sleeps in between.

Do you think he just feels tempted by milk as he smells it on me? When he comes off the breast, he usually tries to latch on but doesnt want it. If DH soothes him, he settles quiet awake or snoozes off...

littleweed, green poo is fine, on the normal spectrum and nothing to worry about as long as everything else is fine.

It can be a sign of generous production, but this in itself is not a problem.

It's not so much him smelling the milk as already associating you with a lovely milky cuddle

However, a lot of what you are saying is all part of a new baby getting used to the world, and it could easily sort itself out

What does midwife or HV say?

sounds ok, just baby getting used to it all. Basically, they pull away when they need a break/burp, and then go back for more, but confusingly they also bob up and down begging for the breast when they have had loads and are just colicky, and also pretty much whenever they can smell the milk. If you know he's had loads, burp him and give him a little break and just decide to end the feed.. my DD is 8 weeks and has green poo days, I try not to worry as long as it' s mostly yellowy (second child = less worried!)
beware of puky phase coming up at around 4 weeks where they just throw up the excess! good luck!

hi Gemzooks, that is very comforting thank you! you have summed up my 'rank amateur' hunch.
When I was in hospital I was told breastfed babies often dont need burping. Life has got a lot easier since I have discovered this one does! I am sure the latch is right, Ithink he just guzzles very quickly and gets himself a bit overwhelmed.
The nappies have not been consistently green, just the odd one over the last few days.
I'm looking forward to that pukey phase - yum!!