Feeding a sleepy baby and other BF issues

[sleepmore]

Hello

Baby is 11 days old and is so far gaining weight quite well - she is getting weighed again this afternoon.

She was only 2.9kg when born so I am keen for her to fed well - however there are 2 issues - she is very sleepy - will feed for 5 mins sometimes and is then falling asleep - i think my milk is coming through quite fast as she will choke/gag on the milk and start coughing. So she is not feeding for long and I am having to wake her up to get her to feed. Should I wake her every 2 hours?

If she does have a big feed it is all coming back up again and that is quite upsetting for me.

any thoughts appreciated

Hello sleepmore
First of all, congratulations on your new baby!
I am not a specialist and hopefully tiktok or another will be along in a bit. There are lots of specialist bf lines to ring if you want to talk with an expert straight away- I got good advice from the NCT one (0300 330 0771, 8am?10pm, seven days a week). Also hopefully you will get some advice from your mw/ hv when you get your DD weighed this afternoon. That is great that she is gaining weight well so far.
The funny thing about bf is that you can't see how much milk she is having, even by the length of the feed, so the only thing to go on really is wees/poos and gaining weight. As I understand it, if they are all going "according to plan" (as your mw/hv will advise), then you are doing well, even if milk is coming up again (normal btw!).
I had the same experience with having to wake my DD to feed her- she was very very sleepy! I would ask the mw/hv this afternoon how often they think you should wake her to feed, as they will have all the charts etc. in front of them, and can also see your baby feed perhaps. Every two hours is quite often, not least in terms of you getting some sleep yourself (!); I woke my DD every four hours. Also I had tips to wake her up when she dozed off mid feed, for example tickling her, taking some of her clothes off so she wasn't too snug, blowing gently on her cheek, changing her nappy part way through a feed etc.
Good luck, do talk with the experts, but it sounds like you are doing a great job.

If you think about a normal 24 hours, how many times would you say she is feeding. You should be aiming for around 8-12 feeds in every 24 hours. The short feeds is probably not a problem if as you say she is gaining weight, weeing and pooing and seems well in herself.

If you think the let down might be a bit fast, you could try stimulating the let down yourself before latching her own and just catching that first fast spurt in a muslin.

While you are still building your supply, and both of you are getting the hang of breastfeeding, it is generally recommended to wake baby after 2-3 hours for feeding in the first couple of weeks or so.

You may find massaging your breast once in awhile when she is nursing may encourage her to stay awake a bit longer. As you see her start to drift off to sleep or you notice a decrease in her suckling, gently massage around the breast or use downward compressions on the breast. This will move the nipple a bit in her mouth and may cause her to continue nursing. You want just enough to move the nipple but not cause her to detach. This also can be helpful in preventing plugged milk ducts.

Along the lines of the let down as Sassyfrassy mentioned, some mothers will use a manual pump to catch the milk to store some. Just enough pumping to start the flow can be helpful. You might find positioning her more ontop of your breast, with you leaning slightly back, causes her to have to feed a bit uphill helps if you feel you have an overactive let down. It may too be just that she is falling asleep as she is nursing and isn't regulating her swallowing real well just yet.