newborn always hungry, could it be because I had a c-section?

[Comeinnumber49yourtimeisup]

I had a c-section on Monday night and thought breast-feeding was going well, he seemed happy, but the last couple of days he's been sleeping less time between feeds and trying to latch on to anyone who holds him. We're considering topping up with formula or expressing to up my supply.

Any advice very welcome...

Newborns are hungry all the time. they have tiny stomachs and can only take a little at a time but that tiny space emptie spretty quickly.
He will also be trying to get your supply going so it should settle down soon. IMO topping up can make this harder at the start

Congratulations btw.
I remember your post just before

My DD was like this too. And I had a CS. I think my milk took longer than normal to come in, so when it DID come in DD was hungry all the time. She lost a lot of weight in the first week (nearly a pound IIRC). I just feed DD whenever she asked for it, but I was feeding a lot at first. It did settle when she put the weight back on and BFing got more established.

HTH

It's because he's a newborn it's what they do! Mine were both very sleepy for the first few days post-section, so it may just be that he's becoming more wakeful best thing to do is keep feeding.

Babies are hungry. Its what they do best - along with poop!
Just hold him and feed him and enjoy the time when he is so small you have to do nothing else.

Aw, congratulations I agree that this is normal newborn behaviour. Best thing to do is forget everything else, settle yourself down in bed or on the sofa with lots of cushions, a laptop (or remote control and TV - box sets useful!) If you've got anyone around to help they should be in charge of bringing you food and drinks

It's possible the frequency has suddenly increased because of the C-section, if he was sleepy to begin with it may be that he is catching up now! Keep feeding, as long as he's having plenty of wet or dirty nappies and is alert (as alert as newborns can be), don't top up as you could compromise your supply.

Normal, normal, normal.

Sit on sofa
Get comfy
Pull top up
Put baby on bf'ing cushion.
Have a remote control, flask of tea and plate of biscuits and sandwiches beside you.
Do nothing apart from breastfeed, cuddle and rest.

You have just had a baby AND abdominal surgery. You look after the baby and dp looks after you

Don't top up it will compromise your supply which is still establishing itself. It is hard work and can be quite full on, but the spaces between feeds will increase.

Feeding as much as possible is what will boost and establish your supply. It can sometimes be hard to trust in something that you cannot quantify or measure, but believe me your body and baby know what to do, it just takes time.

Good luck and well done, you're doing great

apparently they are born with a stomach the size of a walnut, so he will keep wanting to fill it up.

I had so many questions, doubts and worries in my first week, but persevered and love bfing my 14 week old now. I'm so glad I kept going. It's also just so much easier than having to sterilise bottles etc, when you are knackered and frankly NEED and easy life.

It sounds pretty normal. Was it an emergency CS or an elective?

I found that the baby I had following an elective section at 39 weeks just wasnt 'ready', and so seemed to feed more often, and less well than my other children. It improved though .

My third baby just fed constantly for weeks! The other two were not like that. He was a natural birth so I think it is not related. He would also not be put down at all without screaming. He is still, at 18 months, very cuddly so I think it is a personality thing.

Congrats. and yes, completely normal.

I had my DD by elective section at 34 weeks and my milk came in on day 2. She fed sometimes 18 hours out of 24.

It's good for building supply that they are at the breast what seems like all the time.

11 months on and she still feeds every 2-3 hours.

Newborns do this - just keep feeding as and when he roots. His tummy ios the size of his fist so fills and empties frequently. Your supply will increase each time you feed. Let others run around while you take up a comfy position ! Congratulations btw !

Gosh, thanks everyone for your messages - we had another tough night, he wanted feeding from about ten pm till about 3 am, then slept till 6, had a quick 15 minutes feed and straight back to sleep, then the same again at 8. We both emerged in pretty good shape (freshly washed hair!) at around 10 and went for breakfast out and papers feeling incredibly normal!

Today has been bliss, just wide-eyed smiles (ok, wind, but they're smiles to me) easy breast-feeding, long naps and lots of reassuringly full nappies.

I spoke to a mw friend and she said you being very tired can slow your milk supply in the evening, so although they've had enough nutrition they get a bit desperate.

She also seconded all your opinions that it's best to tough it out and not resort to the bottle. That's what I'll be doing..

You'll all be here won't you?

Sounds like you had a lovely day

We're not going anywhere

The feeding constantly is often refered to as cluster feeding if you want to look into it more. There is a site called kellymom.com which is great.