Struggling with constant feeds and nappy changes

[sarah00001]

Hi, I'm a single mum and my baby girl is almost 6 weeks. She's a big baby weighing 9 pounds 10 at birth and my goodness she seems to be constantly hungry at the moment. Nightime is the worst. She will not settle and as soon as I stop feeding her she starts getting grizzly and chewing her hand and so I spend all night long breast feeding, bottle feeding and changing her nappy. This goes on til around 4am. I don't produce enough breast milk to meet her needs, but I still breast feed her before each bottle feed and it can take around 40 mins and each bottle feed takes around 30 mins. It's not easy, she fights with the bottle and often stops half way through crying and squirming about as if she's in pain. I suspect she has colic and tried infacol but it hasn't helped.

My baby poos her nappy after each feed and I must change around 10-12 nappies per day.

I am so exhausted it's unreal. I have no help whatsoever so its just me.

Will it get any easier?

Thanks, Sarah

Hi

I'm sorry you're having a tough time. It does get easier. I would probably chat to the health visitor for tips too if you need any. Mine helped a lot.
Mine is 7 now but I didn't have enough breast milk. This time around I probably would do things differently. Feeding twice sounds hard and long.
Hopefully a mum with more experience will come along soon. It does get easier, hang in there! !
Hugs

I'm sorry your finding it tough. The early days do feel relentless but they don't last forever. Probably an obvious question but do you think she's having a growth spurt?

Second issue is the combo-feeding I guess. Do you have a breast-feeding drop-in support that you could call in? La Leche, NCT or your HV should be able to point you in the right direction. At least you could get a bit of support with the feeding.

I bottle-fed my ds (also a big baby) as I couldn't breast-feed in the end. You're doing your absolute best so whatever happens feeding wise, so just remember this.

The nappies are normal. They'll get less in time but it feels like a constant cycle in the first few months. Hopefully someone will be along soon with some better advice for BF.

Congratulations on your baby too

DD was like this

try a different, colic medicine.

try different bottles for windy babies.

wind baby after feeds.

get all the help you can.

can you feed lying down so she can latch on and off as required? I found wearing stuff that kept shoulders and arms warm and pulled up for access and big maternity type trouser that pulled right up to under boob level helped keep me warm and I was anble to ditch the duvet to keep dd safer.

bed guards help too. to prevent her rolling out.

sterilised bottle by bed. box of preprepared milk and clean scissors in a clean bag or lunch box to open.

has she got tongue tie?
has she got reflux?

go to the gp and ask for an assessment.

sleep as much as you can in the day.

Yes, it will get lots easier. Soon.

My first baby was hard work in the ways you describe. It's just exhausting.

We also combi fed and I put a lot of pressure on myself to try and increase the breast vs formula proportion. It never happened, but I did combi feed from 3 days until 6 months, constantly feeling guilty.

Around 8 weeks was a turning point - I managed to understand baby a bit better and baby started to develop a bit of a pattern around sleeping / eating, so it was easier to figure what the fussing was about.

My second baby is now 6 weeks and this time round it's been a lot easier. Things I've learnt are:

1- Don't put too much pressure on yourself around formula / breast. Baby will turn out perfectly well and healthy either way.

2 - Make sure you are looking after yourself as well. It's natural when baby is crying to hold them, even though you haven't had a drink for hours / are busting for the loo. Make sure you are comfortable too - if you are settled on the sofa/bed with a drink next to you and a good program on TV feeding / being up half the night isn't quite so arduous. So take 3 or 4 minutes to get everything close by (even if baby if crying)

3 - Do whatever you can to make life easier. Batch make a days worth of bottles / or use pre-made in the night, rather than make each up individually. Even simple stuff like buying pre-grated cheese.

4 - Use a sling. Baby often happy and you can at least move around and do stuff. With any luck they'll fall into a deep sleep and you can transfer them to bed and get some sleep yourself.

Things will get lots easier soon

Second a lot of the above advise, try mam bottles they were a lifesaver to a friend of mine who's baby had terrible colic. It does get better, soon enough you will be worrying about the next problem and you'll remember you've not had a niggly feed for ages and not even realised.