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Parenting

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Original poster

Newborn wants to feed all the time!

20 replies

edeluna · 31/03/2011 17:11

My lovely 11-day-old daughter has the biggest appetite and wants to feed almost constantly. She's latching on well and gaining weight but is it normal for a new baby to want to feed for several hours straight?

Her pattern seems to be one day of constant feeding with little sleep during the day but several hours straight of sleep that night; then the next day, she'll do shorter feeds and little 2-hour naps and not sleep so much during the night.

I want to work on getting her into a routine as soon as possible, but am still recovering from an emcs, so not feeling overly ambitious right now. Happy and grateful for any advice, though!

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Camelscantdance · 31/03/2011 17:35

This is so normal.She is so young,forget routine just for a while.It is hard but go with the flow.Feed cuddle and enjoy.She barley knows she exists let alone day and night.
she does know what she is doing in that all that feeding increses milk supply.Does not last long.Hang in there.

MerylStrop · 31/03/2011 17:39

That sounds about right.

I understand the feeling of desperation (for sleep/normality). The first two weeks are the worst, and you are pretty much out of the twilight zone by 6 weeks, usually. The best advice I could give you right now is
go with the flow and follow her lead
sleep when she sleeps
feed her whenever she wants it
be extremely kind to yourself
live in the moment and forget routines for now

Octaviapink · 31/03/2011 19:34

It's also worth checking her latch - if it seems to take ages for her to get a feed she may be feeding inefficiently. She will also like sucking an empty nipple for comfort. But basically yes - it is normal for newborns to feed ALL the time! Don't worry about a routine - she'll fall into a rhythm naturally and you'll probably find that in a week or so she's feeding every couple of hours around the clock, which is easier.

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Original poster

edeluna · 02/04/2011 22:07

Thanks for the reassurance, everyone.

I think she's latching on well. I suspect much of the feeding may just be a need to suckle. How do you distinguish one from the other?

I read that some babies spend a good part of their waking hours sucking. Is two weeks old too early to introduce a dummy to try to satisfy that need?

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LoopyLoopsChupaChups · 02/04/2011 22:09

Yep, that's what they do! Just go with it. I don't think a dummy will help at this stage.

RobynLou · 02/04/2011 22:12

even if they're "just suckling" it's helping to establish the milk supply.

do you have older children? if not then just settle yourself in on the sofa and feed feed feed. it's only a few weeks.

Octaviapink · 03/04/2011 13:14

I found a lovefilm subscription helped a lot!

redstripeyelephant · 03/04/2011 21:28

Absolutely normal, both DDs were like that. With DD1 I mistakenly thought it meant she needed top ups with formula and that led to the end of breastfeeding. With DD2 I just fed on demand whenever she needed it and she is still breastfeeding at nearly 10 months. The first 6 weeks is all about establishing supply so hang in there and keep feeding

estya · 03/04/2011 22:43

Hi edeluna,
as everyone has said - totally normal. See it as nature's way of making your body produce lots and lots of milk.

When my little girl was new, she'd pull her position off the breast and just suck on my nipple. And it hurt. (I guess she'd eaten enough and just wanted to suck. And just sucking instead of working my boob with her jaw was easier for her I s'pose.)

Someone (professional, can't remember who, there were so many in the first few days) said we shouldn't give a dummy until 6 weeks. BFing was going well and i was desperate, so we gave one at 4 weeks. Until then I'd let her suck my little finger from time to time.

Octaviapink · 04/04/2011 12:08

Oh yes, the finger-suck thing is a great cheat - and if she just wants to suck then it's something that DH can do just as well if not better!

zayla · 04/04/2011 13:50

Check the symptoms of silent reflux too.

Original poster

edeluna · 10/04/2011 17:23

Baby is three weeks old now and still ravenous! There have been some very good days where she's on a good cycle of feeding for 30-60 mins at a time, then sleeping for a few hours. But there have also been a lot of days where all she wants to do is feed and I can't get her to sleep at all. Since midnight last night, for example, she's slept about 3 hours in total and we're both exhausted.

I don't mind the demand feeding, esp if it helps establish milk supply, but bc she's eating all the time (seriously grazing for hours on end), she seems to be eating far more at once than she can digest, so when I put her down to try to get her to sleep, she spits up a lot of what she's consumed.

She'll be looking very tired, but as soon as I put her in her cot, she wakes up and only lasts a few mins before she starts crying and, usually, looking for more food.

I feel like I must be doing something wrong.

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crw1234 · 10/04/2011 19:57

I really don't think you are doing something wrong -it does still sound normal have you got a breastfeeding group near you - that can be a real support - and my DS1 who would feed and feed would sleep quite a lot when we ere areout and about so at least I got a break from feeding
oh and some babies don't like cots much - have you tried slings

Original poster

edeluna · 10/04/2011 20:04

Thanks, crw, Haven't tried a sling yet bc I'm recovering from a c-section, but I do plan to use one as soon as I can.

I was thinking of looking into a BF group in my area. It's a bit tricky getting around with baby at the moment, but would probably be worth it. I'm worried about how little sleep the LO is getting some days, and maybe it does have to do with how she's latching on.

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Tigresswoods · 10/04/2011 20:44

I had one of those! Feed feed feed...

No routine to speak of until 12 weeks when I enforced "bed time" but no day time routine until 19+ weeks.

Go with it, it won't be forever.

pointythings · 10/04/2011 21:08

Edeluna, be aware that babies have growth spurts - 10 days and 3 weeks are two of them, she will be either gaining a ton of weight, getting longer, or developing a new skill - or all three at once. It disrupts their sleep, it makes them extra hungry and irritable and it makes them unpredictable. It's also completely normal, and demand feeding is the best thing for it. Most spurts last 3-4 days and then start to settle, but not all. You can expect the next one at 6 weeks, and it will be a monster, then again at 12 weeks, 16 weeks and 20 weeks. The 16 and 20 week spurts can run into one another and coincide with a lot of physical development (trying to sit up, roll over, increased awareness of the world) and can be very, very tough.
You will probably find you get more of a routine at about 4 months when their sense of day and night starts to develop, you can then 'nudge' their bedtime in the right direction very gently and you will start having a little bit of evening to yourself again.
Daytime routine from about 19 weeks fits with my own experience too. It's tough, but this stgage only lasts for such a short time. If you're on Mat Leave, sleep when DD sleeps and sod the housework.

zayla · 11/04/2011 13:42

I think there tends to be a bit of vicious cycle thing where babies that are really tired like to comfort suck. Is she happy to e.g. suck your finger (or a dummy if you are happy to try one which I realise you may not want to if you are bfing) i.e. is she actually hungry or just wanting to comfort suck? If she's not hungry, can you soothe her some other way e.g. white noise, rocking?

Reflux/silent reflux babies are also often massive comfort suckers because the saliva/milk lines their oesophagus making it less painful.

LionRock · 11/04/2011 14:09

It's maybe useful to know that a newborn baby's stomach can initially only hold 5-7ml of milk. This is about the size of a malteser. The capacity increases rapidly in the first days, but is still a relatively tiny amount. Also, breast milk is easier to digest than formula so a BF baby may seem hungrier since they digest their feed quicker and are soon ready for the next feed.

I was shown a visual representation of a newborn's stomach size by a midwife - she had a marble for day 1 and a ping pong ball for a 2 week old, and a midsize ball for a week old baby. It was quite reassuring to understand why a newborn would seem to constantly need to feed.

gourd · 11/04/2011 15:01

If she seems to be sucking at an empty breast for ages (when you can't hear/see her swallowing, or see any milk at the edges of her mouth) just detach her and put her onto the other breast. I used to chain feed my LO to sleep - literally feed on one boob then the other and repeat till my LO was so full she just HAD to sleep. Basically keep feeding with one boob then the other and just repeat till they pass out!

Original poster

edeluna · 11/04/2011 16:15

pointythings Thanks for the details about the growth spurts. I've done some reading and I think this is probably what was happening.

zayla We do sometimes give her a dummy for a few minutes and that help soothe her. We also occasionally give her a bottle, and so far she hasn't had any nipple conufision and carries on normally with the BF.

LionRock The MW who taught my antenatal class also did the marble demo, which really helped visualize the baby's tummy. At three weeks, she's grown, but I think she's still packing in more than her capacity. I just try to give her some upright time to digest before putting her down to try to minimize the amount the spits up.

Oh, and there's the call back to duty. Must run! Thanks, everyone.

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