Hungry baby

[Gabby786]

My little girl is just over a week old. She seems to want to be on my breast 24/7 and it's still not enough. I'm topping her up but even so she still seems hungry all the time. I'm exhausted! Any advice would be welcome!!!!

I never breastfeed as my baby wasn't strong enough to suck. But possibly add more top ups or maybe have a look online to what foods make breastmilk thicker and more filling x

I think that's pretty normal for the early days. My baby was the same. Why are you topping up? Has she put on weight?

I think unless she's having trouble putting on weight and your doctor or midwife are worried, then you just let her get on with it. She's just establishing your supply and telling your breasts how much milk they need to make.

I know it's pretty exhausting, but it really does get easier. Hang in there!

You need to ask you HV she may recomend a different formula to top up with. Congratulations by the way I'm sure your doing a grand job. I know it's hard but you are amazing. Sorry can't be much help. Good luck 😊

Sounds like a growth spurt, designed to increase your milk supply. It should settle down with a day, in the meantime pop your feet up and keep on feeding 😀

They are very hungry for the first 6 weeks. Totally normal. Just keep doing what you are doing but just to warn you the top ups will make it impossible to get your supply up to speed. But if you are fine with formula feeding or at best, mixed then no problem. Read the Kelkymom site to get a better understanding of how supply works if it's a concern.

Hi, I felt the same when I first brought my baby home from hospital. I couldn't put her down without her walking up crying for more milk and switched to formula on day 5 as I was convinced my milk wasn't coming in.
But I've since seen a lot of mums on here recommend the KellyMom.come website which has so much help and information to help you through the first few weeks. Have a look on there and see if it helps you. I wish I had seen it before I decided to stop breast feeding!
There is also an 'Infant Feeding' topic on the 'Feed the World' threads. So maybe have a look on there to see if anyone else is in the same situation.

kellymom.com/hot-topics/frequent-nursing/

Oh it does sound normal and it can be really hard. It will get much easier.

It's fairly normal. Growth spurts can make them cluster feed. Hang in there, as much as you can stand.

Agree with the pps about kellymom and that booklet the midwifes give out (if you are in England) is great too.

I found it helped me to say 'I'll just see if I can get to the end of the week' and carried on doing that for the first month or 2. It's so unbelievably easy once they get the hang of feeding.

Make sure your OH takes care of you.

I'm topping up because it seems like my breast milk isn't satisfying her. When she has my breast milk she sleeps but she seems to sleep a lot better with a top up. My midwife recommended top up but today she seems to just be drinking non stop.

This sounds normal, they eat so much at first to establish supply.

Try the infant feeding board for more advice.

I'm no expert, but think it's pretty normal. The constant feeding will stimulate your supply, and topping up can be counter productive.

It can be hard work though!

Breast milk is enough, but she is feeding constantly to build up your supply. It's completely normal and to be expected. They feed around the clock at this age.

Gabby, nobody has enough breastmilk, the baby has to force you to make more. That's why I'm saying read Kelkymom, you need to understand this stuff if breastfeeding is important to you. No problem if your happy to move onto formula.

Her stomach is tiny at this stage (think not much bigger than an apricot) That will empty and need refilling pretty often. Your breasts will only make milk if stimulated by her; top ups are fine but it is important to realise that your breasts will miss the cue to match your baby's demand.

Yeah sounds completely normal... it's cluster feeding. They need to feed and feed and feed to get your supply up. Your supply increases until about 6-8 weeks when it plateaus.

Just take a few glasses of water and some cake and sit in front of a box set with a baby that feeds, sleeps, feeds, sleeps all day.

HVs tell so many people to top up!! You'd think half the population has under supply.

Back in the day when people were instructed to feed 3 hourly it caused a lot of issues, that's simply not enough at the start.

As others have said, totally normal for babies to feed continuously at this stage. Baby is establishing your supply and if you want to breastfeed the best thing you can do is ditch the top ups and follow your baby's cue and feed on demand. I know it is hard at this stage but I took it as a chance to settle on the sofa in front of TV and be waited on. This obviously requires lots of support from others, which you hopefully have! Good luck. It does get easier.

I wish I knew at this atage that the advise is not to top up. Your baby is learning to breast feed and is establishing your supply.

The new world is scary and confusing for a tiny baby. Being on your boobbis were baby is comfortable and happy.

Agree with pp she is establishing your supply. If she is having lots of wet (10 in 24 hours) and dirty (2 in 24 hours) nappies then she is getting enough milk. It's so hard in the early days and it is so tempting to top up with formula but if you want to continue exclusively bfing then you really shouldn't supplement or your supply will never catch up to her demand. Get in bed/on sofa in some comfy clothes and some pillows. Put on some films or box sets and grab lots of water and snacks. I remember days almost non stop feeding, just swapping back and forth.
If you don't mind ff or mixed feeding then carry on giving them top ups but if you want to bf then stop them now and feed her on demand. Good luck x

I just wanted to reiterate what many others have said - if you're serious about breastfeeding then please ditch the top-ups, unless there is a medical reason for them. Your body only produces milk in response to demand - your baby is feeding all the time to tell your body to increase supply. If you rely on top-ups your body won't produce the milk your baby needs and you may end up exclusively formula feeding (which is also ok if you decide that's best for you).

At that age it's normal for babies to cluster feed for hours in end - I had DD attached to me permanently from 6pm to midnight every night.

It's totally normal (albeit exhausting) as others have said. She's establishing your supply, and giving formula will interfere with that. If you want to combi feed that's fine, but if you want to ebf then it's best to just go with it. Both my babies have been like it, DS fed every hour on the dot for the first few weeks, but now at 10 weeks is feeding about 7-8 times a day and sleeping through the night (I got lucky there!) DD cluster fed every evening till 3 months and then calmed down.

Thank you all for the advice ladies! I did want to ebf but I feel like I can't keep up with her lol which is why I did top ups. She wants to be on my breast literally all day otherwise. But I'm going to try and stick to ebf for now.

I have a 2.5 - week old boy and I found the same thing very frustrating and upsetting in the first week- especially during the night. He just fed constantly and I couldn't put him down, of was really upsetting. But it did settle down, and for the last week or so it'a been a bit less....frenzied! He has the odd grumbly day where he demands to be fed, my HV says they're growth spurt days. Difficult but nothing to worry about. As PP said, he's establishing supply.

Very best of luck!

It's normal for them to feed lots. Keep an eye on getting wet and dirty nappies and trust your body. Good luck op. You can do this :) xx

As PPs have said, she's feeding so much to build your supply so there will be no need for top ups. It's tough, especially if you feel she's not getting enough but she will be! And it will get easier.

BF is all about supply and demand. She has to demand it so that your body produces the right amount. If you top up (especially without expressing), your body doesn't know that DD is being fed something else and then thinks it's made the amount that she's asking for. If you let her feed for as long as she wants, as often as she wants, your body will produce exactly what she's asking for and then the constant feeding will ease.

Just go with it for now. Get comfy on the sofa, drink plenty and enjoy some snacks!