Advice on new born

[doxiepoxie]

Hello all,
My son is 19 days old. He lost 12% from birth weight as I was anemic and took time to get milk in. He's now just above and I've been signed off by midwife.
Just after a bit of advice.. my little one is constantly hungry.. he feeds literally every hour and if he isn't feeding, he cries. He sleeps in the car and in the pram but otherwise there is not nice calm time.
Am I naive to think there would be? I'm exhausted from feeding so frequently and expressing so much. The most time I get out of the house is one hour at a time!
Is this all normal for a little person??

Just feel all over the place.. when will get to enjoy him instead of worrying about his crying and when the next feed will be

I felt exactly the same lovely! I promise you - you will get back to “normal” - I know it feels very weird and not quite right at the moment but it’s just your hormones and the lack of sleep/stress taking its toll on you.

You have to do what’s best for you, your baby and your family. I felt overwhelmed with the advice that was being given by the HV/midwifes - they mean well but at times I felt like I was being told what to do rather than being given help and support to do what I wanted/felt in needed to do for the baby and for myself.

He is you child. Trust your gut, if you feel you want to do/not so something then you do it 😊

that sounds really hard work

I'd be questioning why you're expressing to then feed and top up with formula if there are no latch issues. Why not just feed for longer and then the formula?

I'm not an HCP so they might have a good answer but worth asking?

Oh, just seen about the feeding plan - that's exactly what we had to do but they never said how long. I just stopped when I thought things were going well enough, and quite frankly couldn't stand expressing anymore.

If he’s regained weight and feeding well now I would drop the expressing. He will get your supply up sharpish, it doesn’t drag on for weeks! They usually go feeding mad for a couple of days and then it dies down again.

There’s lots of growth spurts in the first few weeks, so be prepared for more bouts of constant feeding, but it’s all entirely normal (if exhausting)

If your husband is so pro-breastfeeding get him to take ds as soon as he’s stopped feeding so you can shower/eat/sleep. He can pop him in the pram out for a nice long walk once a day while you have some time to yourself. It’ll give you the energy to keep up with his appetite! Well done though, I remember how bloody knackering the first few weeks were, and yes! The old cliché - it does get a hell of a lot easier and it is so worth it in the end. Still bf my 15 month old now.

Have you had the baby checked to see if it is tounge tired. That can cause feeding problems

Have you had the baby checked for being tongue tired, that can cause feeding problems.

He has a posterior tongue tie but as he gained weight they decided not to do the snip.. he would have have to have learnt to re latch too.
Did anyone find their lo became very fussy in the evenings?

Fussy in the evenings is absolutely normal. Just keep feeding. That's the best thing for your milk supply.

I know it's really hard but honestly it won't last forever and your doing brilliantly.

It usually gets better between 6-8weeks, hang on in there.

(Equally, if you feel you really do need to stop don't beat yourself up)

Thank you all so much.

This is completely normal. My advice is to go with it as much as you can, let your baby feed and feed and try feeding lying down so you can rest. I had a very small baby and she was just the same. It was so hard and so tiring but do not give up. It won’t last forever. And yes try a dummy too!

Fussy evenings are normal. When ds was that age I was so worried about what was normal. I spent so much time googling things or asking people questions -if I could go back I'd try to relax and go with it.

I second what Mummy said, i spent the first few months researching everything and obsessed with whether I was doing it ‘right.’ If I could go back is def chill out abit and not pressure myself to be the ‘perfect’ Super Mum.

I’d*

Thanks all, these replies are so reassuring. My little one really keeps me on my toes throughout the day, he's either crying, feeding or sleeping. I guess I was naive up think he would do anything but!