Spend all day feeding or comforting 5 week old. Is this normal?

[TheosMam]

The past few days he's just changed. He doesn't really sleep much in the days, and never for long anymore. He's not really awake and alert anymore either, if he's awake he's crying or feeding. I literally spend all day feeding, or shushing and patting him to comfort him. It's awful! Is this normal?

Normal is a massive spectrum when it comes to newborns! There's lots of growth spurts and stuff going on that can leave them unsettled and some babies are more sensitive than others.

That said, it could be something like silent reflux if he's miserable all the time?

Yes! He’ll be having a growth spurt! Sit back and relax, Netflix, snacks and a big jug of water!! Order in dinner if possible!

If I tried to put my daughter down this would be me - have you tried popping him in a sling? The first few months all they really want to do is cuddle up to mum 24/7, listen to your heartbeat and pretend birth didn't happen so a sling at least means you can use your hands while the baby does that!

There is no normal. Sometimes babies need more food so want to keep feeding to build up your supply. (Maybe try a sling for settling baby and you getting a change of scene) That being said if you are concerned they are really not well get them checked as they are still tiny. Temperatures etc are much harder to manage in one so small.

My daughter was like this at 5 weeks. I went and got a sling cos I just couldn’t put her down. Within a week it had changed again and I’ve barely used the sling since! It won’t last forever, hang in there xxx