Is this normal??

[Atticus500]

I have an 8 week old who seems to feed all day on my boobs. She goes on and off for about 10 mins at a time and then is back on within an hour. It’s exhausting. Everything I read says there should be about 3-4 hours between feeds and there should be regular naps between them too. My daughter has never done this - she has always just fed all day long. I should add she’s healthy and gaining weight sitting at the 50th centile. Her sleep at night isn’t terrible (though it’s a bit hit and miss) but she never has regular naps (prob one decent one a day) and never lasts more than an hour between feeds on the boob. Should she be in a routine of 4 hourly feeds and naps? I’m so incredibly tired and drained - please tell me it all gets better at 12 weeks...

Completely normal my DD was exactly the same. Look up cluster feeding. Mine got loads better at 10 weeks and then all sorted by 12 weeks. If you're really struggling you could try doing a bottle? Don't worry - it all gets tons easier.

Bump

mine did the exactly the same. It will get better! put your feet up and rest and enjoy.

Mine were the same. As long as she is having plenty of wet and dirty nappies and gaining weight then just go with it and enjoy the cuddles. Maybe get her checked for tongue tie though and get your latch checked just to be sure that she is feeding efficiently.

Perfectly perfectly normal. Don’t try and put her in a routine yet just follow her cues. You’re doing great, mine were exactly the same and i am glad now that I never tried to force anything different

For what it's worth mine didn't start going 4 hours until she was well over 6 months, it's rare for such a small breastfed baby to be able to do so. I did find mine improved at 12 weeks, I think she was big enough to feed more efficiently and old enough to take an interest in things other than boobs.

Are you sure she isn't napping, I thought mine wasn't but in hindsight she boob napped a lot. It might be worth trying a sling.

This is completely normal, both mine were the same. They started feeding less around 3 months.
If you need more support, the UK Breastfeeding Support group on Facebook is amazing.

This can be normal yes, unfortunately! 3-4 hours between feeds is bizarre, I have no idea who came up with that, they must have not met many babies. However it does sound like your LO is quite full on if you never get an hour's break from her. Is that overnight as well?

If you want to check that everything is normal you could seek advice from somebody who is experienced in breastfeeding support. NCT, La Leche League, Association of Breastfeeding Mothers, Baby Cafe or possibly your local Sure Start centre (if you still have one) might have breastfeeding support groups near you run by an experienced person or you can search the IBCLC website to find a qualified IBCLC near you, though these tend to be private and charge.

Yes, it's normal. Mine would feed for about 10-15 minutes about every hour to 1.5 hours to start. I didn't find that every 3-4 hours was typical until about at least about 4-5 months maybe. Some babies are just snackers.

3-4 h pop urs sounds more typical of a formula fed baby. I think DS did about this but he was exclusively formula fed.

Normal.... yes, exhausting..... absolutely. They have tiny stomachs at that age and breast milk is digested very quickly. My DS never went less than 2 hours between feeds for months. Keep feeding on demand, particularly at that age. It’s intense though!

Thank you everyone for the reassurance! It is exhausting, but good to hear it is normal. Can I also ask - in the last couple of weeks she’s been prone to evening meltdowns (about an hour of intense crying for no reason). My husband says it’s not colic because we can console her eventually, and it doesn’t last 3 hours, though I am (as a first time mum) finding it incredibly difficult to deal with (I’m also currently being treated for PPD). Is this “fusiness” which will get better? Everyone seems to say 12 weeks is the big improvement - is this true in your experience?

Bump

Again yes. Look up purple crying. My baby cried incessantly from 6-10pm from 6 to 10 weeks. It was horrendous and I was worried. But it's normal and stopped at 10 weeks. Having a baby is hard, I really feel for you. Just keep telling yourself it will get better and it really will.

Yes normal. Colic doesn't have a cure other than growing out of it. It's caused by "being a young baby". Do what you need to do to get through this phase. If it means leaving baby with DH, going upstairs with ear plugs and having a nap then do it.

Yes I think often they get overwhelmed by the end of the day and the only way they can process it is crying. I find popping my 7week old in a sling and going for a walk helps. The crying doesn't seem as loud outside and usually has settled down by the time I reach the end of our street. I remember this happened with my first baby and really upset me, but much easier to cope this time as know it will get better. A phrase that really helped with all baby issues was 'this too shall pass' it became like a mantra for me with my first.

It definitely calms down OP! My LO is 11 weeks and does still have crying episodes occasionally in the evening, but only for 20 mins or so and we can easily calm her down. When she was the same age as your little one she would go for hours, it was awful and so sad.

We've found that certain things trigger her crying episodes, like being outside on a sunny day for too long, being in a loud place etc. Basically on days when she'd had too much stimulation, she'd have a crying fit in the evening.

Good luck, it really does get better, things drastically improved for us after 8 weeks!