Breastfeeding help

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Hi, I was wondering if anyone could offer any advice!
My baby is 2 and a half weeks old and is currently being combination fed. We started out as ebf but when I feed her she is just never ever full off me! She would just stay latched for hours if I let her which I have done a few times, 4 hours attached to your nipples is painful!

I will offer the breast first and she could be on there for 30mins - an hour and when she comes off (I have to take her off) she will still take a full 3oz bottle. When we've given her the bottle she goes into full milk coma and goes straight to sleep but we don't get this with breastfeeding.

Sometimes she will nod off while on the boob and if I try and take her off she starts sucking again or if she falls asleep and loses her latch and I try and put her down to sleep she wakes back up crying cause she's not finished.

I thought it could be a supply issue but when I pump I get a good amount off that the health visitor is happy with so is it possible she's just not drinking much while on there?

Babies have to work harder to get milk out of boobs than out of bottles. At 2 1/2 weeks it is early days and they do feed all day and night and it does hurt. I would not give too many bottles as if they get used to easier bottles they loose interest in breastfeeding. Plus the more they eat the more milk you make and vice versa. Have you got any breastfeeding friends for support? One side of my family didn't breastfeed and were always saying things like ' is that baby still eating?' not helpful when you are trying to establish supply. Breastfeeding gets easier and quicker as the babies get a bit older. Good Luck.

Have you had her checked for tongue tie?

OP that all sounds very normal. Feeding for a long time / frequently / falling asleep is all completely to be expected with a newborn. You are not doing anything wrong. The best way to judge whether or not a BF newborn is getting enough milk is the number of wet nappies.

In your shoes, I would just keep doing what you are doing and feed as much as baby wants. Do you want to combi feed or do you want to EBF?

I second getting her assessed for tongue tie though and have you tried getting any BF support in person? You might be able to improve the latch. It's a skill that baby needs to learn too, they do get a lot quicker I promise!

Thank you!

It's reassuring to know it all sounds normal but I feel silly for not realising it's normal
I don't have any friends that have breastfed and neither sides of our family have so we get those 'she's feeding again!' or 'she's still feeding?!' comments and they're hard work.

I would rather she be ebf than combi but I will be going back to work before she's 6 months so I'm hoping to express enough to give her that in a bottle when I'm away.

I've had a few health visitors round who have said she has a really good latch, she does seem to have a good mouthful of boob and she sucks really well too. Nobody has mentioned a tongue tie so I will bring that up.

All that is normal and will end.
Be careful with feeding bottle after boob because the bottle will trigger their natural suck reflex, they can’t control this, so will suck swallow until body shuts down (milk drunk coma).

Join La Leche League or local breast feeding group, cluster feeding is normal in the first few weeks but it ends. They use it for lots of things, not just food. Comfort is another main one. You’re doing a fab job!

My DS was always attached as he was born during heat waves in june, I was in agony but took to feeding laying down and watching a series.

Also I GET THISE COMMENTS TOO ARGHHH. Just carry on doing what your doing and offering boob. If they don’t want it they’ll be sure to tell you 😂

@NameChange564738 thank you! I'm going to try and find a support group locally so hopefully I can find one.
I like feeding her laying down but if I was to stay there and watch a series I would 100% fall asleep haha.

Also, when am I supposed to eat and sleep?! We've done all nighters before where I've not managed to get any sleep till 5am and then my OH took her for a bit and she settled on him but he's back to work now so we can't do this :(

It sounds normal. Definitely a good idea to see if you can find a local support group and meet others breastfeeding (where I am there are a few going on virtually)

If you want to ebf I'd try to phase out the bottles and just use the breast- your supply works on a demand basis so it will lessen if you keep using the bottles.

Ignore the 'she's still feeding' comments- it's normal..

Small babies will conk out more easily on formula because it is harder for them to digest, breastmilk is digested faster because it's designed for babies.

With the feeding and laying down- if you make sure you are on a safe surface (remove blankets etc) its ok for you to sleep. There are guidelines from the Lullaby Trust.
That's how I survived the first weeks. I never managed to watch any tv series for a while because I fell asleep (although lots of my friends did)
I often ate meals with the baby attached (eat stuff that is already cut up, get your OH to feed you if he is around...)

Hiya,
First of all congratulations on your LO and well done for continuing to breastfeed.
Its so hard those first few weeks when they're constantly feeding and you're a whole new level of exhausted! Your situation sounds very normal though so try not to worry, all that time she's spending on the boob is building up your supply ready for her to get bigger and bigger!
I'd second what the previous poster said about feeding lying down so you can get some rest, it was a game changer for me. It does feel weird at first but you can def sleep in this position. Also get plenty of snacks, cushions and netflix ready for when you dont want to sleep.
I promise this bit will pass and you'll get some time back to do luxurious things like washing and getting dressed!! Try and see your time spent as an investment in her growth and your supply. My little boy is 1 this week and spends most of his time feeding mucking about and showing people my boobs!
Ignore the muppets commenting on her feeding, thats what she's supposed to do, she's a tiny baby with a tiny stomach!
Keep going, you're doing great!!