Insatiable newborn

[nelma]

My 3 week old dd has a seemingly insatiable appetite!!
Up until 4 days ago, when my dd turned 3 weeks, she was ebf. Cluster feeding from the get go, literally came out the womb and fed for 6 hours straight, her appetite has been insatiable ever since. She's been attached to my breast since the day she came out only stopping to sleep and now even her sleep feels disturbed. She sleeps only 10-12 hours a day and feels like she fights against sleep to feed. Her weight gain has been good, hv and paediatrician are happy with her growth.
Anyway like I said, up until 4 days ago she was ebf but for my mental and physical health DP and I decided to give her one bottle of formula at night to get her off my breast for a few minutes and to give me a much needed break, but her appetite still hasn't been satisfied. Gave her 120ml of formula and 10 mins after finishing the bottle she goes rooting for my breast again. We try giving her a dummy to pacify her (which usually works when she wants comfort) but she just spits it and starts screaming.
I'm a ftm so any advice is welcome, please tell me is this normal? Am I over feeding her? When does it end?

It does sound normal, just really hard. Remember that it's impossible to over feed a breast fed baby so don't worry about that. In the early days, babies do feed a lot to build up supply and a lot of it might be for comfort. I know you mentioned about the dummy but some babies do find the boob more soothing. Your baby is still in the 4th trimester do they want lots of comfort and closeness.

Regarding the sleep issue, does she snooze when feeding? Babies can nap whilst feeding. This is still restorative sleep so perhaps she's getting enough this way.

Sorry, not many tips other than waiting it out. It does get easier!!

tongue tie?

Sounds like tongue tie to be honest. But it’s worth paying to see a specialist rather than the GP because they do often miss it.

How’s her latch?

Worth seeing a private lactation consultant.

My DS was like this with tongue tie, it meant he wasn't suckling effectively so ate all the time but never got enough.

Got his tongue tie snipped and it was a vast improvement. Now at 4.5 weeks he eats every 2-3 hours and goes 4 hours at night.

I could have written this! My DD is 3 weeks and has been eating constantly (about 2 feeds an hour). She seems full at each feed but the minute I put her down she is starving again. I've seen an infant feeding nurse who said she was latching and feeding perfectly but I'm constantly worried she's hungry all the time.

Sorry can't offer much help, only sympathy. Combination feeding - my husband gives her a bottle of formula to supplement after her bedtime feed - has got me some sanity back as she does sleep for a couple of hours after it and has given me a tiny bit of sleep each evening. Hopefully it wears off soon...!

Nothing wrong with combination feeding if it works for you (it did for me too). I'd get in touch with your local infant feeding team (via HV or midwife) just to check feeding is ok - have you got any pain? What is nappy output like? These early days are tough so get as much support as you can

Normal. Baby will be boosting your supply for a growth spurt.
It’s not about appetite now, they are promoting supply for what’s needed. Plus don’t forget they also feed for comfort. All of which is to be encouraged.
Adding the bottle will probably result in more feeding rather than less though because of the supply issue. Not to say don’t do it, it you need it. But it can have the opposite effect of needing more feeds, not fewer!

It is NOT normal for a newborn to feed constantly and only sleep 10-12 per day. That’s crap advice!

Cluster feeding is normal. But a baby should be able to go between feeds with a sleep. If a newborn is only getting 10-12 hours of sleep there is something else going on and should be investigated.

How are you doing OP?