Breastfeeding newborn help please !

[ohsotiredzzz]

One week old…doing a bit of combo feeding but has mainly been formula. Trying to do breastfeeding more. How often and for how long are you / did you breastfeed 1-2 week olds? I feel like it’s constant, only 5-10 minutes at a time but then she wants more within 30 minutes to an hour max. Or other times it’s just constant feeding as soon as she comes off she falls asleep maybe a few minutes then is screaming for more. Worried she’s not getting enough. Nappies aren’t as wet as when she has formula? Is this normal??

I’d be doing mostly BF with one bottle a day.

Their instinct at that age is to cluster feed to build up your milk supply. My boy honestly was glued to me 24/7 and it was very common for him to only have an hour's gap or less between feeds

She's going to be feeding a lot to get your milk supply up.

Tbh if you've been supplementing formula it's probably delayed you having as much milk which might be why there's less wet nappies.

If you want to breastfeed I would do as much skin to skin as possible and feed baby as often as she wants, this will get your milk up very quickly. And I'd not use formula.

I ebf and my baby has always been efficient feeding between 5-10 mins at a time, sometimes twice an hour sometimes 1-2 depending on time of day. If I recall correctly he fed about 14-16 times in 24 hours but he fed ALOT overnight, when he was 1-2 weeks old I distinctly remember him feeding once an hour every night. Which was rough but feeding at night is the best thing for milk production.

They feed a lot at that age as their stomach is tiny, but milk supply is also on demand so if you haven’t been breastfeeding very much then your supply might not be where it’s supposed to be, or their latch might not be good yet.

Sometimes babes scream after a feed due to wind or reflux and it’s not always food. It’s confusing because they can make the feed faces because they associate feeding with comfort and feel ill.

When you say mainly formula - how much bf have you been doing and when in the day has it been?

I ask because night feeds are extremely important to supply and they are often the ones which get cut first when combi feeding.

How often? All the bloody time. He's ten months now and that newborn phase is just a hazy memory of him permanently latched on.

Breastfeeding is constant to begin with. Often they're latched on not to feed but to signal to your breasts that there's a demand for supply. Your breasts will respond and produce enough milk for the next day and the next and the next. You basically pass them from one breast to the other on an endless cycle until at some point it all settles into more of a routine and a rhythm.

Beyond cluster feeding to keep up your supply, they are also doing it for comfort.

when my LO was newborn he was attached to me constantly. Baby will be building up your supply & to feel you close is so comforting for them as that is all they have know for the last 9 months. As long as there are plenty of wet & dirty nappies that is a good sign & as long as baby is gaining weight. Do you have a local support group? My local Childrens centre (Banardo’s) ran a breastfeeding support group & were fantastic in supporting me, might be worth checking out? X

My DCs would typically feed for 20-40 minutes, every 2-3 hours at that age, pretty much round the clock. Sometimes with cluster feeding from 7-11pm (basically latched that whole time) and then sometimes with a nice 4-5 hour stretch of sleep after that.

Deep breath’s mama, it’s very normal what you’re describing. Because you’re combi feeding baby will be playing catch up to get your supply up, I would drop the formula until supply is established (unless you’ve been told otherwise by midwife/HV). Babies feed on the breast a lot until supply is established and even more if you’re FF too. Sounds like you’re doing amazing by feeding on demand pal.

Dont forget their stomach at this age is teeny tiny, so frequent small feeds is normal.

If you want to BF more, you need to reduce formula

I’ve got a 19 day old and from day 3 to 14 she cluster fed a lot. We did as much skin to skin as I could manage and that helped hugely to establish my supply. Some evenings it felt like she was just switching from breast to breast for hours (usually about 5) without a break very similar to what @UpToMyElbowsInDiapers described.

She also went through loads of wet & dirty nappies when cluster feeding including one memorable stint of one packet of nappies (26) in roughly 48 hours.

This week she’s stretched out to 3/4 hour naps but still feeding for 45 ish minutes each sleep cycle.