Newborn breastfeeding pattern - is this normal?

[aimeeeleanor]

My DS is 3 weeks 2 days old today. He had a tongue tie cut at 2 weeks old

His feeding hasn’t particularly changed since having it cut but he does seem to be gaining a bit more weight & finally regained his birth weight of 3110g yesterday at 3weeks1day old

His feeding pattern is exhausting & worrying me at the same time. During the day he is on me almost constantly. It seems to be a vicious cycle -

1. Boob (between 5 to 30 mins, not always super active feeds. Can fall asleep at the breast),
2. Poops & Pees (almost immediately after finishing each time at the breast)
3. Nappy change (which unsettles him),
4. Back to boob (due to being unsettled after nappy change & rooting behaviour)

…..then the cycle starts again almost all day.
With barely a nap anywhere, I’d say perhaps 3x20 min naps here & there

He will sleep better during the night for a single 3-4 hour stretch after cluster feeding all day & then a further 2 or so hours after a middle of the night feed session that can last anywhere between an hour to three hours of the cycle above

So I guess my questions are

• Is this sort of feeding pattern normal? Health Visitor hasn’t really said much apart from yes it ‘can’ be normal… but after speaking to fellow Mum friends I don’t know anybody else who has experienced this level of cluster feeding. It has been like this since getting him home, so doesn’t seem to be a growth spurt either. I’m worried he is not getting enough milk from me & I’m not satisfying him
• He dirties his nappies almost constantly. And they can be explosive watery poops, to the point of shooting across the room there is such force behind them. Is this sort of pooping amount & consistency normal?!
• Will the lack of sleep affect him?

thank you x

[LucyWeb1]

That sounds normal to me although my LO definitely napped longer at that age although his naps were pretty much always at the breast. He would sleep & feed at the same time. The poos- yes! Explosive aren’t they?! My boy would sometimes poop 6-7 times a day and they were watery (but not diharea).
If LO has put his weight back on you are definitely doing the right thing! Well done- you are doing fab!
He may also still be learning how to feed efficiently due to tongue tie. Keep talking to your health visitor if you have any concerns x

[Flowergirl111]

Sounds exactly like my baby, she’s 7 weeks and frayed her own tongue tie last week! I’ve noticed more spells of her sitting in her baby bouncer a little more and she’ll sleep in her sling for contact naps or doze at my boob.
Well done on regaining the birth weight!

[Somethingsnappy]

Just to say op, after a, tongue tie division it's normal to take about two weeks for breastfeeding to settle down and for baby to 'learn' how to do it properly. Lots of cluster feeding and falling asleep at the breast sounds normal to me under these circumstances. It's more tiring for babies either with a TT, or in the days and weeks after a division, hence the falling asleep and then waking up hungry again, as they tired themselves out before they were full up.

You're doing brilliantly, well done! My advice would be just go with it, and I think you'll notice an improvement in a week or two. For what it's worth, this pattern was exactly the same with my 4th baby, the only one of my babies to have had a TT and a division. It definitely improved as he became more effective at feeding.

[Hugasauras]

I think it can be normal but it's not what I've experienced with either of my breastfed babies or my close friends who have had babies recently, not to that level, so maybe on the more extreme end of normal. Lots of pooping yes, but both of mine have slept for decent chunks after a good feed, even if that's on me, and while theyve cluster fed it hasn't been continually through a whole day without breaks for days on end. They've both gone 2-3-4 hour stretches after a decent feed in the day. It must be very difficult  How are you coping?

[Sbena]

Yep, that's normal. Mine was attached to me for 3 months.

Does he doze off when latched? If so then he's getting enough sleep. We also had multiple poops a day. I was warned there was a time when breastfed babies may stop pooping except for once a week - that didn't happen. He fed so much and was doing 3-6 big poops a day on average - sometimes more

Enjoy!

[Hugasauras]

That does seem very little daytime sleep. Will he stay asleep on the breast/on you for longer periods? With the slow weight gain, explosive nappies and lack of sleep, I'd be inclined to seek some advice from HV on the potential for intolerances or efficiency in transferring milk.