Hungry baby - 1 week

[TreaclePlum]

Oh guysss
My week old has been on mainly formula last 3 days due to him sucking my nipples off night 1.
Theyve rested and recovered.

We started this feed 10.30pm. Its 2.30pm time of writing. Literally popped off the boob, satisfied for 20 secs then roots for more. So we change over.

Left right left right...I mean think we are on 10th round.

Im using shields coz its relentless.

Anyone else have this? My first used to have a littley break inbetween at least. This is what he.did at 12hours old old too and made me need to use formula to fill him up as my nips were sucked RAW.

TELL ME IM NOT ALONE

Baby is hungry that's why trying to get food so often and clearly isn't getting enough to settle down to sleep for a while. I gave up with our twins after a week and went to formula they were constantly hungry, searching,not resting well..once they went to formula they had satisfied tummies and I finally also got some rest

Yeah this boy is back at birth weight already lol...hes a hungry man!

In the day he has both boobs then sleeps for hours. Something about the night huh.

If you have been giving formula the baby will be working extra hard to establish your supply so if you wish to continue to BF then you should allow him to feed on demand.

Feeding on demand is vital in the early weeks anyway, but even more so if you have been mixed feeding.

https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/breastfeeding-information/getting-started-with-breastfeeding/establishing-and-optimising-milk-supply/

Just to say @Ladyj84 ...the fact you even contemplated trying it with twins deserves a medal lol. And @survived a week!

@MidnightOnceMore yeah he was having my.expressed milk plus formula whilst resting the nipples! Guess hes whipping my boobs into shape...Yawn!

This is cluster feeding. It's what the baby does to increase supply. I'm on my 3rd child exclusively breast fed. For me nights 2/3/4/13 are always bad. Other nights just 1-2 feeds a night. Cluster feeding at night is supposed to be more effective at making milk come in. If you've used formula, this will be different for you. I kind of take the long-term view on nights 2/3/4 that it sets up breast-feeding for 6 months. Partner is off on pat leave then and so I sleep in the day and go to bed very early at 6pm-ish. It is hard but I always think this is what gets me to 4/5 hourly feeds quickly instead of waking to feed baby every couple of hours. So I try to see it as an "investment" and use lots of lanolin cream.

My 3rd baby is 17 days old now. Most nights baby wakes at 11pm, 3.15, 7am for 30 minute feeds. But I swear this is because of my 3 sleepless nights at the start and drinking 5ish pints of water on those nights?!

When hes finally finished its the next battle of hoping he will settle not in my arms...!

Ha ha! Yep, this is hard in the early days. I spend ages burping and then baby realising there's now more "space" for more feeding. If it's just a top up after a burp I let the baby feed to sleep the first few weeks. They learn to self-settle in cot a bit older usually.

Also, if you continue to be sore, check baby doesn't have a tongue-tie. My second did and it was soooo painful. Even after cutting his latch was never great and he guzzled a lot of air when bf or bottle-fed with expressed milk.But bf is always sore at the start for me.

This is incorrect. Mums mistaking cluster feeding for hunger causes lots to use formula or stop breastfeeding unnecessarily.

Cluster feeding is very normal OP and is baby establishing supply. DD1 didn't really do it so it was a shock when DD2 did and fed what felt like 24/7.

Also worth getting checked privately for a tie with a tongue tie practitioner (I say privately as a lot of midwives/HVs aren't trained well in tongue tie and they're often missed) and maybe a lactation consultant/breastfeeding support group just go check your baby is latched properly and doesn't have a tie preventing effective feeding

Im still feeding him. 7 hours of straight feeding. This is beyond

It is not unusual. The baby is only one week old, your supply will be lower because you have done combined feeding.

Feeding a lot does NOT mean anything is wrong - in fact the opposite. If the baby is cluster feeding, this may be because they need a lot of milk today, they need comfort today or they need to increase your milk supply in general.

What matters is whether you a) want to and b) feel you can continue.

So tough. Have you seen a breast feeding specialist recently? If not then arrange that asap.

Do you have someone to help in the day so you can catch up on sleep?

I really recommend the silver nipple caps for while he’s not feeding, have you seen them? Put a bit of breast milk in them and wear them pretty much constantly.

In the day he has both boobs then sleeps for hours. Something about the night huh.

Are you sure he is actually actively feeding? Or is he comfort / non-nutritive sucking because he likes the nipple in his mouth? If the latter, then you either need to go with it (I'd bedshare and do side-lying BF so you can sleep too) or find another way to settle him- a dummy?

My DD cluster fed from 6pm to 6am non stop for her first few weeks. It’s normal (but hard!). Your baby will be working extra hard to bring your supply back up after using formula for a bit too.

My nipples bled with DC1. I think he’s just cluster feeding to get your supply up. If you want to switch to formula then do but if you want to breastfeed I’d avoid formula until your milk is established. I used to pump the occasional feed. I did also use formula but I’m talking once a week in the early weeks and I pumped an equivalent feed, so if I gave 3oz formula I’d pump 3oz as I found pumping more comfortably than bleeding. He had borderline tongue tie that we didn’t cut but he grew out of. I’d also avoid a dummy if he’s trying to get your milk up. It’s hard but a friend of mine is now desperately trying to increase her supply because her LO was doing the same and she was finding it too much so switched to a dummy and some formula feeds. You need to do what’s right for you. But if you want to breastfeed then you want to make sure you’re doing everything to establish that. It’s a fine balance.

Dummies are very bad for establishing BF-ing. The baby is only one week old, using a dummy would risk reducing supply and calorie intake.

It is hard, but yes, I've done this 3 nights straight for 3 children. It might actually be that you have more milk tonight and so baby is ravenous and enjoying it or it might be baby trying to get more in by cluster feeding so you have more milk tomorrow. My midwife for my first child said something like "imagine if you'd been on slim fast and you arrived at a buffet, you'd want to eat all night too."

I always feel sorry for people that say they stopped after a few days because of this, as really that's the bad part of breastfeeding with none of the easy bit. You've done so well as must be exhausted, so well done. Nearly morning and hope you can rest today. Just try to think of it as a step towards establishing supply you must be nearly there. Good luck.

You have had some great advice above, babies often are nocturnal. Noting that your baby settles well in the day, what do these feeds look like? It's not uncommon for babies to sleep in the day, but not have enough milk which they catch up with overnight!

It's cluster feeding and it is natural and normal. Not easy though!

I would cut out all the bottles if expressed milk and formula, he is trying to increase your supply and every time you give him a bottle you are making it harder for yourself and him to breastfeed.

He's just behaving like a newborn baby, this isn't unusual at all. My daughter used to cluster feed from 5pm until 10/11pm, she wasn't a hungry baby she was just being a baby.

If you do give a bottle you should try to pace feed and consider his stomach size to avoid overfeeding.

One fact I remember reading that really helped me get through the cluster feeding is that a newborn baby's stomach is the size of a walnut. This means it fills and emptys quickly so of course baby is always hungry. Then they grow and their stomach grows too so they are less hungry.

Also, by sucking so much, he's sending a signal to your body to make more milk. If you take him off now, you won't make what he needs. Every time a child does this, it sends your body a message as to what nutrients it needs.

The early days of breastfeeding can be brutal! It's totally worth persevering IMO if you feel you can but also I'd definitely get a private tongue tie assessment.. Costs a couple of hundred £ but still saves you an absolute fortune compared to formula.

In the early days formula is easier but after about 2 months breastfeeding is easier... No sterilising, no bottles, no running out, no packing stuff to take, my baby fed in her carrier I could just keep walking around the shops/the house etc, now she's 10 months and a full feed takes her and 10 minutes. Plus it's amazing calorie burning 🤣

Having said that... I'm a very very firm believer that bf isn't for everyone, absolutely do whatever is best for you and feed is Def best!

(I should also say that I totally agree with previous posts that cluster feeding is absolutely normal and something both of mine did in the early days for HOURS!). See if you can get into a good box set!

How did you get on in the end op? Is it all a lot easier now?