Exhausted 4 day old baby feeding constantly

[Mum2be86]

As says above my 4 day old daughter is breastfeeding none stop over night and no matter what I try I can’t put her down as she just as cries again for more milk. From around midnight she’s being fed non stop I get she’s cluster feeding but I literally can’t put her down. She was born at 37 weeks at a tiny 4lb 13oz and at 3 days old dropped to 4lb 6oz.
not sure point of my post other than for someone to assure me it’s going to be over soon 😞 I don’t remember my son being like this but he’s 10 so a long time ago now.

Hi currently up feeding my 5 month old and couldnt just read and not Reply.
you are doing a great job, first few weeks of bf are relentless but it does get better. Just concentrate on feeding nothing else, get help pick good snacks and put your feet up. In a weeks time it’ll feel so much better then a week later even easier. Xx

All normal I’m afraid, it’s brutal but it will pass. I binged Schitt’s Creek at that stage of breastfeeding.

Do you have support? I used to sleep in the evening while my husband had the baby, then I’d get set up on the couch with drinks and snacks and try to power through. I was able to put her into her Moses basket beside the couch closer to morning and close my eyes for a bit.

You’re doing fantastic, it’s hard at the moment but keep going!

Oh and I’m up feeding my 12 months old 😂

Also co sleeping was a lifeline for us. I was dead against it but bf babies love to be close. Read up on it on how to do it safely it’s really helped me get some proper sleep

My son, who's now 4 months was like this to begin with. Midwives told me it was normal, but it was literally non-stop and we were so sleep-deprived it felt unsafe. I had spent a long time on the antenatal ward before he was born and was already running on very little sleep by the time he arrived
The first night on postnatal ward, when it got to 4am, midwife gave us 10 ml of formula to give him and he finally went to sleep after that. We would give him 30 ml formula every night for the first week or two once it had gotten really late and he just wasn't sleeping
I think it took a while for my milk supply to build enough to satisfy him for more than 10 mins at a time and the formula helped us feel secure that he had a full tummy and allowed us a little bit of sleep
We dropped the formula after about 2 weeks when he was finally dropping off regularly without it and he's been exclusively breast fed since then. Might be worth considering?
Those first few weeks were intense, hang on in there

It's going to be over soon. You're doing a brilliant job and giving your vulnerable little baby exactly what she needs. I'm tandem feeding and totally get how hard it is to not be able to put a tiny one down. The difference between my prem and term babies was stark. Keep at it.

Join a breastfeeding support group through your local health care team and you'll have hundreds of mums to encourage you.

It is really tough OP. There were nights where he was awake from 2am to 6am and I thought it would never end and my partner would find me crying as I was so exhausted and just wished he would sleep. I promise you that it does get easier (my ds is now almost three months and can sleep 6 hour stretches).

Regarding weight, ds was born 5lbs 2 and we were advised by midwife to top up with formula after each bf to minimise any weight loss and we managed to get him back to his birth weight in 10 days.

Just arching up on all comments huge thanks everyone we had a restless start to the day as we had to take her for repeat blood tests but due to them being Done via cannula they gave her sugar water to help her settle after that she wouldn’t wake to feed at until around 3pm today and she’s done nothing it feed since done feeds though have been 30minute sittings so she’s making up for what she didn’t have this morning, I’ve just managed to out her down in the next to me and she seems settled and content so if I can get the next couple of hours to sleep I will be happy.
off to try this out now night all hoping you have settled nights.