Newborn feeding and sleeping issues

[lovelylivxo]

I might have totally misunderstood and also completely forgot the newborn life but I can't wrap my head around my tiny baby girl. She's 5 days old, feeding every 3/4 hourly by bottle. In between every feed for the past day she's been constantly fussing, writhing around, searching for food/dummy and impossible to settle between feeds until the very last minute and sometimes not at all. She's healthy, no signs of distress, hiccups very often, could potentially have very minor reflux after a few bouts of projectile vomit but has been seen by three drs in last two days and all seems 'fine'. How do I sleep/get her to sleep/feed her/survive?! Lack of sleep and constant fussing is driving us all a bit loopy, especially dad who's a first timer.

My DD never bottle fed to a schedule. She ate when she felt like it, sometimes at five hourly intervals, sometimes at three. The HV told me that, jus as EBF babies feed on demand at this stage, it is now thought by some that bottle feeders should too. I'd just let her do her own thing. We did and DD was much more settled.

I think you need to try feeding her whenever she shows hunger signs. Just because she's bottledfed doesn't mean you have to have a schedule she's way to young. She sounds like she's just hungry!

Also, she's a newborn sometimes they just don't settle or sleep. Just try feeding her more and keep her close to you and just keep in mind how young she is and in a few weeks she will most likely be much more settled.

3 to 4 hours is too long for most newborns.mostly they like smaller amounts more often in the early weeks as their stomachs are very small. If she is unsettled try offering milk again. I know breastfeeding is a bit different but at 14 weeks my baby does not regularly go longer than 3 hours in the day and often wants milk again before 3 hours. If you have offered milk and she doesn't want more yet, a good way to get her to settle is to put her in a sling and go for a walk around. Something like a Moby wrap is nice for newborns. Or go for a drive in the car.

I would feed on demand rather than to schedule. My DD was bottle fed but would still cluster a lot of small feeds especially in the evening and in the morning but that meant she would sleep for long stretches at night.

I'd feed her more often too and she'll probably be more content. If she seems unsettled after a feed she might quiet a bit doing some skin-to-skin with you or you could put her in a sling as someone has suggested.

My 5 week old was feeding almost hourly at that stage, he's still feeding every 2 hours during the day and 3 hours at night. If she seems hungry, feed her, I don't think she would feed if she didn't want it.

5 day olds feed constantly. It is normal. I think you are expecting too much. Lack of sleep is also normal. Take it in turns to get up in night whilst the other gets some sleep.