Sorsha
Tentatively expecting #2
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2012
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My LO arrived last Wednesday and we are having a heck of a time with feeding. He pretty much wants to sleep all the time, and I'm finding it really hard to get him alert enough to breastfeed but not too upset to breastfeed. My midwife has me waking him to feed at least every three hours, and also pumping after each feeding to maintain supply and use the expressed milk to supplement what he's getting directly from the breasts. Some feeding sessions go all right and we're done in not much more than an hour. But sometimes it can take more than two hours just to get a decent amount of milk into him. In between I'm finding myself having to choose between eating and attempting to get in a quick nap... In the last four days I think I've gotten three, at best four, hours of sleep each day, and I'm averaging two decent meals plus snacks. Maybe that little sleep is normal for new moms? But I know I'm supposed to be eating more.
Typically a feeding session looks like this:
-Pick up baby. Undress him down to diaper. He might fuss but usually keeps eyes closed and settles the second I stop moving him.
-If diaper is wet, change it. Again, he'll wake up to cry about this but as soon as the new diaper's on at least half of the time he's falling asleep the next moment.
-Various techniques for waking: rubbing lips with breast, expressing milk on nipple to entice, pumping arms, blowing on face, tickling tummy and feet, cold cloth on back or feet, talking, singing, bouncing. The difficult times, none of these work for more than a few seconds before he's drifting off again. I have had times when I did all of the above to the point that he was crying loudly and he still wouldn't even open his eyes for a second (and would be asleep again in a moment).
-When I do get him alert enough that he'll attempt to latch, he either latches, sucks a few times up to a couple minutes and then drifts off (and none of the above techniques will wake him for more than a few seconds longer; breast compressions sometimes get him going another minute or two but that's it and not always) or he's so agitated he latches and immediately jerks his head away again, shakes his head away when I try to bring him to the breast, etc.
-Finally (ten minutes the "good" times, half an hour or more the bad times) he latches and seems to feed pretty well for at least five minutes. The good times he may keep going for ten or more, or be willing to take the other breast for at least five more minutes; the bad times we then go through the whole thing all over again even though he usually acts like he wants to eat more (rooting, sucking sounds, opening his mouth for the nipple).
-Sometimes when I'm ready to let him be (he's had several minutes on the breasts and has eaten a decent amount of expressed milk by fingerfeeding), he keeps rooting and crying if I don't feed him more but then fussing or only briefly latching when I attempt to.
I've tried to look up suggestions but everything I'm finding suggests the same things I'm already trying. I guess it would just be good to know if other people have had just as much trouble (encouraging stories welcome!) and if anyone has other ideas to try.
Typically a feeding session looks like this:
-Pick up baby. Undress him down to diaper. He might fuss but usually keeps eyes closed and settles the second I stop moving him.
-If diaper is wet, change it. Again, he'll wake up to cry about this but as soon as the new diaper's on at least half of the time he's falling asleep the next moment.
-Various techniques for waking: rubbing lips with breast, expressing milk on nipple to entice, pumping arms, blowing on face, tickling tummy and feet, cold cloth on back or feet, talking, singing, bouncing. The difficult times, none of these work for more than a few seconds before he's drifting off again. I have had times when I did all of the above to the point that he was crying loudly and he still wouldn't even open his eyes for a second (and would be asleep again in a moment).
-When I do get him alert enough that he'll attempt to latch, he either latches, sucks a few times up to a couple minutes and then drifts off (and none of the above techniques will wake him for more than a few seconds longer; breast compressions sometimes get him going another minute or two but that's it and not always) or he's so agitated he latches and immediately jerks his head away again, shakes his head away when I try to bring him to the breast, etc.
-Finally (ten minutes the "good" times, half an hour or more the bad times) he latches and seems to feed pretty well for at least five minutes. The good times he may keep going for ten or more, or be willing to take the other breast for at least five more minutes; the bad times we then go through the whole thing all over again even though he usually acts like he wants to eat more (rooting, sucking sounds, opening his mouth for the nipple).
-Sometimes when I'm ready to let him be (he's had several minutes on the breasts and has eaten a decent amount of expressed milk by fingerfeeding), he keeps rooting and crying if I don't feed him more but then fussing or only briefly latching when I attempt to.
I've tried to look up suggestions but everything I'm finding suggests the same things I'm already trying. I guess it would just be good to know if other people have had just as much trouble (encouraging stories welcome!) and if anyone has other ideas to try.
