My 3 day old is constantly feeding?

[noon_child]

I've been crying most of the afternoon because we got my boy weighed again and he hasn't put any on. We're now on a 3-hourly feeding plan of bf, EBM and ff as needed. My mum just came round and sent me to bed for a sleep whilst DH did a ff. I got up, expressed next to nothing and am now having a cuddle with my beautiful boy before it's time to start the whole process again. I feel like I'm not producing enough milk (especially after seeing the pitiful amount I just expressed) and am useless

Expressing does not show you how much you are producing - some people who bf their babies for years are never able to express a single drop.

I have lots of questions going round in my head about why you've been advise a 3hrly schedule etc. but I remembered getting so much advice and instructions about what to look for and listen out for and how long things should or shouldn't last etc. that even the good advice was too overwhelming. So I'm not going to ask.

What I would say is that if you are HAPPY with the support and advice you are gettying then go with it. If you feel UNHAPPY, that they aren't listening and supporting you then contact one of the Lactation charities/organisations like LLL or NCT. Even having the lady from NCT rock my LO upstairs while I made myself some lunch (at 4:30pm!!!) was such a joy and relief I think I wept....

If I was to do bf again I would go back to basics. Is LO pooing? Am I free of significant pain? If the answer to both of these was YES then I'd never time a feed, never listen for swallowing, never count sucks, never top up, never worry about small or no weight gain etc.

I'd also not worry that my LO was crying all the time and always hungry -babies ARE, they have to be or they'd never survive and if they didn't cry you'd never choose to feed them for hours on end or all night - you'd sleep instead and then your supply would fall behind. An insanely hungry and crying newborn is to me an evolutionary success story!

 

[leigh5tom]

I am so relieved to read this. My baby has been feeding almost non-stop for the last 18 hours. He is 8 days old and this just started. His first couple of days he fed every single hour for about 10 minutes on both sides. Then he started this amazing schedule of eating for about 20 minutes every two hours throughout the day, then he would nurse for about 40 minutes at 9pm, 30 minutes at 12am, 4am and 7am. He did that from day 3 to day 7.

Lately he's been on for hours at a time, both sides and only a couple of hours (at most) in between. I sat on the couch and fed him from 4am to 630am and just cried the whole time. I start to tear up every time he starts rooting because I know that I'll be trapped on the couch for another few hours.

I have to take bathroom breaks and have my husband change him. He screams the whole time. I have only been able to eat food that I can safely eat over him. I ate a bowl of chili over his head today.

I have my Kindle, netflix and my husband has the whole month off to wait on me. I still just want to cry. I feel like a feeding trough.

This could have been written by me. I've actually now taken to my bed. Because sitting on the sofa for hours gave me backache. He's fed all morning today. From 6am. It's now 12.30 & my boobs are still in his mouth. This can't be normal surely?? I'm worried he is hungry & not getting enough! Xxxx

 

[Popples1]

I've been crying most of the afternoon because we got my boy weighed again and he hasn't put any on. We're now on a 3-hourly feeding plan of bf, EBM and ff as needed. My mum just came round and sent me to bed for a sleep whilst DH did a ff. I got up, expressed next to nothing and am now having a cuddle with my beautiful boy before it's time to start the whole process again. I feel like I'm not producing enough milk (especially after seeing the pitiful amount I just expressed) and am useless

Expressing does not show you how much you are producing - some people who bf their babies for years are never able to express a single drop.

I have lots of questions going round in my head about why you've been advise a 3hrly schedule etc. but I remembered getting so much advice and instructions about what to look for and listen out for and how long things should or shouldn't last etc. that even the good advice was too overwhelming. So I'm not going to ask.

What I would say is that if you are HAPPY with the support and advice you are gettying then go with it. If you feel UNHAPPY, that they aren't listening and supporting you then contact one of the Lactation charities/organisations like LLL or NCT. Even having the lady from NCT rock my LO upstairs while I made myself some lunch (at 4:30pm!!!) was such a joy and relief I think I wept....

If I was to do bf again I would go back to basics. Is LO pooing? Am I free of significant pain? If the answer to both of these was YES then I'd never time a feed, never listen for swallowing, never count sucks, never top up, never worry about small or no weight gain etc.

I'd also not worry that my LO was crying all the time and always hungry -babies ARE, they have to be or they'd never survive and if they didn't cry you'd never choose to feed them for hours on end or all night - you'd sleep instead and then your supply would fall behind. An insanely hungry and crying newborn is to me an evolutionary success story!

I guess we'll see what happens by his next weigh in on Thursday. He does seem less sleepy today and more alert so perhaps getting all this extra food into him is having an effect. He is pooing and weeing (lots) which is a good sign, and he doesn't seem poorly at all. We had another bilirubin test yesterday which was way below the treatable level. I did have a meltdown yesterday but after a bit more sleep I have a more positive outlook and am determined to get this right for my boy. He's also been taking feeds of ten mins on each breast every 3 hours, which is progress.

Thanks again for your support, it really, really does help xx

 

[Emz1982_in_uk]

You're not useless at all. Keep going, you're doing a brilliant job.

Like a pp said, what you express is not what your baby will be getting so don't use this as an indicator. A baby is born to extract milk. A machine will never be as good as a baby x

 

[Emz1982_in_uk]

This could have been written by me. I've actually now taken to my bed. Because sitting on the sofa for hours gave me backache. He's fed all morning today. From 6am. It's now 12.30 & my boobs are still in his mouth. This can't be normal surely?? I'm worried he is hungry & not getting enough! Xxxx

Unfortunately very normal. We've all been there. With my daughter she fed one night from 7pm to 4am non stop almost. As before, if baby is pooing and weeing then baby should be getting enough milk. Just keep nursing for as long as baby wants. It does get better.

 

[patch2006uk]

I've been crying most of the afternoon because we got my boy weighed again and he hasn't put any on. We're now on a 3-hourly feeding plan of bf, EBM and ff as needed. My mum just came round and sent me to bed for a sleep whilst DH did a ff. I got up, expressed next to nothing and am now having a cuddle with my beautiful boy before it's time to start the whole process again. I feel like I'm not producing enough milk (especially after seeing the pitiful amount I just expressed) and am useless

This is horrible advice tbh. It's pretty normal for a baby to not have gained weight by 3 days! it took my DS almost 3 weeks to surpass his birthweight. If your LO is weeing and pooing, is becoming more alert and is waking to feed, then I really vote ignore this advice. A 3 hour schedule and expressing and formula is a recipe for disaster. Just feed on demand and your body will do the rest!

 

[Popples1]

I've been crying most of the afternoon because we got my boy weighed again and he hasn't put any on. We're now on a 3-hourly feeding plan of bf, EBM and ff as needed. My mum just came round and sent me to bed for a sleep whilst DH did a ff. I got up, expressed next to nothing and am now having a cuddle with my beautiful boy before it's time to start the whole process again. I feel like I'm not producing enough milk (especially after seeing the pitiful amount I just expressed) and am useless

This is horrible advice tbh. It's pretty normal for a baby to not have gained weight by 3 days! it took my DS almost 3 weeks to surpass his birthweight. If your LO is weeing and pooing, is becoming more alert and is waking to feed, then I really vote ignore this advice. A 3 hour schedule and expressing and formula is a recipe for disaster. Just feed on demand and your body will do the rest!

It wasn't 3 days, it was 7 days. I wish I had enough faith in my body to agree with you but everyone around me was flapping (including me) about the lack of weight gain and all I wanted was to see him thrive. We're going to stick with it for a few more days then move him back onto breast only (hopefully) after that. He's coped with boob, bottles and nipple shields so far so I'm hoping he'll adapt ok. Although we still have to encourage him to feed (he'd sleep for 5 hours otherwise!), it seems to me his appetite is increasing - his last two bfs have been an hour (switching between boobs).

 

[girlinyork]

Popples you are doing an amazing job. Well done you!! Women give up over far less xx