New mum and falls asleep on breast

[Rachael737]

Hey ladies, I'm new to breast feeding and having welcomed little Arthur into the world on Thursday morning have EBF.

Arthur falls asleep on the boob after only 15 minutes, but then wakes up fussy after half an hour ready to feed. I'm worried we're not getting to the hind milk and that this is going to affect my supply. Having said that, my boobs are huge today, so imagine this is my supply coming in.

He has lost 8% of his birth weight and it's clear he's been going to bed not full, just not hungry. How can I encourage him to eat more?

Apologies from a novice! Any advice welcome!
X

 

[AC1987]

When my DD was real tiny, i would feed her from one side, 15-20 mins usually til when she'd come off or fall asleep. Then change her diaper, then feed the other side. That USUALLY would keep her satisfied for about an hour. when they're really tiny all they wanna do is eat, sleep, poop 24/7 LOL its alot of work but it'll get easier

 

[WantsALittle1]

Having the exact same problem. Actually I made a post about it a few days ago.

I am 6 days PP. My baby falls asleep after 5 minutes at the breast, and I have the same concerns about him not accessing the hind milk and my supply dwindling. So I'll tell you what I've heard and what I've decided to do.

Friends have told me that I need to relax and be baby-led. They say that is normal for newborns to be so overwhelmed by the breastfeeding experience that they simply don't have the energy to work for their food. Lactation consultants have suggested stripping baby down to just the diaper and tickling him to wake him up if he starts to fall asleep at the breast. Additionally, doing a diaper change in between breasts will usually stir him (and by that I mean piss him off&#8230 enough that he'll wake up and take the other breast. I have tried all these things with very limited success. Sometimes it takes a full hour of stops and starts to get him to empty my breasts. The lactation consultant also said that this is normal.

So in your case, an example of a feeding session might be that he falls asleep after 15 minutes and then you tickle him and get another 5 minutes, and then you do a diaper change and get another 10 minutes, and you swaddle him (swaddling stirs my little man) and get another 10 minutes. All in all that's 40 minutes of feeding and that's likely enough to access the hind milk and to satisfy him long enough that he won't wake you up 30 minutes later. This procedure usually keeps my baby asleep for 2-3 hours.

Another issue here is that, in between let downs, I don't think baby is getting any milk and so it's more of a comfort suck. If you can keep him comfort sucking until the next let down, he'll be accessing different layers of the milk.

If, despite all the efforts described above, my Little Man simply will not stay awake or eat enough, I pump for 15 minutes after the feeding just to keep my supply up. I am getting between 30-50 ccs each time I do this.

Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you want someone to lament with!

xo

 

[Rachael737]

Thanks for your reply guys. I think I just can't believe that this little thing can possibly need so much food!

I don't think he's emptying my breasts though, but maybe he is, otherwise my boobs wouldn't have gone so hard and big now? I rarely offer the second boob but do swop to the other for the next session, given how soon it is likely to be anyway

It's late, I don't know what sleep is, so can't imagine this post makes very much sense

Thanks for listening to the ramblings! X

 

[maisiemoo]

Difficult as it may be, relax the very early days are all about getting supply up and the only way for babes to do that is suckle, and they will do so very regularly. What your baby is doing is normal, just go with it.... Instead of worrying about length of feeds, look at babes output. If baby is weeing and pooping, then just keep doing what you're doing.
Changing nappy's before feeds or undressing them slightly will help a sleepy baby with feeding.

 

[maisiemoo]

Thanks for your reply guys. I think I just can't believe that this little thing can possibly need so much food!

I don't think he's emptying my breasts though, but maybe he is, otherwise my boobs wouldn't have gone so hard and big now? I rarely offer the second boob but do swop to the other for the next session, given how soon it is likely to be anyway

It's late, I don't know what sleep is, so can't imagine this post makes very much sense

Thanks for listening to the ramblings! X

Does the breast feel soft directly after a feed? Engorgement is a normal part of bf and you're likely to experience it frequently until bf settles. Bf is overwhelming and exhausting during the early days, I recall hardly sleeping during the early weeks - it will get easier