When does BF get better?

[danielle1984]

My son is 11 days old and during my entire pregnancy I had no intention of breastfeeding, but then I tried it right after he was born and loved it. I'm finding more difficult than I expected. I saw a lactation nurse last week and he is latching very well. Where I find it difficult is the fact he feeds for about an hour to 1h15 and would sleep for 20 - 30 minutes in average. Then back to feeding. When does it start getting better? I can't wait for him to eat in shorter periods. I know he is still very young but if it's to be this way i fear I'll get discouraged.

 

[optimistic1]

They do that off and on the first few weeks. They have a growth spurt right around 10 days, 3 weeks, 6 weeks and then I think its 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months. During these times they want to be glued to your breast constantly feeding but after they go through a couple of days of this they sleep really good for what seems like the whole day waking every few hours to eat and right back to sleep. My daughters 4 weeks and unless she's comfort feeding or going through a growth spurt she sleeps pretty good and eats every 3 or 4 hours. She has a few hours during the day time when she stays up and eats every 30 min and gets some tummy time and laughs and smiles. It gets better eventually...I'm still having ups and downs with it but when its good its amazing and when its bad it feels like it'll be bad forever but just tell your self that this will pass and tomorrows another day.. And any time your lo wants to eat let him cause he is probably building up your supply.

 

[babyface15]

oh it'll get better soon hun! i find it gets better and easier every day. when she it's going through a growth spurt things change a bit but it won't last forever. we use a dummy between feedings too as she loves comfort sucking and has really good weight gain so I'm not worried about missing hunger cues. do you use one? i found it to really help her not be on the boob 24/7.

 

[babyface15]

oh sorry i didn't read that he feeds for a very long time. my girl did that early on. i tend to break latch after i know she's not swallowing and is comfort sucking for about 5 mins then offer the dummy if she's fussy. i had a good supply so that didn't affect things. but the excessively long feedings didn't last for me past the first week or so, i don't know if it's because i introduced the dummy or what!

 

[New Mrs W]

I feel your pain. Mickey literally fed ALL day at that point, and most of the night. Everyone kept telling me to keep going until 6 weeks and he would start to go longer between feeds. He did not. In all honesty I would say he was about 10 weeks old before that happened, although luckily he would sleep at least three hours at a time at night, quite often longer. Honestly, bf has been the most difficult thing I have ever done. The fact that there was always the option of formula (my eldest was ff so I have nothing against it but wanted to bf this time) and my husband was very keen for me to stop bf and start ff meant that I was really tested at times. Add this to being completely shattered and having a very active two year old to care for at the same time! But I am proud of myself and my mental strength for keeping going with it. I think the main reason I stuck with ir was because of how upset I was with myself after failing the first time round.

 

[Rachel_C]

It can last for a while but I think it's mostly about how you deal with it. You can sit there waiting to get up and do the hoovering or you can stock up on chocolate and drinks and watch an entire season of your favourite TV show in two days Neither way will change what the baby needs but one is an awful lot easier for you!

 

[danielle1984]

He won't take a pacifer/dummy. He just spits it out. Yesterday was a better day. He feed for an hour and slept for one hour.

 

[TheNewMrs]

Honestly it sounds like he is just doing what babies do. Its tough at the start, but as Rachel said, seize the oppertunity to relax, watch your fav shows, read a few books and enjoy your baby! You'll look back this time next year and wished you'd cuddled just a little longer... They grow so fast!

 

[babyface15]

do you do boob compressions once he starts to get a bit lazy? i found in the early days she would fall asleep at the boob or just stay latched and suckle a bit here and there. when id lay her down she'd wake soon after bc she was still hungry. I started to keep her feeding by boob compressions, blowing on her, tickling her, changing diaper once she got lazy and she began to sleep more. but if it is just cluster feeding its probably a phase bc of a growth spurt. soon you'll be thinking what's wrong with my baby he's not feeding enough lol (at least that's what i thought when she came out of her first growth spurt)

 

[tinytabby]

I found things got better at 2 weeks, then 6 weeks, and by 3 months it was easy peasy. It's definitely worth watching lots of tv and chilling out.

 

[Peggy O]

He's bringing your supply up. It's normal and good. It sucks some days but just kick back and let him. get EVERYTHING you need for the whole day within reach, water, snacks etc. It gets better gradually and in a few months you'll have MUCH more freedom. Lily nursed ALL day as well, more or less. I sat in a recliner for about two months.

 

[danielle1984]

I'm about to give up. Nurse gave us another advice. He is two weeks and still feeding constantly and barely sleeps during the day. Evenings are terrible because he is so tired. My husband gave him a supplement last night, a big 3oz bottle and he was drinking it as if he was starving! Anyway, the nurse said to supplement after each feed of 1oz and see what happens. This baby needs his sleep, poor little man.

 

[danielle1984]

Well the supplement definitely helped. He's been sleeping for almost two hours now. He was so tired, I'm happy he's getting a nap.

 

[Peggy O]

Glad to hear you figured out what works best for you guys!

 

[danielle1984]

Well we tried going with just formula but no sucess! He won't take the bottle from me, he will spit out the milk and barely drinking half an oz. He does fine with my husband. Nurse came by yesterday saying he should be feeding for less than one hour by now. Well I had him at my breasts since 7:50am its now 1:00pm! I change him position every 20 minutes, make him burp, etc, but he still asks for more

 

[babyface15]

wow yeah that seems like a long time! how is his weight gain?

 

[danielle1984]

wow yeah that seems like a long time! how is his weight gain?

Very good! He was born at 7lbs 2oz and he is now at 8lbs 3oz at 2weeks and 3 days

 

[dawnrise1]

Every baby is different, but, it doesn't last forever. I found it got easier after about 8ish weeks, and once you get over the growth spurts, its so rewarding and for me it is so natural and straightforward. One perk is always having a supply and never having to worry about making/cleaning bottles. I would say just keep at it, you are doing a great job and don't put too much pressure on yourself to do other things, I found getting out and about would let me baby sleep for longer periods of time and it really doesn't last long so make the most of the lovely cuddles - good luck!

 

[Here_we_go]

My daughter didn't ease up from eating all the time until about 8 weeks. BUT she slept through the night by about 6 weeks. I figure she was simply piling her night feedings on during the day.

Then it was like a switch and I noticed I didn't have to feed as often. We could actually go to the store and come back home without having to do any feeds!

She went to about every 2-3 hours and sometimes longer inbetween. Then the feeds got shorter and shorter. Now she rarely feeds longer than 5-10 minutes. I actually miss those long nursing sessions.

Btw. She never would take a pacifer. Now that she's teething, she'll chew on it some and play with it by passing it back and forth from hand to hand but no comfort sucking on it at all.

Just stick with it and you'll not regret it. It's so much easier than bottlefeeding

 

[danielle1984]

Thanks ladies!! I can't wait for it be easier, its so nice outside everyday and would love to take my son out but find I can't yet. But I know I can do this! He is 3 weeks on Friday.