BabyWhispererForums.com
EAT => Breast Feeding => Topic started by: ray7694 on March 06, 2008, 16:54:18 pm
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My dd is nine days old and I know I shouldn't be stressing this much but I am. This is my second child and I don't want to create any bad habits.
She sleeps really well 3 to 4 hour stretches at night and during the day. The issue is that in the morning when she wakes up she wants to eat and eat. She will nurse anywhere from 5-20 minutes for a two or three hour period. I have tried a pacifier and to hold her off thinking she just wants to suck but nothing works. She nurses falls asleep and when I put her down wakes up and wants to nurse again. This last a full feeding cycle of two to three hours and then she sleeps.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. At times I just want to give up and go to the bottle so I would know how much she is getting. I am trying to hang in there.
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Hugs, that sounds quite normal for her age. The fact that she is sleeping 3-4 hour stretches at night is great!
It sounds like she is so sleepy that she is not getting a full feed, which makes her wake up hungry in a vicious cycle. There are some things you can try to keep her awake while feeding:
Strip her to her diaper and give skin-to-skin contact while feeding
Dab her forehead with a damp cool (not cold) washcloth
Stroke her feet, hands or ears
Talk and sing to her, use her name a lot, sing peppy songs rather than lullibies
Change her diaper between sides.
It can be hard work keeping a newborn awake but it will pay off when you get those full feedings.
Hugs! Hang in there, it gets easier!
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Hi hugs & kisses coming your way. i felt much the same in the first couple of weeks but don't feel down IT DOES get easier. My lo is now 15 weeks and im sooo glad i continued with bfing.
Its all worth it just keep telling yourself.
Kate ;D
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You said she sleeps 3-4 hour stretches during the day too. I'm just wondering if the 4 hour stretches of sleep during the day are too long for a 9 day old. Just a thought.
No longer than 3 hours between feeds during the day for a 9 day old would be where I'd camp for just a bit. She may even need to feed more at the 2.5 hour mark for some feeds too.
The PP are so right. It does get easier. The first 3 months really are the hardest part. Hang in there and don't be a stranger if you need some help...or even just some encouragement. We've all been there too!
:)
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My experience, from having had one child already (2nd child now 3.5 months), is that trying to hard to 'avoid bad habits' can be FAR more problematical than just dealing with the habits when they crop up. I *know* that isn't what any of the baby books say, but it really is what I've found. So if the only reason you don't want to do something that's working well is because you're afraid it might become a problem in the future, then it's worth thinking about whether it might be easier just to go ahead and do things that way, if you see what I mean. (Bear in mind that the people who write baby books see everything from the perspective of parents who are having real problems, and so they put a lot of emphasis on avoiding these problems, under the assumption that that's going to be easier - I think they sometimes don't consider the possibility that the things you do to avoid the problems can potentially be more difficult than just solving the problems!)
With regard to your baby's feeding pattern, I think the problem may well be simply that her stomach is so small that when she needs to take in a lot of milk (which she will first thing in the morning after sleeping several hours at night) she really does need to take it by installments, so to speak - those short feeds fill her stomach and then she has to wait until the milk has gone down a bit so that she can fit the next lot in! And these frequent feeds are doing a really good job of building your supply in these important early days.
So, my advice would be - Go along with this for the time being. (I don't mean that you have to sit there feeding every minute if you really need to put her off for ten minutes so that you can get your own breakfast or whatever - just don't worry about the 'bad habit' thing.) As time goes by and she becomes able to last a bit longer between feeds, you can get her into a bit more of a routine. But, as my mother told me when I was pregnant with my first child - don't solve the problem until it happens.
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You have got some great advice there already! My lo was also a sleepy one too (he is now 11 weeks old) and I struggled to keep him awake. I found the best thing was to change diaper. Have a good stash of diapers!!! This feeding pattern wont last for ever! Hang in there!! :D