Why my 3 weeks old baby need to be breast feed more often than others?

[AN]

Hi, my new born just doesn't seem to get enough from me and she seems hungry all the time even i have breast feed her over 3 times within 1 or 2 hours.  Every time i feed her (after three or more time feeding), she falls asleep; once i put her in bed, she sleeps for few minutes, then wakes up and cries for more.  I am pretty sure the amount I feed her is more than the standard amount.  What would that be?  Do i have low milk supply?  I tried dummy but she just didn't want it and she is showing all the hungry signs - rooting, licking her lips...  but i have already feed her at least 2 or 3 times.  Is that all normal? 

Some nights i need to wake up every hour or even half an hour to feed her which really frustrated me.  Please help.

Any help/advices will be greatly appreciated.  Thanks

[Peek-a-boo]

{{Hugs}}  The best way to monitor your milk supply is to keep an eye on wet diapers.  If she's making plenty (I think 8 in a 24 hour period) then your supply is fine.  At this age, they really do nothing but eat and sleep and then have growth spurts during which they want to eat even more, so this might all be pretty normal.  Here's an FAQ with more details:  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=65905.0

It's also possible there's a sleep issue here hiding behind a feed issue.   I found this FAQ very helpful during the first few weeks:  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64627.0 

I would start by trying to prevent her from falling asleep at the breast--strip her down and nurse skin to skin with a blanket draped around her back; stroke her head, talk to her, etc.  This will encourage her to keep eating and take a full feed (it's possible right now that she's eating a bit, then being overwhelmed by oxytocin and falling asleep, but waking hungry because she didn't take a full feed).  After having a full feed, then perhaps change her diaper, swaddle her, and settle her to sleep without her falling asleep at the breast.    This may help her to sleep a bit longer.  I found a bit of "accidental parenting" helpful in the first few weeks and often let baby sleep in a swing or sling (knowing those are habits we'd need to fix later) as the motion helped produce a longer nap. 

[*Amy*]

Also the need to suck in an infant is huge, so perhaps if she is after a full feed offer your little finger/paci for her to suck on.....this urge to suck usually passes in about 5 mins!
With my first I often mistook the need to suck as hunger as the cues are very similar!

[Jen114]

How longs she feeding at a time? If you think she is falling asleep too quickly before finishing her meal try laying down and taking out her legs from the baby grow so some cool air wakes her up then lach on again . I have had to do this wih me ds all the time he is 7 weka now and getting easier but atoll have to take atleast an hour to feed enshrine but at least I know he has a good feed andthen sleeps for a good few hours it's alot of playing around.

[AN]

Thanks ladies for the helpful advices / tips.  I followed few things you mention above, and by the look of it, seem to work so far and don't think i have low milk supply issues - i need to change her nappy average 3 to 4 hours and all are full and wet nappies.  Tried the waking her up approach, seems working so far, but seems as if she is used to the approach so i need to constantly change the ways to wake her up.

I now feed her on each breast approcimately 15-20 min, so in total for each feed is around 45 min to an hour.  Before that was shorter as i didn't know that i should wake her up during feeding.  now i do, thanks!!