New here - Questions about feeding my 9-day-old DS

[habville]

Greetings!  This is my first post.  I've been lurking/learning a while, but just had my baby and now have questions.  I'll start with this one:  In the book Tracy recommends feeding on one breast for 40 minutes (at this age).  Well, he seemed to be doing OK at the 4-6 day marks (getting in about 30ish minutes per feed...give/take).  Now, he only seems to want to snack.  Even if it's been 3 hours or so, he still only effectively sucks for about 10 or 15 minutes per feed.  Then, he's out like a light.  The one thing I can think of since this has begun is that I have started taking my fish oil supplement again, and maybe this is effecting my breastmilk taste???  This still doesn't seem quite like it's the problem because he is not "refusing" or fussing at the breast...he is just falling asleep every time. 

This is my first baby so I am pretty bewildered as to what to expect.  Sure, I've read numerous books (including Baby Whisperer), but it's nothing until you have to apply it all, and I'm feeling overwhelmed trying to do so. 

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Heather

PS - I'll also mention that he had a Dr. visit at 5 days, and had already surpassed his birthweight (birth = 7lb, 10 oz  Dr. appt = 7lb, 13 oz), but this was before the current issue began.

[kgmf123]

Hello Heather,

Congrats on the birth of your son. Is your ds getting plenty of wet and dirty nappies? Is he alert etc when he is awake? Some babies are much more efficient feeders than others. Are his dirty nappies 'mustard yellow' in colour.

Hopefully someone with a bit more experience, will be able to give you better help than me!

Welcome aboard though!

Kat x

[Maia&Lia]

I second what Kat said about efficient nursers.
My daughter NEVER...and I mean NEVER nursed more than 10 minutes from the day she was born. She would however go 2.5-3 hours between nursings and had plenty of wet and dirty diapers. She also gained past her birth weight by her 5 day appointment. My suggestions would be:

1. track how long your baby goes between feedings...if it seems like a good stretch of time then things are probably okay.
2. track the number of wet and dirty diapers, also look at how wet and the consistency of the dirty (should be yellow and seedy)
3. if you can, take the baby in for a weight check before and after a nursing. some peds will do this in their office and you can tell exactly how much your little one is taking in with one 15 minute feeding.

I freaked unnecessarily over the time frame that Tracy suggested when my daughter was born. I soon began to realize that she was getting everything she needed in a much shorter period of time

I hope that helps! Congrats on the birth of your little one!
-Alessia

[Shdef]

Because I had to stay in hospital with my DS for three weeks I was lucky enough to get the help of a lactation councillor. She was there all day for me giving me great advice. In the first days she told me it would be good to really look if the nappies are wet at least 6 times a day and if the fontanelle isn't sunk. If that's alright he will be fine. For babies who fell asleep on the breast too fast she recommended to give one breast, then nappy change, then the other breast. We did that for weeks before slowly moving to the EASY routine. In Germany you can borrow a wee scale for babies at the chemist and you can check the amout he drunk but I don't know if you can do that 

[habville]

Thank you all so far for your comments.  They have been encouraging...especially knowing that some babies never are on board with taking a full 40 minutes to nurse!

His diapers have been yellow & seedy, as well as wet on a regular basis.  As for his fontanelle, I think it is fine; however, he's in a good sleep right now and I will wait to check in until he's awake.  Speaking of when he is awake...he is usually alert and somewhat cranky.  I'm thinking he may be a Touchy baby, so we are trying to work on avoiding overstimulating him. 

Regarding the time between feedings: they vary.  I'm working on getting him into a good schedule, but being so young still I'm guessing it may take some time.  At times I can get him to go 3 hours, and sometimes we have meltdowns and only 1.5 hours passes between feedings.  I'm thinking this could also contribute to his feed times being short???  So far we are able to get him to go up to 4 hours overnight...which is nice. 

When pregnant and reading the Baby Whisperer, I had visions of my LO jumping right on board, and adapting to breastfeeding/a schedule right away.  I guess babies don't quite work like that!

[daisymelan]

As you will often hear, our little ones don't read the same books we do.  LOL

Congrats on your new little one.

Babies that age are awake for such little time.  I could only get my son on a two hour EASY for the first few months.  I would suggest a nappy change during the feed if you are concerned about how much he is getting.  Our hospital gave us charts on how many wets and dirties htey should have at each stage.  Did your hospital offer you one and is your lo following that guideline?

Some babies are just plain efficient..... mine never was until recently.

Sounds like you are doing a wonderful job!

[Samuel's mum]

Your LO sounds like a standard issue.  I certainly never got 40 minute feeds. Some babies really are just more efficient even from a young age. At his age a schedule may be a little way off. You've got some mega-growth spurts in those first few days and your supply will need to keep up with them. I would focus on trying to read his cues and gently think about timing but don't 'stretch' a very young baby between feeds if it's not right. Over-scheduling can be a major contributing factor to breastfeeding mothers having problems with their supply. I was feeding around every 2 hours - sometimes more or less. Very little babies often fall asleep after a feed - it's very natural. It won't last. Nappy change suggestion is very sensible.

[Shdef]

To avoid further problems I would also express a bit of milk after each feed. Then you won't have the three of four days of hungry baby, because you are alwys making more milk then he needs.

And if you are completely shattered DH can have a night-shift and give you some shut-eye! That saved my sanity in the early days.


CONGRATULATIONS!

[Kate A]

I had those visions too...oh how they fade.  my best advice.  relax as much as you can for the first 6 weeks.  pick some things that are important to you, but just watch your baby.  I didn't do that.  I focused on trying to fit her into the BW mold..She didn't begin to fall into easy until 4 months or so and even now it's all over the board.  One thing I wish I would have done was just breathe and watch.  If they nurse every 1.5 hours great, every 3 great.  Give yourself the freedom to just be and savor all the moments.  After 6 weeks, come up for air and then evaluate.  I had so many people tell me that and I wish I would have listened.  Sadly, but in a good way, I had tracy in my head saying "start as you mean to go on".  it is a good thing, but for me I wish now I just would have savored. I knew I wasn't going to co-sleep (i couldn't) and I knew I wouldn't be an on-demand nurser...so to me, keeping those standards were important in the beginning.
You'll know based on your personality.  The best thing as a newborn...them sleeping on you.  I was frustrated by it at times because she wasn't in the BW groove, but now, there's no way she would do it.  There's things only a new baby can do.  Enjoy it now, b/c in 6 months they don't even want to hold your hand while nursing
good luck new mommy...enjoy the next month

p.s. my babe never nursed more than 20 minutes, by 3 weeks 10, 3 months 6 minutes

[KellyC]

Hi

Just to agree with all the other postings that if your baby is happy, alert, producing wet and dirty nappies etc. then a short feed isn't a problem, you're lucky to have an efficient feeder!  Zander also only fed for 10 minutes at a time even as a newborn, which is perhaps one of the reasons I've found it easy (most of the time) to stick with breastfeeding and we're still going now at 6.5 months.  To begin with I think I probably fed every 2 to 2.5 hours, sometimes more often and sometimes less often.  I think the best thing I did was stick to the EASY order of things but I didn't watch the clock I watched my baby's cues and I soon learned what all the different cries means - 80% of the time I understood anyway.  One thing I hadn't pre-empted was how many digestive problems babies have, Zander was always upset a little while after a feed and winding him was never easy!

I'm a bit obsessive by nature and I used to get really stressed that Zander didn't fit into the BW mould - I read the books when I was pregnant and thought I'd have it all sussed after a couple of weeks, ha!  Cherish every moment you have with your little one as before you know it he'll be a cheeky little monkey like Zander whose current favourite game is biting and pulling my nipple before breaking into a big grin

Lol Kate - I was watching a DVD of Zander when he was a few weeks old asleep on someone's lap whilst we all sat round talking and drinking tea.  Did he really ever do that?!

Kelly x