New baby feeding hourly... Help!

My DD is five weeks old now and at 2.5-3 weeks she seemed to feed all the time. I think perhaps she was having a little growth spurt or something. Anyway, I was feeding on demand but not being too careful about which side she had. She'd been unsettled in the evening for a while but it got even worse at this stage, to the point where she was either crying or feeding (well, kind of latching on but just messing around). I saw Dr Delphine Dupuis and it seems the problem was oversupply, so she was getting too much foremilk and not enough hind milk. By the evening she had a tummy full of lactose but was still hungry, with no room to put any more and pain from the gas. Dr Delphine's advice was to make sure, if I offered her the breast again when she was unsettled, that I gave her the same side she'd last had to try and make sure she was getting the hind milk and my body would settle down to supply the right amount for her demand.

to save retyping what I wrote on that, and because I'm really worried that there will be mums out there thinking there is a problem with their milk here is the link to AussiePups "watery milk thread" http://www.expatwoman.com/qatar/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=166467 But there actually maybe something wrong with their milk so mothers who are struggling should go and see a doctor and a lactation specialist. I did have something wrong with my milk and everyone kept saying all bodies are made to supply the right amount of milk for babies, just hang in there it will come right. It didn't and if I'd gone to see someone earlier instead of listening to everyone else telling me I was wrong when I said I thought something wasn't right I would've saved myself a lot of heart ache and guilt. Agree, some women can truly have a problem with their milk (although as HAK says its a lot less than people wold have you believe, most of the time its due to external factors such as one size fits all schedules or latching issues and in the posts I linked to there was information about factors that coud lead to a baby not getting enough milk or too little fat, which is why I linked to them) but NOTHING the OP has said indicates that she has a milk problem, the feeding pattern described is NORMAL for a 3 week old, and her baby is thriving. A good percentage of mothers I know who are still feeding their toddlers experienced the same and found that by continuing to feed on cue their babies were fine and fed less eventually at their own pace. Its so common for new mums to doubt their milk and get talked in supplementing when they don't need to, only to find out later that they got bad advice and in effect they unintentionally sabotaged their own breastfeeding success. I would go to an LC, not a Dr, because sadly my experience with Drs, particularly in the ME has shown me that they know little to NOTHING about breastmilk/breastfeeding, which is not surprising, given that having asked the Drs in my family, its not something covered in med school. So yep, talk to EXPERTS if you feel you have a problem, but in my mind breastfeeding experts are trained certified LCs, not your average Pediatrician.

to save retyping what I wrote on that, and because I'm really worried that there will be mums out there thinking there is a problem with their milk here is the link to AussiePups "watery milk thread" http://www.expatwoman.com/qatar/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=166467 But there actually maybe something wrong with their milk so mothers who are struggling should go and see a doctor and a lactation specialist. I did have something wrong with my milk and everyone kept saying all bodies are made to supply the right amount of milk for babies, just hang in there it will come right. It didn't and if I'd gone to see someone earlier instead of listening to everyone else telling me I was wrong when I said I thought something wasn't right I would've saved myself a lot of heart ache and guilt. Yes, you are right - absolutely right, in fact... but only 2-5% of women actually clinically have problems producing milk. That means that 95-97% can.

to save retyping what I wrote on that, and because I'm really worried that there will be mums out there thinking there is a problem with their milk here is the link to AussiePups "watery milk thread" http://www.expatwoman.com/qatar/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=166467 But there actually maybe something wrong with their milk so mothers who are struggling should go and see a doctor and a lactation specialist. I did have something wrong with my milk and everyone kept saying all bodies are made to supply the right amount of milk for babies, just hang in there it will come right. It didn't and if I'd gone to see someone earlier instead of listening to everyone else telling me I was wrong when I said I thought something wasn't right I would've saved myself a lot of heart ache and guilt.

My twins were on bottle and breast from day 1 as recommended by pedia.....(they were 2.2 and 2.3 kg at birth). The first month was the worst and they were fed bottle and breast every 2 hours.....it got better from the second month onward....if you are Ok with this, talk to your pedia! I nursed til they were almost 4 months old.

to save retyping what I wrote on that, and because I'm really worried that there will be mums out there thinking there is a problem with their milk here is the link to AussiePups "watery milk thread" http://www.expatwoman.com/qatar/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=166467

Totally agree, have also NEVER seen my milk settle to anything like 1/3 fat on top or heard that it should be, and DS has actually has periods where he has been off the top of the chart. My thickest creamiest EVER pump might have been like 1/5 fat on top. Don't start analyzing your milk ladies, look at weight gain (on the correct WHO chart NOT the CDC one), feed your baby when they are hungry not by the clock and look after yourself. If you are doing all that and baby is not gaining or seems unhappy, get your latch checked out to make sure they are feeding efficiently (a babd latch is not necessarily painful) and work closely with a good certified LC to get things going as they should be. Your story sounds like inefficient feeding/bad latch AussiePup, not like a problem with your milk at all.

Found out that my milk was watery. I know not evryne is the same but maybe check your b'milk once some has settled in fridge over night... In 120mls about a third of it should be thick and creamy... Mine unfortunately was about 3mls in 120mls. The rest looked like mercy water :( I know I (and Kiwispiers) replied to your thread about this, Aussiepup, but I'm now glad you quantified what milk apparently "should" be... and I can safely say that on the occasion when I expressed and left if to stand overnight, my milk [i'>never[/i'> had 1/3 fat/cream (more like 1/5 if I remember rightly)... and I had 2 babies who were hugging the 90/98th centile, feeding every 2-3 hours and resolutely not sleeping through the night! Pumping and letting settle really isn't a helpful or accurate way to determine the quality of your milk - the only way to do that is to look at your baby, and regardless of frequency of feeds or night waking, if bubs is growing steadily and is weeing and pooing regularly, then your milk is just fine.

My LO fed similarly slawerence21 ... Found out that my milk was watery. I know not evryne is the same but maybe check your b'milk once some has settled in fridge over night... In 120mls about a third of it should be thick and creamy... Mine unfortunately was about 3mls in 120mls. The rest looked like mercy water :( Ds fed for 1-1.5 hrs draining both sides quite frequently and whilst my b**bs got full and at times leaked they never felt real heavy and as soon as ds would feed it was like he had let the air out of a balloon quite quickly. I thought he was draining me completely on each side before I'd swap him over but found that even after half hr of feeding I'd still get 50 odd mls of milk but it was sooooo watery. In the end I had to supplement with formula to fill him up. I managed about 1 week shy of 6 months of bre*st feeding in conjunction with formula which I thought was a reasonable effort. Just another thing to check if you haven't already. Like the others say though... A nice block of 3 hrs uninterrupted sleep and you will feel a million bucks!

Daytime sleep is a [b'>must[/b'> right now, agree with HAK that you feel much better when your LO finally sleeps all night but I also found that after the first 6 weeks your body adjusts to the new broken sleep pattern and although you feel tired you feel much less zombied than in the beginning. I love this poem, might make you feel better about all the time spent feeding your LO. [i'>Song for a Fifth Child by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth, Empty the dustpan, poison the moth, Hang out the washing and butter the bread, Sew on a button and make up a bed. Where is the mother whose house is so shocking? She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking. Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue (Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo). Dishes are waiting and bills are past due (Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo). The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo. Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue? (Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo). The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow, For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow. So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep. I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.[/i'>

Thanks so much everyone. Nice to know I'm not alone. So much to learn all at once!! Going to stick with the breast feeding for now and try to get some more siestas in! Lack of sleep doesn't help with coping...... Getting there though. Love him to pieces so just want a happy baby ;) You've hit the nail on the head there - the main killer for a new mum's morale is sleep or rather sleep deprivation... with a bit of decent sleep (that being 3 uninterrupted hours by my own experience!) you can literally do anything. The first time your baby sleeps through the night (again, don't measure by your friend's miracle babies who allegedly sleep through at 2 days old - mine took 9 and 11 months respectively) you will feel like a new woman. Your baby will be happy as long as you're happy, so in a rather strange way, make your own happiness your priority - if you feel relaxed and happy about your parenting choices, then you are doing the Right Thing for you and your family. If you're not happy, change it. There's no one-size-fits-all when it comes to these things, so by all means read up on the matters, google it, ask friends, relatives and forum geeks, but then take all that information and forge your own answer with it.

so am not alone, i am EBF my 7 weeks old, and from this week only he shifted from every hour to every 2 hour feed, i feel so happy, and sometimes he's sleeping for 3 hrs also. those first few weeks were really tough just leave all the dishes and laundry. nap when ur little one is napping. hopefully everything will be undercontrol soon. Happy BF :)

Oh, and here's an article I found very encouraging: www.naturalchild.org/guest/elizabeth_baldwin.html

Slawrence21, if it makes you feel better, my ds is 7 weeks today and STILL feeds every hour during the day. He was born with a relatively low weight (2.6 kgs) and I suspect that has something to do with the feeding, but paed says he's gained very well during the first month. I feel it is unusual too, but I see that my baby is happy and doing fine in terms of peeing and pooing, so I dont think theres anything wrong. Since i am a sahm, I've stuck with it and feed him on demand (at the cost of takeaways every day!) and I'm sure it's going to be worth it. Hang in there n good luck!

Hi Slawrence, I can totally sympathize with the fatigue and inability to do anything else, but like the other posters said, this wont last forever so hang in there. I agree with the others again in that your supply depends on your baby's demand to feed; the more he feeds the more milk your body will produce so if you are intending to breastfeed for longer, you may need to reconsider supplementing with formula. That being said, I did both supplementing with my first and exclusively breast feeding with my second and both are totally doable (provided that the more number of feeds you replace with formula, the less breast milk your baby will get). Hoping your baby will adjust soon to a more suitable feeding pattern! <em>edited by urban socialite on 02/12/2011</em>

sorry wrote my epic post while the other 2 were posting it seems, sorry for the repetition. PS yay HAK you're back! :) :)

First of all regardless of what your friends are experiencing what your baby is doing is quite normal, not cause for alarm or worry in any way. Babies are born with teeny-tiny tummies and designed to feed little and often. You have a few options to choose from so you need to decide what works for you; 1) Do you want to breastfeed exclusively? (I won't list the benefits, I'm sure you know them already). If its important to you then continue feeding when your baby shows signs of hunger. Pushing your baby on to a feeding schedule is not a good idea as it can affect your supply or lead to an underfed baby. Likewise giving formula will have a negative affect on your supply so can impact the success of your feeding long term. So long as you feed your baby when he is hungry rather than by the clock and do not give formula or water in between you will make enough milk, your size, your boob size and your baby's size are not a factor at all, (remember women can breastfeed twins). Right now he is giving your breasts the important feedback they need to make the correct amount, if you interfere with top-ups and schedules then they will get the message that less is required and it wil be hard to rebuild that supply further down the track. Keep in mind that one of two things will eventually happen, either your baby will start to feed less frequently or they will start to feed for a shorter time, either way the phase where you are tied to the baby all day feeding, while exhausting does not last forever I promise :) My baby used to feed for up to an hour and a half per session when he was 3 weeks old, then it dropped to 45 minutes and then to 20, by the time he was 4 months old he fed every 90 minutes (ish) but only for 5 minutes at a time. 2) You can mix-feed. You lose some of the health benefits/protection of exclusive breastfeeding as you do change the "ecosystem (I forget the correct word) of your baby's gut and leave your baby more open to gastric infection etc. You still get some benefits though, are still transferring some maternal antibodies and the breastmilk will help your baby to digest the formula and reduce the risk of allergies. You do risk the baby eventually rejecting the breast for the bottle as he discovers how much easier it is and may find you can't breastfeed for more than the first few months as a result. If you want to keep breastfeeding make sure you don't fall to the temptation to give more and more formula, skip breastfeeds etc. Breasts need to be emptied to continue to make milk. 3) You can move to formula, it will be faster and allow you to get out and about more and more convenient if you are planning on returning to work soon. Your baby may still want to feed as frequently and giving large amounts may cause gastric upset/reflux etc. The fact that your baby is growing fast should tell you that your supply is more than enough. You need to be patient, with a 3 week old baby you really shouldn't be doing much else anyway, you need to rest and be looked after, not be rushing around cooking, cleaning, doing groceries etc. Get some home help, order takeaways or get DH in the kitchen and enjoy this time with your newborn, its a cliche but truly, this time really is gone before you know it, everything else can wait. :)

Slawrence, I hear you, but it is perfectly normal for newborns to feed as often. Suckling also gives them comfort. Their stomachs are very small and breast milk is digested really fast. As long as he has enough soiled/wet nappies and his poo is mustardy all is well on feeding front. Trust your body! It is EXTREMELY rare for us women not to produce enough milk. It is a supply and demand, so more often he feeds the more your body will produce. It is early days, so sleep whenever your LO sleep! Eat and drink well :) Ask your husband to change him at night or even during the day - it is a small thing, but will give you a chance to relax a little bit. If you are ok with expressing, do so and ask DH to feed the baby. It will give you a much needed break. It does get better! I promise! <em>edited by JoannaS on 02/12/2011</em>

Some small babies just need more frequent feeds and these will draw out as bubs gets bigger... it's all down to tummy size, so really, I'm sorry to say, you've just got to bear with it. Everything else can wait. If your baby is growing fast, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with your milk supply. If you want to carry on breastfeeding, carry on feeding on demand - this will ensure that your milk supply always keeps up with your baby's needs. If you start replacing feeds with formula, just be aware that you are essentially telling your body that your baby needs less of your milk, and it will adapt to suit (therefore producing less). This is why quite often, introducing formula as "top-up" is a sure-fire way to decrease your own supply - mums often "top-up" because they fear they don't have enough milk themselves and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. However, there is nothing wrong with choosing the formula option if you feel that you really can't continue breastfeeding (although it remains a less ideal option - I liken it to eating tinned veg instead of fresh - nothing wrong with tinned, but fresh is arguably better for you). My two were big, hungry babies too, so I do know how you feel! I just always trusted my body and it worked out just fine, even if I was a bit of a zombie for quite a while! Hang the housework, find a way to comfortably feed in puiblic and Bob's your uncle.