I don't remember nursing this much!

[Biscuits & Gravy]

He is seriously nursing every waking moment, and attached to my boob at all times. He sleeps a ton, but when he is not zonked out he wants boob NOW.

Who else is with me? :

[dsaucone]

Yeah, we've been using the "soothie" A LOT. I simply can not have a baby attached to me every waking moment. He'll sleep for a good amount of time, but when he wakes up he wants to be fed about every hour.

[Swandira]

Right there with you. Little O would happily be latched on every moment he's awake (which fortunately isn't much.) When I hand him off to his dad he gets a pacifier, since I haven't started pumping yet. When I have him I just nurse him until he's asleep and hang out with a book. What I'll do when my DH goes back to work I can't imagine!

On the other hand, annoying as it is, the permalatchedness does make him gain weight pretty fast! At the pediatrician's office when he was 14 days old, he was 13 ounces above his birthweight and had apparently grown over two inches in length. : I'm not sure the nurse at the hospital had properly measured him, though. That does seem like a lot of growth in height.

[phatchristy]

Hey, the frequent nursing is pretty typical for a newborn....I seem to remember my kiddos turning into the most efficient vacuum cleaners after the newborn days. Nursing later on is SUPER quick and convienient. Consider all of this now an investment in the future!

[dsaucone]

Originally Posted by Swandira

On the other hand, annoying as it is, the permalatchedness does make him gain weight pretty fast! At the pediatrician's office when he was 14 days old, he was 13 ounces above his birthweight and had apparently grown over two inches in length. : I'm not sure the nurse at the hospital had properly measured him, though. That does seem like a lot of growth in height.

Yup! DS went in at 6 days old and had gained 4oz above his birth weight, and grew 1 1/4inches! IN 6 days! I was also wondering about them measuring improperly, but the measured 2x at the doctor's office and if the same happened with yours maybe it's possible?

[Biscuits & Gravy]

We have a doctor appt. this morning, and I can't wait to see what he weighs now. Even my mom who is a baby professional can't get over how much he nurses. His brother nursed a lot, but not this much. I wonder if it is because of his size? He was 9 lbs 1 oz at birth. I'm beyond thankful that nursing has been easy this time or I'd be miserable!

[leavemealone]

Mine nurses constantly as well. I keep telling myself it's normal, but when you just want a few seconds to yourself it's hard.

[Sage_SS]

my little guy too! If I'm holding him he wants to nurse every hour, at least. But of my hubby is holding him he's fine!

[Swandira]

B & G --

I have no idea why some babies nurse so much and others don't. I guess mine who weighed under 8 pounds did nurse less than her brothers, who were born at a larger weight, but even when she did get up into the 9-10 pound range she didn't start nursing more often than before, which makes me think it isn't my boys' larger size that made them more excited to nurse. Who knows what it is, though? Maybe temperament? Taste? Hard to say. It makes me feel loved and appreciated, though, although I would like to be able to put the little guy down now and then so I can eat something and use both hands, or so that I can do laundry without smooshing his feet against the washer.

[hollycat]

ive cut out "soothie nursing" and am only doing feeding nursing. when he's nursing, i keep him up to keep eating, if he's just breast dozing he gets kisses and cuddles for soothing, not nipple. soothing nursing for me didnt end up soothing at all but creating a fussier baby. two days out and he no longer does it. he's happier, im happier.

[AmieV]

I believe this is why Ellie got a pacifier at 3 days old. I was not concerned about her latch AT ALL at that point. She latched on shortly after birth and seriously after an hour and a half we had to unsuction her just to do the newborn exam. Then she nursed the night she was born, I am not kidding, from 8p-4am straight. Obviously my milk was in like the next day!

and you know the rest of the story...she loved it till her very last day! Abby enjoyed nursing but never quite like that!

[Biscuits & Gravy]

You know, I wonder if some of this has to do with being a second time mommy. Any whimper or cry results in a boob in his mouth, which he happily and eagerly accepts. My favorite tool from my mommy toolbox is back! I'm so happy to be a nursing mom again to be honest. I swore to H when Keller was born that I was DONE, but nursing another baby is making me think "Hmmmm. Maybe late pregnancy, labor, delivery and recovery wasn't all THAT bad."

[odenata]

I thought of this thread b/c I feel like all I do is nurse right now. I remember this with dd, too, but I didn't have another child to take care of then.

I wish I could make baby carrying and nursing work, but I never have been able to do both.

[CAKJNH]

Jandiced...

I'm there now, too. Jonathan is always eating. He's jaundiced so it's ok, but my boobs could use the break! Nursing has always been hard for me, though and this time looks to be the same. :

His latch is better now, but I never seem to produce enough. I'm determined to make it work better this time...but with bili-levels of 23.5, I can hear the "its time to to supplement" talk coming at the appointment tomorrow.

PS the U on my keyboard isn't working right, sorry for typos!!

[artgoddess]

my first was like that. He nursed every 30 minutes to and hour when he was awake. And he wasn't ever much of a napper. I used to read all that crap about how babies nurse every two to three hours and think to myself, "Who are these babies? What baby can possibly go that long without milk?" Then 3.5 years later I had my daughter. She nurses like the book, every three hours or so.

So my point it, your probably right. It may be more than what you did before, but it doesn't means that it's not normal.

[terrainthailand]

nak

same here with the hourly nursing. fortunately she goes nice long stretches at night, but during the day, it is all about the boob. I think a lot of it is comfort sucking... sometimes I think she could conk out for a nice nap but then she pees, gets all riled up from the diaper change and wants to suck again... over and over and over!!!

She found her thumb yesterday 3x in a row - but she's not consistent yet. I've tried the paci a few times... she generally spits it out but if I keep offering it she conks out right away. I'm pretty conflicted on whether to keep pushing it though. The paci seems so unnatural and I don't like the idea that down the road we will be dependent on it and I will have to keep it clean, around, etc. Still, I wouldn't mind a bit of break from the boob. Also I'm a bit worried about the thumb. Part of me thinks it's great... part of me remembers that my brother and I sucked our thumbs until we were 8 and 10. In fact, I still sometimes wake up with my thumb in my mouth!!

Sigh... so many decisions.

[leavemealone]

Has this gotten better for anyone yet? It kind of got better when he got to be about 6 weeks old. I have finally been able to have about a 30 minute break after feedings. I actually had the chance to make a real dinner for my family the other day!: I'm still working on using the sling to carry him while he's either nursing or sleeping, but he's 13lbs now and sometimes I just want to put him down for a break.

[jrabbit]

DD1 was a marathon nurser: 24 hours a day would not have been enough.
DD2 was a sprinter: from day #1, she nursed for 5-10 minutes, then slept for 5 hours. She did this and gained a pound a week.
DD3 nurses somewhere in between. Last night, she woke to nurse maybe 3 times.

DD3 was 7#3 at birth. 6#11 on day 3 at the hospital. I was yelled at for nursing continuously = obviously, she wasn't thriving. Trust me, I know what I'm doing. She weighed 8# at 10 days. Apparently, my milk didn't come in ...

Anyway, I agree, it's maybe not that your baby is nursing 'more' than your other babies, it's just different this time.

--janis