First time mom, newborn wants breast constantly, two days old, won't stop crying

[rhiOrion]

help!!!!

I gave birth Thursday afternoon to a beautiful baby girl, and at the hospital she spent most of her time sleepy and not that interested in eating. This morning (friday morning) while the LC was in the room she threw up a bunch of mucous, and we thought that she'd certainly eat now.

Well, now that's all she wants to do. It's the only thing that seems to make her stop crying. It's 4:00 am, and DH and I have only managed to get about 10 minutes of sleep between us. As soon as I pop her off, even if she has fallen asleep, she starts smacking her lips and using her tongue thrust. Then after a minute she'll start screaming her head off again, unless I latch her back on.

Right now he's got her quiet by walking around with her. But it will only last a few minutes before she starts screaming again.

She's had one poop that wasn't total meconium, a few hours agoAmu. And she had a wet diaper about 12 hours ago. I'm not sure how many wet diapers she had for the nurses.

My milk hasn't come in yet, but I can get some colostrum out, though it's not always easy.

Is this just what newborns do? Will it get better once my milk is in? I'm so lost, and so tired! Not to mention that I've been nursing practically nonstop for about 7 hours and I'm SORE.

[Asparagus78]

I think the wanting to nurse bit is normal, both my DSs did that, and yes, once the milk came in (day 4 with DS1, day 3 with DS2), it got better. With an older baby (a few weeks old) I would recommend side-lying nursing, but I was never comfortable doing it until they were a tad bigger. However, I was able to get a decent amount of sleep those first few weeks by putting the babe on my naked chest and sitting back in a semi-reclined position. Just the proximity and body heat (and smell?) helped them sleep a few hours between feeds. The first few weeks are hard, mama - but it gets better! Congrats on your little girl!

[Spiralshell]

Congratulations on your new baby!
You're not going crazy. What you're describing sounds pretty normal. Adjusting to the outside world is HARD! Your little one wants to be very close to you, and it's normal to want to nurse a ton. It gets a LOT LOT LOT easier once your milk comes in.
Think about getting a Moby wrap or something similar so that you can wrap the baby to your bare chest. I felt safe leaning back in a chair and napping while Nate napped in the moby. And just being all snug in the wrap helps them to get better rest.
Be sure to look lots of lanolin to keep your nipples soothed. I also liked to press a cool washcloth to them. Standing in the shower (when you can steal 10 minutes away from the baby -- I know it's hard!) also feels good.
Rest when you can, trust your instincts, and know that in a few months you will barely remember these days.

[karika]

good replies so far. yes it is normal for them to want to be attached physically all the time when they first come out. Think of a kangaroo... or a bonobo ape. It is instinctual. Your milk will come in very soon and then she will get the fruits of her sucking labor that she is doing now. She is stimulating you to get the milk in. i just got in bed with my babies for the first month at least (alone). with dd2 it was more like 3 months... lots of skin to skin and I keep my chest naked. Have big bottles of water and snacks like nuts and raisins by the bed. I agree with the lanolin, it is good for you and no harm to baby to suck it, though I would always wipe it off some when they go to nurse. When your partner is home, try to have him let the baby sleep on his chest as he sits in a recliner (him fully awake is safest) while you sleep an hour or two, then he sleep an hour or two while you take baby.... it will only last a little while...

[briome]

I think it is pretty normal. My second baby did exactly that (my first had some tiredness after birth drugs)

If you can, distract yourself with something (stupid entertainment news show or comedy) so you can tolerate some MORE nursing and relax a bit. My milk tends to come in a little later then most women so I feel your pain. I think laughing, maybe getting a postpardum doula to come over (and baby YOU) and thinking positive (and about waterfalls of milk coming out of your nursers!) would help you!

Keep us updated!

[sweetpeppers]

Yeah that was my son the third day. Supposedly with the first baby your milk doesn't come in as fast. I think he was just frustrated. It helped us to get in the bath together.

[rhiOrion]

Thanks guys! We made it through the night, and of course she's been sleeping all day now. We had our home visit from the birth center and that helped to make me feel like it wasn't totally unusual or wrong also. She also gave us some suggestions, and said that she thinks my milk will come in by tomorrow night.

My nipples are pretty sore now, though!

My inlaws are staying with us right now, and my MIL took her at about 6 am and walked around and rocked with her so I could at least doze for a few minutes.

And then today my sister came to visit and she was asleep, so my sister held her while I got a little bit of dozing in.

Hopefully I'm ready for round two, tonight!

[leavemealone]

My third child was seemingly attached 24 hours a day for the first couple weeks, so being attached for the first couple days can be normal I think.

[Peace+Hope]

rhi! yay to be on the other side, even when it's exhausting.

wanted to second/third/whatever the leaning back with naked baby on naked chest to get some extra sleep. this worked for us in the NICU.

off to post my own question...

[Jane]

Babies nurse pretty frantically before the milk comes inm, especially in the 12 hours or so before milk. Sounds like you're in the home stretch. Once the milk starts to switch, you should get more time between feedings, although you're still likely to be nursing every 2 hours. But it will feel better, I swear.

[Llyra]

Congratulations on your new baby!

I agree with the PPs-- it's pretty normal. That wanting to be attached literally constantly is baby's way of bringing in your milk supply. With a lot of babies, you'll get relief once the milk is in. Some other babies do turn out to be fairly constant nursers. My DS was like that.

Have you attempted to nurse while lying on your side? It can be tricky to get the hang of at first. I used to have to latch on while sitting up and then have DH help me slowly lower me and the baby to the bed. You'll be lying on your side, with pillows in wherever you need them to be comfortable, with your legs curled a bit, and one arm under your head and one behind baby. Baby will be up on his/her side-- swaddling helps with this, as does tightly rolling a blanket (tape it so it doesn't come unrolled) and putting that behind baby's back to prop baby up.

Side-lying nursing is the only way I know how to cope with the early newborn days. I used to just lie around all day, and roll back and forth to give them either side after a period of time, and baby would fall asleep usually after I was already asleep, and we would just doze all day and night. I used to keep diapering supplies and changes of clothes and food and drinks for me right next to the bed, so we'd be all set.

In the newborn phase, none of my kids were willing to be put down to sleep. They mostly slept on my body, or not at all. It was grueling, especially the first time when I didn't really expect it. Hang in there! The early days really do pass quickly, even when it seems like they're going to last for EVER!

[TwinMomPlus]

Congrats!! It gets easier. I have nothing new to offer but was wondering if you have tried a paci? They have saved my life.

[Peace+Hope]

how's it going, rhi??

[averlee]

My daughter nursed pretty much constantly until she started crawling, it seems like! The first nursing position I mastered was side-lying. I'd camp out comfy, watch movies and read magazines while drinking juiceboxes and eating granola bars, laying on my side while baby nursed away! I could also sleep while nursing- I never worried that it was unsafe- worldwide, babies sleep with their mothers in all kinds of beds, mats, and even hammocks. One piece of advice that helped me, was to avoid removing baby from the breast. Letting her nurse until she came off made sure she had got all she wanted and entered deep sleep. Also, breaking the suction over and over- even if you do it gently- might cause nipple soreness.

[goodygumdrops]

Update? We all want to know how your doing. Congrads

[rhiOrion]

Still having some bad nights, but at least now I know what to expect, and that she WILL calm down in the morning. My milk is in and she gained 19 oz in 9 days, but she still cluster feeds most of the night. We had one REALLY bad night that I attribute to a growth spurt.

I'm also wondering if there is some reflux going on... sometimes she wakes up in the morning and her little squeaks sound a bit hoarse. Could that be a sign of reflux? Maybe the cluster feeding is more to soothe an irritated throat? But I don't understand why it seems to bother her so much more at night, even though she ends up sleeping in about the same position during the day sometimes. Literally as soon as the sun starts to rise she falls asleep.

My bigger issue right now is related to her latch. It looks textbook from the outside, but she's pulling her tongue back. The LC saw no signs of a tongue tie. She saw how she tries to eat her hands at the same time as my boob and theorized that maybe she was a knuckle sucker in utero and got into the habit of pulling her tongue back then. She CAN stick it out. When I can get her latch correctly it feels amazing, but the rest of the time I want to scream. For some reason it hurts SO much more when I'm sleepy in the middle of the night. When she pulls her tongue back she chomps down with her gums, and my poor nipples are bruised. But she's obviously getting plenty of milk, so she doesn't care to change. I try to relatch over and over until she gets it right, but sometimes it takes a minute to see if she's got it, or not, so I'm not sure she's "learning" anything other than mommy likes to make her stop eating. The LC gave me a few exercises to do with her, but I'm not sure if I'm doing them correctly.

This kid has an amazing need to suck, though, and I want to get the latch corrected and get breastfeeding working really well so that I can introduce a paci for some of the non nutritive sucking during the night. She'll suck for 2 minutes and be done sometimes.

[ewe+lamb]

Congrats on your new baby!

Keep trying to work on her latch although at the moment it's not a problem for her - it's not good for you at all!! Have you seen this website? www.biologicalnurturing.com this can help with latching issues as well as other things - it's run by a LLL Leader in London who is also a LC it maybe of some interest to you.