Your Thoughts?

[jspeg]

I was blessed with the arrival of my first baby on 4-08. Breastfeeding has been going very well. My milk came in yesterday!

My 6 day old baby will feed for a 1/2 hour stop and then 10 mins later start sucking on her hands like she is hungry again. This started happening when my milk came in yesterday.

What do I do? Is she really hungry every 10 mins. Is it possible she just likes to suck (maybe try a pacifier?)

If I breastfeed everytime time she shows a sign I feel she would have fed most of today.

Any thoughts? please

[PatioGardener]

If she'll nurse, I'd nurse her. For the first 1-2 weeks babies usually nurse 18-24 times in 24 hours. Yeah, the books say "at least 8 times a day" but I swear they are written by people who have forgotten the first 2 weeks! It would be better to tell new moms "expect to be able to put the baby down about 4 times in 24 hours!"

They have a growth spurt at about 7 days, so this may 'settle' (to nursing every hour instead of every 15 min!) in a couple of days (http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/growth-spurt.html)

Congrats for your new baby!

[Megan73]

Originally Posted by jspeg

If I breastfeed everytime time she shows a sign I feel she would have fed most of today.

Totally normal. That's how she's building your milk supply.
Happy nursing and congrats on your baby

[patronus]

my lc said to me: "if in doubt, nurse". that ran through my head a lot in the early weeks and it has proven to be true.
enjoy your new little one

[AFWife]

First of all: CONGRATS!!!


And yes, nursing ALL.THE.TIME is totally normal for the first several weeks. I agree with a PP that said, "When in doubt, nurse."

Also, some babies have a stronger sucking reflex than others...your DD sounds like my DS in that regard!

[mamaw/two]

Congratulaions!!! My advice is to nurse her on demand, as often as she wants. You may feel like all you do is nurse her and nothing else is getting done, but thats ok! She will only be this tiny for such a short time, enjoy this time of snuggling and nursing her, give yourself the rest so you can heal, let the house and dishes go. You can start getting back to normal in a month or so and you will never regret taking this time to build your supply and give your daughter the lifelong gift of good health!

[zensven42]

Yup, expect to spend a few weeks without a top on and nursing, nursing, nursing. This will help to establish a bountiful milk supply. I would say no to the paci and just nurse on demand.

[MonkeysRUs]

Congratulations! I agree with the others that very frequent nursing is quite normal in the early days, there are however, also situations where it may be a sign that something isn't isn't quite right. If baby doesn't come off the breast seeming satisfied, if she isn't gaining weight as she should, isn't having the number of wet and dirty diapers she should be, or if you just feel that something is wrong, then have her seen by someone knowledgeable about breastfeeding (preferably an IBCLC). Sometimes babies nurse very frequently because something is going on in their mouth, and they are not transferring enough milk.

[PatioGardener]

OP, how are things today?

[jspeg]

Things are going well! I guess that was just a day and a half growth spurt. She is back to nursing often but not every 10 mins.

The last 2 nights now I have had to wake her up to nurse her... She likes her sleep I guess . Should I wake her up more than once to nurse her or just let her wake up on her own and then nurse.

[PatioGardener]

Originally Posted by jspeg

The last 2 nights now I have had to wake her up to nurse her... She likes her sleep I guess . Should I wake her up more than once to nurse her or just let her wake up on her own and then nurse.

So she's 8 days old now? How are her pees? Is she peeing 6 heavy wet diapers in 24 hours? And how often is she pooping? Have you had her weighed again? Is she up to birth weight yet?

I would wake a newborn baby at night after 3-4 hours until she has passed her birth weight, then I'd let her go a maximum of 5 hours in one stretch between feeds (from the start of one feed tot he start of another).

Any issues with jaundice, milk supply, not gaining well etc and I would wake to nurse every 3 hours at night for a newborn, and offer every 2 hours during the day.

It really just depends on the baby!

Glad to hear that things are going well!