How to make night feedings more smooth w/ newborn

[KSDoulaMama]

I realize this just might be a situation where I need to suck it up, but I just feel like there must be some way to make this easier...

My baby girl is two weeks old now and breastfeeding has been going great. She is right now waking up every 1-2 hours during the night to eat, which is FINE. My problem is that when I am groggy, it is miserable for me to juggle a hungry baby, arrange all my pillows, and sit up on my still very sore perineum to feed her. I know that I can feed her laying down, but we are still practicing side-lying nursing. She is pretty good on one side, but the latch is just not there on the other side. Additionally, we are battling forceful letdown/oversupply, so she pops on and off the boob for the first few minutes of a feeding. Side lying ends up being a lot of juggling, because she is not able to latch by herself yet. We are block nursing to try and keep the overactive letdown at bay. If we end up being successful with laying down to nurse for a session, I end up having to sit up to burp her anyway, because she has to gulp so hard and fast to keep up with my milk and she swallows a lot of air. If I don't burp her she is uncomfortable, doesn't go back to sleep, and projectile vomits the milk back up.

Do I just need to say this too shall pass, or does someone have any tricks to help this to not be a huge production all night long? Help!

[Parker'smommy]

The first few weeks can be quite the juggling act in my experience. I've had csections and I'm just unable to lay down, even if babe could latch in the beginning. Also, it seems, even with experience, that in the beginning weeks, I need to help babe latch more and it's just more of a hassle than anything.

I also have a pretty good supply and good letdown that seems to even out more AND baby just gets used to handling it better as they get older. And yes, I burp my newborns too. It's just a neccessary evil sometimes with feeding with an overactive letdown.

One thing that did help was have my dh help me with nighttime feedings in the first month. Babe would wake, he would help me get situated with my million pillows, grab my boppy, and then help me get baby positioned. I would feed one side, he would then change dipe, and give babe back to me. I would feed the other side ( I didn't find a difference doing block feedings), and then he would take babe, burp babe, and hjelp me get babe back to sleep. It really helped to have his support. He would also refill my water glass on the nightstand as needed while I was feeding. Yes, we were both tired, but it got easier and soon I was able to just lift my shirt and feed babe in bed, and he was off the hook.....so easy. It'll happen soon enough for you!

[alegna]

Time. Really. In a month this will be past and other things will be at the forefront. The first few weeks can be simply brutal.

-Angela

[PatioGardener]

I couldn't sit at first, so I learned how to burp baby side-lying. Just bring baby's head and shoulders up onto you as you either lie on your back or side. It isn't always pretty, but it does the trick!

Good luck! (It does get better)

[KSDoulaMama]

Originally Posted by Parker'smommy

The first few weeks can be quite the juggling act in my experience. I've had csections and I'm just unable to lay down, even if babe could latch in the beginning. Also, it seems, even with experience, that in the beginning weeks, I need to help babe latch more and it's just more of a hassle than anything.

I also have a pretty good supply and good letdown that seems to even out more AND baby just gets used to handling it better as they get older. And yes, I burp my newborns too. It's just a neccessary evil sometimes with feeding with an overactive letdown.

One thing that did help was have my dh help me with nighttime feedings in the first month. Babe would wake, he would help me get situated with my million pillows, grab my boppy, and then help me get baby positioned. I would feed one side, he would then change dipe, and give babe back to me. I would feed the other side ( I didn't find a difference doing block feedings), and then he would take babe, burp babe, and hjelp me get babe back to sleep. It really helped to have his support. He would also refill my water glass on the nightstand as needed while I was feeding. Yes, we were both tired, but it got easier and soon I was able to just lift my shirt and feed babe in bed, and he was off the hook.....so easy. It'll happen soon enough for you!

THANK YOU. I know that these days will be over one day and nights will be much simpler, but your comments helped me to realize that the end really is in sight. It's hard to remember that when you are groggy and sore at 4am...

I will start accepting my wife's help more. I feel bad when I have to wake her up or get her out of bed, but it really does help me.

Last night I decided to take a few deep breaths and focus on the quality of feed DD was getting instead of the ease of the feed. And to enjoy the snuggle time, since one day I'm sure I'll miss it. It definitely helped me, and as a bonus, we got in a few long stretches of sleep.