Leisurely Eater

[colorbywords]

Hello again!

My now 16 day old daughter is a leisurely eater. She likes to eat, doze off, wake up and eat a little more... and while I'm fairly certain that in all her eating, she's getting enough food (she's gaining still and has poopy & wet diapers), she's attached to my boob constantly. While I love to snuggle her, I do have other things I am going to have to get done eventually and we're not quite ready to attempt nursing in a sling. Is this something she'll grow out of? Any tips on how to make her more efficient? We are trying to keep waking her up but our feed last night still took 2 hours!

Thanks!

[patronus]

my lo also had (has) a lackadaisical attitude toward eating. for my dd, we tried all sorts of things to keep her awake. mostly holding her little hand and working her arm up and down to stimulate her.
side story: for some reason this reminded me of a chicken wing, and because my hands were busy holding her to nurse i would say "hey mom, chicken wing!" and my lovely mom would sit next to me and work her arm. when i got better at nursing, i would do it myself, but for some reason this is one of the cutest memories i have of those early days of nursing.

we tried every other method in the book including stripping her down for every feeding, placing her on a granite counter top to wake her (i swear, an ibclc told me to do that), but none of it really worked all that well. i also rub her head, pull away a bit to put tension on the suction of her latch and blow a bit on her face.

what really made a difference was just my dd growing and doing a more efficient job of transferring the milk. i think she got better at it around 2-3 months. at 2-3 months feedings took about 45 minutes. she is 6 mo now and she still takes plenty of breaks and dozes off. our feeding time is currently around 20-35 minutes. i've accepted that she's not one of those "down to business" eaters and now that things are more hectic, i'm glad for the sweet, sleepy, comforting break that nursing gives us. however, i can totally relate to how you are feeling. i would try your best to keep her awake but also accept that things are the way they are for now. put in a movie and try to enjoy

[Heba]

You might try breast compressions to help her feed actively while at the breast - jack newman has some great videos on his site to help mums assess whether baby is feeding actively or not, and descriptions of the breast compression technique.

[Quinalla]

Gently breaking the latch and switching breasts when she starts getting sleepy can help too. And yeah, pumping her arm worked well for us too, though it was very tricky for me to do by myself Though I will say my DD was just like that and it did get better. After the first month a bit better, by three months better and by four months a lot better.

[karika]

This is very normal. This is what will establish your supply. Nothing else is as important as keeping the baby skin to skin and breasts out at this stage IMO. It is strange to be forced to sit and rest and lie down with them all the time and sleep, but honestly this is the way things are designed to be. You will get enough rest this way. Ever hear ppl complaining they don't get enough rest? It is because they are trying to 'do' things while baby is sleeping. Honestly, you will be much happier IME if you just give in to it for this beginning time. I have lain down with my dd everytime she lays down, until recently. I have always felt rested. and the housework is not important. once baby starts creeping, then worry about sweeping and mopping. Around here, the male does all the housework when necessary, including grocery shopping (even when working full time). But he is not good at picking produce, so I take that over as much as possible. The emotional and mental strain of raising a baby AP is enough for a person (those of us that were not raised AP), all the other stuff can be taken care of by others IMO. Enjoy sitting with the baby. Find things you can do while holding her, like folding clothes into a basket that hubby puts away later, or crafts like needlepoint, watch all the movies you have ever wanted to see, puzzles, keep the laptop with you.... When baby is more mobile, they will choose to leave your arms then and you will one day realize wow I am not sitting around holding baby all the time anymore... at least that is how it has gone for me... oh, and if you can afford it and hubby works full time, hire a maid, really, it will help a lot. I used to have one before I had children and I loved it, can't afford one now though, lol....

congrats on the new baby!