curbing the constant nurser

[desultory]

Hey all. I read the forums here a lot, but I've only posted once or twice. Anyway, my 5 week old son is absolutely voracious every day from late afternoon until we go to bed (we cosleep, and I go to bed with him as soon as he's sated for the night). He doesn't like the sling (I've tried a wrap style and a ring sling) so I'm pretty much stuck holding and nursing from about 2pm until bedtime, usually by 10pm. He does seem to like the baby bjorn carrier, so I can take quick breaks to make dinner and such, but he mostly needs to nurse continuously the entire time. My 8 yr. old dd and 5 yr. old ds have been very understanding and helpful, but I really miss being able to play with them, being able to knit, write, and cook creatively, and of course the housework has gotten completely out of hand. I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and how long it might last. Finch has been an eager nurser since birth, and he's gaining well, so I don't think it's a supply issue. Also, he's supremely content as long as I'm snuggling and nursing him all afternoon and evening. I'm just getting a little worn out with his needs. Basically, he nurses for about 30-45 minutes, takes a 1-15 minute break, then nurses again for another 30-45 minutes, and so on until we're both exhausted. Since he hates the sling, I can't do anything else while I'm nursing him. Singing to him and rubbing his head is very nice in moderation, but for 8 hours a day I feel like one of those poor cows on rBGH!!!

[alegna]

Those first few weeks are SO hard. It gets better. By about 8 weeks I remember being able to DO things again.

hang in there!

-Angela

[desultory]

Thanks for the encouragement! This little guy has been a challenge because he's so much hungrier and so much more touch-needy than my other two. On the other hand, it's kind of nice to have a baby who loves to be held so much -- it's very gratifying to know how easily I can make him happy!

[mother culture]

I think that it is definately hard in the first 2 months. He is in training and you need to train him to accept the breast while on the go and in a carrier. I couldn't imagine having to sit and nurse while I had other things to do. Also I always took the breast out of babies mouth after they had a good let down then got baby to either look around or fall asleep on his own or switch sides. I feel like nursing a third child to sleep each and every time with long nursing sessions is much harder with the second or third baby. But keeping up what you are doing seems to be working and he will begin to change his pattern too in the next few weeks. Keep up with putting him in the sling/carrier every time he is about to fall asleep or is content and he will start to trust that.

[tash11]

in the rs and wrap do you have him laying down or sitting up? if he seems to prefer the bb it might be that he likes to sit upright. Some babies are like that. Mine will nap and nurse all day in a carrier upright (although I have to have her upright because she is too long to wrap around me comfortably, plus i find the popability is easier upright).

[royaloakmi]

My twins were high frequency evening cluster nursers too. My butt used to get numb from sitting in one place for so long with the nursing pillow on my lap.

With us, I noticed that it was worse around growth spurts, then their evening cluster habit would get back down to a couple of hours (until the next growth spurt kicked in.)

Maybe you could get outside with your other kids in the afternoon and early evening and at least have a change of scenery?

It does get better, and at that age he will be on to something new very soon.

[cellarstella]

I'm glad you asked this because my girl is 5 weeks and I'm having the same issue! I've never really dealt with newborns before this, especially an exclusively breastfed one, so it's all new to me and I'm taking it in stride. Luckily, if she's perky and awake enough, she does nurse in the moby wrap, and I just have to support her head a little with my arm. I can knit when we're in this position, but I can't do much else. If she's sleepy though (these past few days it's been all eat/sleep), she flops so much I have to really hold on to her and nothing gets done!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I think the first 2 months r usually the hardest because they r not only growing rapidly they r establishing ur supply. The more they nurse the more milk u make. It will even out given time. It can be so hard but it does get better.

[tash11]

Originally Posted by cellarstella

I'm glad you asked this because my girl is 5 weeks and I'm having the same issue! I've never really dealt with newborns before this, especially an exclusively breastfed one, so it's all new to me and I'm taking it in stride. Luckily, if she's perky and awake enough, she does nurse in the moby wrap, and I just have to support her head a little with my arm. I can knit when we're in this position, but I can't do much else. If she's sleepy though (these past few days it's been all eat/sleep), she flops so much I have to really hold on to her and nothing gets done!

you will also get better at bwing as she gets better at nurseing. today i went out in my mt with my 4 month old. she nursed for a bit as i walked (hansfree) then she stopped to look around better, i didnt even have to use my hands then, and if she had wanted to nurse some more i would have had to do little to nothing with my hands. i used to have to do what you do, but i wear her everyday and we both just got better at it.

[desultory]

Thanks for all the support/advice y'all! Yesterday he nursed almost continuously (with 5 to 10 minute breaks after each boob) from 1pm to 9pm but he slept 5 hours straight so I can't complain. I just put in Pride and Prejudice and chilled out in the basement. He's coming up on 6 weeks, so I think I'm experiencing another growth spurt nursing marathon. I might take him to this post office out in the suburbs that has a big self-service scale to see how much he weighs!

[wannabe]

Sounds totally normal to me.

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html

For us the cluster feeding was definitely done by 3 months, I can't really remember, sorry.

[cellarstella]

We weigh our babe at the grocery store.

Here's to us being nursing cows! sneak in some lanolin any chance you get, if you haven't already. My nipples don't get dry or anything, but it's soothing enough that I know I can tough out the day. Of course, rubbing the lanolin in makes me let down like a waterfall... someday this will all even out!