Over eating

[jiquanda]

I need help. My little one who is now four days old nurses a lot. She nurses around the clock as if I am a pacifier. A pediatrician told me to set boundaries and introduce her to a binky but I am scared of nipple confussion. He also told me that there is no proof that a binky would cause nipple confussion and she should be fine. I enjoy nursing her but am I doing her more harm than good by letting her use me as a pacifier? Is there any solution for my problem. When I say around the clock I mean she nurses about every hour. My midwife said she thinks my daughter was sucking her thumb in the womb. Help!!!!!!

[spsmom]

that's what nursing babies do! in my experience anyway! your baby will not over eat. i know there are strong opinions here about the paci. i used one with both babies but only for about 2 months. i don't know about nipple confusion enough to give an opinion on that. just that you need to do what works for both you and baby.
enjoy this close bonding time with her. before you know it she will be running around not even interested in slowing down enough to nurse!

and the whole "setting boundaries"? i don't think i am even going to go there.

[tamagotchi]

Welcome to MDC!

Nursing around the clock is normal and healthy. Your baby is getting what she needs and helping you to establish a good milk supply. There's no need to introduce a pacifier or try to change baby's schedule. You're doing great by nursing her on demand, keep it up!

Here are a couple of links that may help you.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing.html

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/frequent-nursing.html

[Uma'sMom]

Do not get discourage! this is exactly what she is here for. To learn and to teach you all that breastfeeding business. Let her nurse when she needs. She will not overeat. Let her establish her own times, and the only way is allowing her to explore. Babies nurse not only when they are hungry. A lot of times they need to know you are there. It is normal for them to have a clustered feedings. She is making her milk. If you give her a pacifier, you'll interrup that. Maybe to give a rest to your nipples you may want to consider giving her one of your fingers.
It is ok. She'll get a hang of it soon. In the meantime drink lots of water and Enjoy being with her.
: : :

[tanyalynn]

If you're okay with it, it's fine. If you get to the exhausted, worn down, tired out stage, and your little one seems to need to suck more than you can provide, then consider a pacifier. My first had a really high need to suck and a pacifier worked fine for us, but some babies don't seem to do well with them.

I would be a bit worried about your pediatrician's advice. Boundary setting with children is important, but IMO totally inappropriate for a newborn. I would be deeply wary of a medical professional who advised something like that. And I think you did good, searching out other places for information to do a sanity check on what the doc said.

With both my kids, their nursing patterns changed rapidly in the first 1-2 months, and esp for #2, really didn't seem to have a pattern for a long time.

Take care, and enjoy your little one.

[Llyra]

It's perfectly normal and expected, and even desirable, for a newborn to be nursing that often. You and your baby are establishing your milk supply; any use of a pacifier to hold off feedings at this stage will get in the way of establishing an adequate supply. I have no problem with pacifiers; my 2 year old still has hers, and I've just introduced one to one of my twins. But in the first weeks you're running the risk not just of nipple confusion (which is a very real risk, no matter what doctors claim-- my older DD had a bad case of it) but also of undermining your milk supply at an early stage. You need to nurse as often as baby is willing, during the early days, to prevent engorgement, too.

[onlyboys]

It's totally fine to let your baby nurse all the time in the beginning. Soon, all too soon, really, your little one will find things other than you more interesting. Nursing won't seem so exciting then!

Put your feet up, or better yet, get into bed and nurse that baby!

[gwynthfair]

My DD was a big nurser when she was born and now she's almost 6 mos. old and we can barely get her to stay still long enough to eat, so don't worry, it will not last forever. I kind of miss those days.

I definitely wouldn't introduce a pacifier now, all that sucking is establishing your supply. If you decide to use a pacifier, try to wait as long as you can before introducing it.

BTW, most peds don't really know that much about breastfeeding, so take their advice with a grain of salt and do your own research on kellymom.com and lalecheleague.org.

[annekevdbroek]

It sounds very normal for a 4-day-old. I wouldn't say she is using use as a pacifier, BTW. She is nursing to establish your milk supply, gain weight, and bond with you. A pacifier is for soothing a suck need only. Nursing frequently in the newborn days does a lot more than that.

I deifintly had latch problems due to pacifier use with my first son. I held off with my second (now 10 weeks old) to introduce a pacifier until he was 5 weeks. He likes it occasionally and hasn't had any latch problems.

The intense need to nurse (every hour, etc.) doesn't really last that long. Newborns calm down a lot by 6 weeks, and the intense nursing seems to calm down around 3 or 4 weeks by my recollection.

[Mamato3wild ponnie]

Your baby is cluster feeding, this is a very natural behavior that all new borns go through, your baby is telling your body to start producing more milk..kind of like jump starting your milk supply. Is your baby having 6-8 wets per day and 4-6 poo's per day? If so then you off on the right track. Keep up the good work and rest when baby does to keep up your energy..lots of water and rest. Good Luck

[blsilva]

At 4 days old, she is doing exactly what she is supposed to be doing- feeding and bonding with mama. Don't stop!
Do get a new, bf-friendly pediatrician, though (IMHO). I had to do this with my first ped also, and I was afraid to, but you'd be amazed what a difference it makes when you have someone supporting you with this instead of telling you to do things the wrong way.

[elanorh]

Our Ped (and the nurses) also told us that binkies don't cause nipple confusion. We were advised to give Ina a binky "because she obviously likes to suck a lot." I don't think it caused nipple confusion for her, but I do think that it was part of how she figured out that she could "manage" her severe reflux by limiting her feeds and comfort nursing instead.

With SJ, we didn't give a paci, even though the Ped and the nurses suggested it again. SJ latched WELL, loved to nurse, would nurse for an hour at a time etc. etc. Whenever they'd suggest the paci, I'd say, "We don't need one, she's got me!" and smile at them. They were really confused.

Babies need to latch on and nurse frequently to get your milk to come in and your supply to establish well. What your little one is doing (hopefully) is going to prevent you from being painfully engorged as your supply comes in, and will help her get her milk the way she needs it, when she needs it.

Babies didn't have pacis til just recently. Til then, they nursed on their moms or sucked on a finger if mom wasn't readily available. I think a lot of HCPs recommend the binky because they don't understand lactation, and they think that "Mom needs a break," and some worry that mom will become sore from nursing too much. I think sore from nursing is a larger issue if baby isn't latching well - and in those cases, the solution isn't a paci, it's a referral to an LLL leader or LC.

Follow your instincts on this one, mom! Watch to ensure you're having sufficient wet/dirty diapers etc. and don't worry about how often babe nurses. Babies nurse a LOT when newborn - but it decreases as they get older (to repeat what all the pps have said). Their tummies get larger, etc. and they won't be nursing as often. My six month old is plenty distractible at this point, and we have to remind her what she's doing!

I'd be concerned about your doctor if he's already telling you to "establish boundaries" with a newborn ... and this is not stellar advice re: the paci. If you have other options (other Peds in town) you may want to do some looking around. If you feel confident that you have the knowledge you need to bf in spite of potentially poor advice from your Ped, and like him otherwise - then stick it out. (My Ped likes binkies but is otherwise great with bf - we stuck with her and she has no problem with cosleeping, bf beyond 2 years, anything like that - wishes more parents did it! So we stuck with her).

The bottom line is that most HCPs don't know much about breastfeeding, unfortunately. Even those who bf'd themselves, may not know much beyond their own experience (my sister the nurse was astonished that the first milk at a feeding is watery foremilk, and the fatty milk comes as the feeding comes to an end - she'd always assumed otherwise - nursed three kids!).

[alegna]

Totally normal. Smart baby.

No pacifiers or bottles for 6 weeks.

-Angela

[Mama Meesh]

Hang in there....and keep nursing! It will help bring in your milk, help with shrinking down your uterus, strengthen your baby's latch and suckle, etc., etc. If you can, hold off on a paci for now. Your baby is not nursing to monopolize your time, stave off boredom, or manipulate you.....your baby is doing exactly what God and Nature is telling her to do so that she can thrive and grow on mom's milk.

My dd's ped gave me similar advice - including telling me to limit feedings to 10 minutes and feed no more often than every 2 hours. I didn't listen to her, and nursing went beautifully with my dd. Did I mention that this ped formula fed all her kids - who was she to give breastfeeding advice?

When the ped gives bad bf'ing advice like that, nod your head, say "oh, ok," then do what YOU as a mother think is right.

[jiquanda]

Sucking it up

I am taking advice and sucking it up. No paci for now. Thanks for all of the advice. These are the best bonding moments for me and my little one. I don't want to ruin them. I will let her nurse all day if she wants.

[EdnaMarie]

You are making the right choice. My DD nursed 12 hours per day (literally 12 hours of sucking in a 24 hour period) for the first month or two. Now she nurses frequently but for shorter periods. She's 19 lbs but not fat at 5.5 months.

Good luck mama!

(PS We tried the paci a few times when it seemed she was nursing to comfort gas pain, since more milk at that point would have exacerbated the problem. She gagged and projectile-vomited and felt much better after that. I'm not sure if that was the ideal solution but for us, so far, that's been the only thing binkies have been useful for.)

[Bad Mama Jama]

Quan, as your friend, you know I think the hospital's ped is a nutball. You know what is best for that sweetie and this is the only time that you'll be able to successfully meet every one of her needs. Just think when she and your son become teenagers, you can never do enough in their eyes -- not to mention you'll never be cool enough, but that is a different matter.

It will pass. It happened that way for me and the little one and it passed. It came again , but it did pass. You've got this. You're the one who encouraged me. It's like riding a bike. You've got this one.

[prettypixels]

My lactation consultant told me that my baby was using me as a pacifier. As it turns out, I had low milk supply... she was nursing around the clock to JUST SURVIVE.

Please don't give your baby a paci yet. Let your milk supply be established firmly before you go there. Here's the thing. You are not a substitute pacifier... the pacifier is a substitute mama! Babies are born with a need to suck a lot for a reason, to help them get what they need and get your milk established.

I don't think there's anything wrong with using a paci (I'm using one for car rides now), but not in the first few weeks when you are working on getting your milk supply up.

[EdnaMarie]

"You are not a substitute pacifier... the pacifier is a substitute mama!"

Yessss... Sometimes we do need substitutes when gramma isn't around, or the baby has to be in the carseat... but not when baby needs to eat. Fully agree with this.

[jiquanda]

I know, I know, I know. But man this little girl sure eats a lot. I have accepted my duties as a walking pacifier. What a life!!!!!!! It's a wonderfull thing looking at my little sweetheart as she nurses. I am in love all over again. Man, I wouldn't trade my life for the world.