am i feeding when she's not hungry?

[readytobedone]

so...last night once again i was up for consecutive (back to back) feedings...twice!

my sense is she is just cluster feeding during the night (bad time for me, but that's just the way it goes for now). she spaces out much longer during the day and i have to wake her up for feedings every 2-3 hours, but starting in the evenings, she wants back to back feedings several times from dinnertime till morning.

my mom is here and thinks i am overfeeding her, or feeding when she is not hungry. but if she weren't hungry, would she be eating?!?! it's not like she's just sucking and not swallowing--she is softening my breasts each time. sometimes the feeds are leisurely, but she is always actually eating. when she stops eating, i pop her off if she doesn't get off herself. and she isn't spitting or throwing up, so i assume she isn't stuffing herself?

i don't actually wait till she is crying usually to feed her because i wake up and see her rooting (she sleeps next to me in the co-sleeper) at her hand and fussing a little...so i just feed her. DH and my mom are wondering if maybe she isn't really hungry--she's very oral and also takes a pacifier (they gave it in the hospital, didn't ask first, but there is no nipple confusion problem so i am letting her have it). is there a chance she isn't actually hungry, then?

anyway, i am just a very new, very exhausted breastfeeder, and my mom seems to think i need to feed this baby less. but if she's hungry, i'm going to feed her! i just wish she would be hungry less often during the nighttime

[alegna]

Those early days are tough. But yeah, nurse the baby every time they're willing to nurse. Breastfed babies won't overeat.

-Angela

[momuveight2B]

Your baby is very smart and will not overeat. I would take the pacifier away and have all the sucking at the breast. She should stay on the breast until she decides to let go.

[EdnaMarie]

Congratulations on your precious girl! You are doing the right thing. My DD was exactly like that, except with the days and nights switched. At least you can do things during the day: I got my sleep at night but during the day my baby was hanging off my boob the whole time. She spent literally 12 hours per day sucking on my breast, most of it during daylight hours. Believe me if you think that sounds better consider not being able to eat. I used to wake up at night hungry myself because I didn't have time to eat during the day.

Right now, your baby is establishing her supply. Your breasts NEED her to suck in order to produce milk. No suck, no milk. Less suck, less milk. Since you can't force her to suck during the day, you NEED to respond at night.

Even if she's growing fast, that is good. Because that might be her growth pattern: my DD grew a TON early on and now she's evened out to a more averege weight. She has turned out to be very tall: she needed all that milk. If I would have said, "she's using me as a pacifier," and denied her the breast, I would have stunted her growth.

You are right not to let her cry. You are right that she is cluster feeding. You are right to keep feeding her. You are doing the right thing. Follow your instincts. I've only had one babe, also a sucker, but we're still on milk only at seven months (aside from the banana which she is allowed to ground into the carpet) and going strong.

I would like to also add to what Alegna wrote. The first few months can be constant sucking, and then after that when baby has growth spurts, she will also start to nurse again at night or during her favorite eating times. That is also normal, good, and will help you maintain the right supply for her needs.

Don't you worry mama, you're doing great!

[readytobedone]

Originally Posted by momuveight2B

Your baby is very smart and will not overeat. I would take the pacifier away and have all the sucking at the breast. She should stay on the breast until she decides to let go.

why does the pacifier matter as long as she's not having latch problems? just asking because i really don't know of any other reason not to use one but i'm open to hearing. i wouldn't have introduced it, but they did it at the hospital without asking since she had to be in the nursery so much :

guess she is a real sucky baby

[EdnaMarie]

Here's why: because it is the sucking at the breast that stimulates milk production. If your baby "wastes" her suck on a pacifier, then there will be less sucking at the breast. This means that there will be less milk production. Until your supply is well established- at least six weeks (I think, someone check me on this) you really do not want to introduce a pacifier. You want that baby to do all of her necessary sucking on the breast so that your brain gets the message to produce milk, milk, milk. There might be a little bit much, but better too much than too little!

Kellymom.com has a ton of great information on this and is also a good resource to show your mother and husband if they have any doubts.

Sucky babies are awesome. They are milk-makers and they are good eaters and good eaters are usually healthy babies!

[alegna]

Also latch problems and nipple preference can happen at any time. All breastfeeding-friendly sources say to wait until at least 6 weeks before introducing artificial nipples.

-Angela

[quirkylayne]

I agree, she won't eat if she isn't hungry. Also, crying is a late sign of hunger - you are catching her cues before that happens.

[In Exile]

Oh yeah, those mums that warn everytime that you are overfeeding your baby-they usually were not very sucessful in breastfeeding with that horrible advice back then so everytime DS fusses and wants to nurse my MIL asks "again?? he just ate!", my own mother is constantly worried I am overfeeding him. explaining to that generation what supply-demand is and digestibility of breastmilk proved futile- big eyes blinkblinkblink. They fed formula and there babies were easy and out.
We had nursing marathons of up to 14 hours- and of course you get the remarks of starving him.:

[steph76]

You won't overfeed.

I did not have a problem with pacifiers either. DD never had nipple confusion however, she did not take it often. Also, I was using a nipple shield so I wonder if that helped her to not have confusion.