breast feeding help please!!!!

[freepie]

Hi,

I have been breast feeding james for 2 weeks... last few days with it being hot he is feeding for about 3 hours at a time.. he feeds for about 15 mins and then either falls asleep or seems to loose interest... as soon as we move him away to the cot or to be cuddled he immediatley wakes and wants more... this seems to last for several hours until he crashes out and sleeps for about 3 or 4 hours...

At night he is better, sleeping for about 3 hours inbetween feeds and is easier to settle.. Is this because of the weather, as it is so hot?

I am finding it mentally and physically exhausting. I dont want to switch to formula as i dont see how that would help...

I have been tempted to give him a newborn dummy, but i have read that he could then have problems latching onto my breast...

Is this true? Any help would be appreciated....

 

[LisaJ1986]

Around about the same time Angel was the same. Still does occasionally. It can be tough and tiring but it does get better.
I've tried dummies. But fortunately she won't take them. I thought it might help me and give me a bit longer between feeds but she just gagged on them and spat them out. But i have read before 8 weeks can be a little confusing.

It is hard and tiring but it is all worth it. and genuinely gets easier.

 

[Sherlock]

It could be the heat, it could also be a stage he is going through, a growth spurt, but I'd think it was probably a combination of both.

If he is feeding for 15 minutes at least he is defo getting your fore milk so is being hydrated from that in this warm weather. That comes through in the first few minutes, so the rest is hind milk. I'd say so long as you are having wet nappies etc then don't fret too much.

He may be comfort sucking also.

If you try a dummy (and we only did as an absolute last resort at 3 weeks plus) get a nipple shaped one, not a flat one as this helps avoid nipple confusion. And only use it to settle him off your boob. Once asleep and settled, if it falls out, don't put it back in.

NUK do nipple shaped dummies, as do a few other makes. Defo not flat ones for a breastfed baby though.

 

[DebbieM]

I think it is the weather hun. Luke wants to be permanently attached to me just now.

I would recommend waiting til about 4 weeks to give a dummy just to be sure BFing is established and so not to cause nipple confusion but you will be the best judge on that one.

It's very hard in this hot weather

 

[Charlie:-)]

I gave Maia a dummy when she was 4 days old because she was constantly comfort sucking on my breast and wouldn't settle unless she was sucking. At first she spat it out and didn't take it but after a couple of days she decided she would have a go with it. She's still a bit hit and miss with it now, some days loves to suckle it for comfort and others prefers her hands.

I agree with Sherlock though use a nipple shaped dummy. I didn't have one at first although she had no problem latching back on to my nipple, but once I started to express so Hubby could feed her she started to get nipple confusion because I was using Tomme Tippee closer to nature bottles. I switched to NUK bottles and dummies about 2 weeks ago and so far so good no problem latching back on.

 

[ASD123456]

Rudy is the same at the moment, but more so in the evenings. He feeds constantly until he goes to sleep for about three hours and then wakes every 2 throughout the night.

I must admit that I have given him a dummy as well as he was using my nipple to fall asleep or settle himself. I bought a NUK one like sherlok has already suggested, he has it once a day at the most and only when I know he is not hungry and just needs to suck to get himself off to sleep- luckily this hasn't cause ay nipple confusion (I hope)- he is too hungry for that! He has also started to suck his thumb instead of the dummy for comfort.

Hope things get a bit better soon

Alex xxx

 

[Fluffy Bunny]

... last few days with it being hot he is feeding for about 3 hours at a time.. he feeds for about 15 mins and then either falls asleep or seems to loose interest...

If he is being a bit snoozey strip him off before you feed him - down to his nappy, and if he starts to doze off gently blow on his head or run your finger behind his ear or up his foot, it will remind him he needs to fill his belly before he falls asleep

 

[Urchin]

What you've described is very typical of newborn feeding, it does get A LOT easier as things settle down

 

[BabyMagic]

Do you use a sling? Our LO used to wake up as soon as I put her in the moses basket. Maybe James finds his cot a little scary atm and that's the reason he wakes up? He may sleep better near you in a sling - in which it would be easy to feed him (and you could carry on with things at the same time, such as being on this forum ). (Mind though you may want to wait until it gets a little cooler...)

This worked well for us. And it DOES get easier. LO wasn't happy in her moses basket for about 6 weeks but now she would sleep anywhere I put her, and she only feeds every 3 - 4 hours during the day and less often at night.

Good luck. Think very carefully before switching to formula.