Our little one is just 12 days old, and although nights have been getting better we're finding he's an absolute nightmare tonight.

We fed him about 10pm, for half an hour. 5 minutes after settling him down, he wanted feeding again. We left him to cry for a bit, changed his nappies, burped him, cuddled him a bit longer, but then gave in and gave him another feed.

He fed for another half an hour. Once agian, we put him down to sleep and then again, 5 mintues after being put down, he's balling again for more boob.

We tried him on the other side, and he fed for like 3 minutes and fell fast asleep. Broke the suction, and left him in mum's arms, rubbing the nipple against his face to see if he'll take.

Blotto.

Then we put him down again, and again, 10 mins after he's awake again getting factious and angry. crying out.

Each tim he's smacking and licking his lips, tongue popping in and out, and he gets progressively angry if we leave him.

The last time we left him for about half an hour, and the MRs even got a bit of sleep as she managed to shut it out, but I couldnt sleep at all with this noise, as I worried we are ignoring him.

H'es feeding again now, and I bet you he's going to go for 5 minutes then fall asleep at the nipple.

All this follows on from a health visitor visit whereby she told my Mrs that baby needed to gain more weight, and that she should try hm on both sides with a nappy change inbetween.

We did that last night, and he slept contentedly for up to 4 hours at a time.

Tonight we think his tummy has got bigger and expects substantially more milk.

However, he's got this really silly habbit of falling fast asleep and onlygiving the occasional suck here and there!

I keep getting into trouble with the Mrs for saying he obviously needs a feed

My solution would be to sod breast-feeding for tonight, and give him some forumlar/new baby milk stuff that we got just in case. However, the Mrs just does not want to introduce a bottle yet.

Anyone else with tips/experience like this?

ibod.

Hi Sibod,

Hard work isn't it... and there's no straight answer either...Health Visitors try their best in most cases but usually have too many babies to visit to be able to give you the time and support you need right now. They all say the baby needs to be putting weight on, but as a parent you'll know if you are worried about their weight... otherwise, just stick with what you're doing and they'll get into the pattern of feeding. When they are new-born they haven't had any practice in feeding this way and it can take them a couple of weeks to get the hang of it.... however, if yuo are demand-feeding (which we did/still do) then get used to the feeding every other minute.... but it will get better.

Don't give up on the breast-feeding until your partner does... honestly.... the best thing to do in my opinion is let her do the talking and decision-making when it comes to this.... she might have a lot of regrets if she doesn't get this decision right ... if she's going to stop let it be her that says it.... its just my opinion.

I remember how hard it is at this stage, when all you can do is stand-by and watch when it comes to feeding.

QUOTE:
"However, he's got this really silly habbit of falling fast asleep and onlygiving the occasional suck here and there!"...

This is normal. They suck a lot when they first go on the breast to get the milk going, and then the supply is usually such that they can be lazy and let the flow do the work.... once into a feed they will only suck occasionally... they all do it.... also they can dream-feed.. i.e. they don't have to be fully awake/alert to feed.

Good luck and hang in there, you're in the hardest few weeks (in my opinion).

Hi,

Well we've just had the 3 nights of hell from our little one. He decides he wants to start marathon feeding sessions from about 10pm, and will not sleep unless he's either being held and rocked, or at the breast. He keeps rousing and then starts off crying unless we put him back to feed.

The Mrs is absolutely shattered, and she wont let me sleep as she wants the company - which during my paternity leave is fine, but next week I am returning to work. There is absolutely no way I can do that and help her out at night, which means she's on her own for the 5 days I am working each week.

Last night he started wanting feeding at 10:50pm, and he's still going. he will not stop - and we have had zero sleep or rest since then.

We cant split duties as he is breasted, and we cant sleep during the day as stuff needs to be done (eating, shopping, washing up, washing his and our clothes).

yesterday we tried to keep him as active as possible during the day, but he just did exactly the same as the past 2 nights and kept us awake for most/all of the night without any respite.

How does he pack all this milk away? 20-30 minute feeds on both sides in one session, then he's fast asleep. Put him in his basket, he's awake again within seconds looking for more. Feed him for another half an hour, he's out, then again awake as soon as his head hits the mattress cotton, Same again, and he just balls and wails if he doesn't get what he wants straight away!!

We're nearly at the end of our tether, and while we're determined to keep him breastfed, the temptation to shove him onto forumlar is getting ever more attractive!

Sibod. We are in exactly the same position. You are not alone!
I'll put a post on later, but last Monday Ele had lost 14% of her birth weight so they sent us into hospital for some intensive feeding support and to check she was ok.

Firstly Ele is still on a feeding frenzy so we are not out the other side and sleep is only fleeting atm but it's getting better.

Here's the best tips we got from army of midwives and breast feeding support people we had (most of this comes from the support lady really...she was ace)

- Don't leave your baby to cry at this age. Just put her to breast. (you will get contradictory advice we were told the oposite by a nurse initally)
- Keep on one breast for a period of 2 hours. This ensures that even if the baby is having small feeds they get to the hind milk. ***
- If the baby stops sucking try blowing on the head or tickling the feet.
You can repeat this again and again. While our baby was weak we were basically counting to ten, then blowing again to get her to take a few sucks.
- Also striping them to nappy only can help with feeding.
- Get in touch with a local breast feeding co-ordinator, one that will come out to you.

*** Can I ask what colour the stools are?

Also after lots and lots of support we also succumbed to co-sleeping and it HAS allowed us to get more sleep, but we're only considering this temporary and we're still putting her back in the basket as much as possible.

Hi Weylund,

Well Baby Jonathan is 3 week sold this monday comming, and initially he lost some weight but is now putting it back on and then some. He's getting chubby

However, we didnt actually sleep at all last night, and eventually I lost it and blubbed witht he wife at 9am as he was still balling.

I was hugging him nice and warm and he just dropped off and stayed that way for 3 hours!

We're going to try swaddling tonight, as I think he startles as soon as we put him down, and he grizzles while feeding - making all sorts of noises and pusing himself off the nipple - only to find he wants it again stragiht away.

We got a Mothercare swaddling blanket - which has special flaps to make the process esier and safer.

His stools are yellow-ish and grainy, just as they should be, and he's doing the requisite number of wet nappies a day too

He's been asleep all day now, and tonight we're experimenting with the Mrs in the nursary so that I can get some shuteye - so that tomorrow I can look after her rather than us both being absolutely shattered every day. Plus we're making sure everything works before I return to work on Monday! I simply will not function without more than a few hours of sleep, and I would not be popular if I called in sick every time he keeps us up all night.

We refuse to try Co-sleeping as we simply dont have the bed for it.
I think half the problem is that he goes from warm arms and bed when feeding to a cold mattress and that wakes him up. We are going to keep him swaddled while he fusses and also put a blanket under his head as well as that will be less cold.

.


Will keep you updated!

Good luck then!

We thought the problem might have been the cold basket as well so the last few nights we've been keeping a hot water bottle under the blankets and a minute before we try to put her down we remove the bottle....it hasn't worked so far, but we'll keep trying.