I have a three week old baby girl, I am breastfeeding, have not pumped/introduced bottle yet. The past couple days my baby has fed for 15 minutes or so, fallen asleep, I put her down, and she wakes up 15 minutes later hungry for more. This seems to be the cycle for a good three hours. Is there something wrong or what is your opinion of what is happening - this doesn't seem normal to me, I'm wondering if she is not getting a good supply from me? Please your help is greatly appreciated.
2007-05-10 08:54:32 · 11 answers · asked by jval 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
what if you tried harder to keep her awake for a longer feeding?
undress her, tickle her feet, even wipe her with a cool cloth while she's eating, so she'll stay awake long enough to get a good feeding.
if she falls asleep before she ate well, put her down in an uncomfortable position so she'll start to cry and wake up, and then want to eat more.
i know it seems harsh or cruel, but it's really important for her to stay awake for a full feeding... if she only eats "snacks," she'll only drink the low-calorie "foremilk" instead of the nutritious "hind milk" that comes out later.
i had to fight this battle with both of my kids.... they both wanted to eat just a little and then go to sleep, and it was a lot of work to keep them awake for a feeding. but don't worry, babies grow out of this stage pretty quickly!
good luck!
2007-05-10 09:02:01 · answer #1 · answered by Janci 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
At 3 weeks my baby was eating about 15 minutes on each side. I would feed him on one side and stop and burp him when he fell asleep and change him and feed him on the other side for as long as he would eat. She might have gas or is not burping good enough. Also she could be going through a growth spurt. You will want to have expressed milk for days like that. You will be completely empty and baby will be sucking but not getting anything. That is when I gave my baby the bottle. He rarely gets a bottle now. Just keep her nursing as long as possible and dont be afraid to wake her up after she falls asleep to switch sides.
You will have a day every now and then that your little princess will cry all day and be really hungry and that is normal. I couldnt let my baby go hungry so I thawed some milk for him and let dad feed him for once!!
2007-05-10 09:32:44 · answer #2 · answered by MyOpinionMatters 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is totally normal for most moms! She is getting just the right amount from you, the confusing part is that in the media all you see are these babies who eat, and then the shows are edited to go and sleep. So we never get to see what real breastfeeding looks like!
Growth spurts are what occur when the baby is growing rapidly and she WILL nurse more frequently because milk is produced when demanded, not before. If you supplement with a bottle, you risk not allowing your body to adjust for a bigger baby, and she will stay in the frequent nurser stage. If you nurse on demand, then your body will adjust, and make more milk per sitting, and baby will be much happier!
One of my babies was a slow nurser, and I would just nurse on one side for two feedings, to make sure that they got foremilk as well as hindmilk.
Good luck
2007-05-10 09:55:09 · answer #3 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try to keep your baby up while eating. In the beginning my baby would fall asleep after one side, then be up like 20 min. later wanting to eat again. You can undress her, change her diaper between sides, gently touch a cool rag to her feet, etc. In the first couple months my baby would eat about 10-15 minutes a side. Stay up for a bit, then sleep, then eat. It would be a 3 hour cycle. But feeding every 15 min. for a 3 hour cycle would be exhausting.
http://www.babycareadvice.com/babycare/general_help/article.php?id=4
This site goes more in depth, and tells you how to test for low milk supply... good luck!!!
2007-05-10 09:15:05 · answer #4 · answered by megan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's pretty normal. i breastfed 3 children. If you want baby to eat more quickly so it's not a every 15 min thing you can rub your finger across bottom of foot when baby falls asleep, this will wake baby up to continue feeding.
2007-05-10 09:01:12 · answer #5 · answered by MICHELE G 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
my son is still doing this, although we did give him a bottle (breastmilk)
the best bottle i can reccomend is the First Years Breastflow. it has two nipples specially designed to feel more like the breast and works awsome. no problems so far!
but once i started pumping i would put about 5 oz. milk in a bottle and if he would fall asleep i would pick him up and burp him so he was awake and saw if he was hungry again, he usually finished the bottle no problems and would sleep great!
good luck
2007-05-10 09:01:10 · answer #6 · answered by ruspecialenuf 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It sounds normal to me...when my baby was 3 weeks, it seemed like all i did was feed her...her dr said that it is normal for a 3 wk old to want to eat every hour to hour and a half
2007-05-10 10:18:46 · answer #7 · answered by Jazzi P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It probably is normal, I call every odd thing like that a growth spurt. Read the Happiest Baby on the Block, talks about how in many cultures its normal to be constantly feeding like that.
Also have you heard of kellymom.com thats a great site for feeding info.
2007-05-10 08:57:48 · answer #8 · answered by lillilou 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Sounds like she hit the 3 week growth spurt maybe.
2007-05-10 09:07:37 · answer #9 · answered by momma2mingbu 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its either a growth spurt or cluster feeding. Both PERFECTLY normal. Ill find you a link with info on cluster feeds. brb...
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html
http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/frequency.html
http://breastfeed.com/articles/4418.php
2007-05-10 08:58:51 · answer #10 · answered by Betsy 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋