# my newborn wants to eat constantly



## akmbloom (Feb 18, 2005)

I'm trying to breastfeed my baby on cue - but she seems hungry constantly. she eats at least every hour during the day and at times, more often....she'll fall asleep for 5 or 10 minutes then wake up chewing on her hands and licking her lips again. she is definitely getting enough milk - has enough wet & soiled diapers and has gained plenty of weight in the last week. she's not even 2 weeks old yet. I realize there's no problem with feeding her as much as she wants but it's exhausting me and I can barely put her down long enough to eat a meal myself.

I'm wondering if she's not getting enough at each feeding? or if i should be doing more to keep her eating at one time? she seems to fall asleep as she's nursing. should I do more to wake her up?

she also sometimes just seems to want to suck for comfort, and that seems fine except that i can barely move from the couch or rocking chair all day. any ideas? or is it just something that will work itself out?


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## catgirl1007 (Feb 9, 2005)

Congratulations on your new DD!







What you described is very common for newborns. I went through the same thing with my DD. She'd nurse for about 45 minutes, fall asleep, wake up within the hour, and start nursing all over again. I walked around with my shirt off for weeks!







To keep her awake, try running your fingers gently up and down her spine, change her diaper, change positions, etc.

Babies go through growth spurts right around 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 12 weeks and 6 months. The first two are the most difficult. After you get past the 6 week growth spurt you'll notice a big difference in the amount of time your DD spends nursing. I'm lucky if my 6 month old stays on for 5-10 minutes now. Hang in there!


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## paquerette (Oct 16, 2004)

Absolutely normal. Do you have help? Get people to bring you food, do the laundry, etc, while you park yourself and feed the baby.


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## Bleu (Mar 6, 2004)

Normal. Exhausting and intense, eh?

Food you can eat _one-handed_ is the key.


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## Moon Faerie (Aug 2, 2004)

Yuo, what every one else said. The first 6 weeks were pretty rough, but it got way easier after that.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Yep. Normal. One handed food. Nests in several places around the house with everything you want/need.

It gets better!

-Angela


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## desertpenguin (Apr 15, 2005)

They're all speaking the truth! My ds, the sweet high need baby he is, was constantly in arms, at breast. Heaven forbid I should put him down! Do you have a sling? Slings are soooo helpful. I got mine when ds was about 2/3 mo and I use it all the time. I can even nurse him hands free when I have to! *too cool,hmm?!* Don't worry, though," this too shall pass!"


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## Bleu (Mar 6, 2004)

Great suggestion about the sling. Hindsight for me is that I would have learned how to BF in the sling/Bjorn/etc. and while lying down MUCH earlier than I did. It seems annoying while you are still clumsy at it, but it is SO SO SO worthwhile.


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## captain optimism (Jan 2, 2003)

Yes, it's normal. It builds your supply. There are feeding spurts prior to growth spurts at 10 days and three weeks, so basically one on top of another! I used to put my son on a nursing pillow, put a napkin over him, and eat with one hand. I remember a few days in there, nursing 40 minutes out of each hour and jumping up to pee in between.

Those were the days, boy!


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## akmbloom (Feb 18, 2005)

thanks everone - we have a pouch sling but she doesn;'t seem to like it much, we might try another kind....

i just figured out how to bf lying down last night, thank goodnes!

also, she's such an alert/smart baby that if i distract her a little with singing, etc she'll go longer between the hungry signals, it's almost like she wants to eat out of boredom if i'm not entertaining her!!!

good to know it's normal!!!


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## momsmyjob (Oct 7, 2003)

yes, we went through the same too. Completely normal!


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## maria423 (Dec 24, 2003)

I'll also jump in to say it's totally normal, though very exhausting. It does get better, and she'll be able to go longer between feeds. Enjoy the time you have - set up camp on the couch, watch good movies or read a book.

And I definitely agree about getting food you can eat one-handed.

Congratulations to you!


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## ledzepplon (Jun 28, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *akmbloom*
also, she's such an alert/smart baby that if i distract her a little with singing, etc she'll go longer between the hungry signals, it's almost like she wants to eat out of boredom if i'm not entertaining her!!!

good to know it's normal!!!

It's totally normal. Also, she may just be one of those babies who really enjoys comforting herself at your breast. So it may not be that she's famished all the time, she just needs a little lovin'. (I was really worried that my milk wasn't satisfying my babe when she was a newbie because she wanted to suck ALL THE TIME. It's a comfort thing.) So I don't think there's anything wrong with distracting her with other comforts (singing, cuddling, playing) as you're describing. She'll let you know if she's serious about nursing!


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

My ds was the same way and the first few weeks were ROUGH. But, it's gotten progressively better since then, and now it seems like he hardly eats at all sometimes! I actually miss the longer nursing sessions! LOL!

My dh actually kept track of when and how long I nursed for the first two weeks. One day ds was nursed for over 8 hours total!

One thing I found that helped was to pop a good movie in the dvd player, hit play while nursing and pause when you're done. Yes, I know breastfeeding should be bonding time (and I would have some sessions where all I did was stare at my cute little ds), but it does get boring and monotonous (did I spell that right?) after a while. I don't think it's a bad thing to have some distraction once in a while to help you get through those frequent and long nursing sessions.

Good luck, and I promise that it will get better!


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## Periwinkle (Feb 27, 2003)

Yup... totally normal. Expect things to start to be easier starting around 4 weeks. Absolutely not change worthy at this point in time. Great work!!!


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## gizzyntaz (Apr 23, 2004)

Totally normal. I was just thinking this morning when DS was refusing my breast, I miss those days when he would take it each and every time it was offered... Crazy, huh?

Just put everything else on hold. Nothing is more important than your baby right now. Congratulations & Good Luck!

- Alison


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