Hellobee Boards

Is she actively eating when she's on the boob? I mean is she pulling and swallowing or it is more like flutter-sucking? E could easily be on the boob for 30+ minutes when he was a newborn, but half the time he was comfort nursing, not eating. I could tell because he wasn't swallowing nearly as often (maybe once every few minutes) and his sucks were lighter/shallower.

Here's some info I found helpful: http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing/

Remember that she's helping you regulate your milk supply. It's rough early on, but milk works from supply and demand. She's demanding right now and it's exhausting, breastfeeding is about all I remember doing that first month! I did have to work hard at keeping him actively nursing and not sleeping early on.

@shopaholic: I am having the opposite problem. It is hard to get R to eat at least for 10 mins. Feel like it is a battle to get her to eat for 12 mins at a time. No matter what we try she falls asleep. But I guess she is getting enough good since she poops and pees all day and night!

I remember feeling like this when M was a newborn. I swear the girl cluster fed the entire first 6 weeks of life. I thought the same things as you- I wasn't producing enough, she was insatiable and unsatisfied, my milk wasnt fatty enough and filling her, etc- but just turns out I had a newborn that wanted to be attached to my boob 24/7 and clusterfed the whole 6 weeks of life. I remember wondering if eating would ever get to where I could feed her every 2 or 3 hours, then magically, it did! It may seem like she isn't getting enough from you, but trust me, she is...she is jyst establishing your milk supply and now I have TONS of milk for her. I would avoid bottle feeding though, as that can trick your body into thinking it doesn't need to make more milk, and will only delay your bodys efforts to establish your milk supply that your baby will need. Trust me that this will pass and feedings will get more regular.

Agreed with others, it sounds normal but it won't last forever. For trying to keep baby awake while eating, someone suggested to me to wipe DS's feet with a cold wipe. Other things that worked included nursing him skin to skin, unlatching and waking him, stroking his cheek, and having DH bug him.

growth spurt!

Totally normal & even aside from growth spurts as a species it's normal for us to nurse frequently, almost constantly, in infancy... even moreso as a newborn.

Kellymom has great info on breastfeeding mechanics & tendencies in newborns/young infants:
http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing/
http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/frequent-nursing/
http://kellymom.com/parenting/parenting-faq/fussy-evening/

And this article has helped me too! (It's on sttn but hits some great points on breastfeeding mechanics)
http://babybumpapp.com/community/groups/3135-attachment-parenting/posts/3082855-interesting-article-on-sttn

I would say this sounds normal to me! In those early weeks I practically lived in my nursing chair. My DD would nurse for an hour + if I let her between eating and comfort nursing. We would sit there and watch show after show on netflix. Your DD is helping regulate your milk supply and she lets your body know how much she needs.