I had my baby last week, new to nursing

[TraciG]

does anyone's baby nurse from one side for about 10-15 minutes fall asleep then want to nurse again 10 minutes to about a half hour later ?? At night it's never ending, I put the baby back to sleep, I fall asleep & before u know it, I'm picking her up again, is this normal ? We think because she's small, her belly gets full quick then she's hungry again in a little while, she weighed 5lb 10 oz & when we left the hospital she was only 5lb 2 oz.

thanks

Sydney's momma

[Rachels]

Congratulations and welcome, baby Sydney! Yes, it's normal. It will pass. New babies, and especially very little new babies, often are pretty sleepy and have trouble staying awake for a whole feed. You can try some tricks for keeping her awake like patting her feet, blowing on her head, etc., but chances are she just needs to get a little bigger. Nursing is often tough in the very beginning, but it gets SO much easier and SO much more rewarding. Hang in there! We're here to support you anytime.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[elvisfan]

>Congratulations and welcome, baby Sydney! Yes, it's normal.
>It will pass. New babies, and especially very little new
>babies, often are pretty sleepy and have trouble staying awake
>for a whole feed. You can try some tricks for keeping her
>awake like patting her feet, blowing on her head, etc., but
>chances are she just needs to get a little bigger. Nursing is
>often tough in the very beginning, but it gets SO much easier
>and SO much more rewarding. Hang in there! We're here to
>support you anytime.
>
>-Rachel
>Mom to Abigail Rose
>5/18/02

Rachel is right-it does get easier. And more rewarding as you go!!!! You can do it:)

[TraciG]

made me feel better, dont know how i'd ever get out of th ehouse if I didn't pump, of course i'm still home , just have gone back to my own house to pick up mail & things, we're at my mother-in-laws for a couple fo week, working out great !!!!!!

[jec2]

Oh my, Finn was nursing all day long (or so it seemed) the first two weeks. He has mellowed out quite a bit this past week and has seemed to develop a more regular eating pattern. Still, there are times when he wants to eat again so soon after he has finished. However, I was exhausted (now I am just tired!) during the first week or so and might have given a bottle had we owned one! I did have a lactation consultant come by and check that we were doing everything ok. She helped us improve our latch but said that he was just eating to gain back his weight and was going through a growth spurt. I used to get a wave of fear every evening because I knew how tired I was and how frequently I'd be up that night. This fear has definately subsided.

Anyway, hope this helps and good luck to you both.

[C99]

Rachel's right -- this is very normal with little babies. I swear, Nate ate all the time for the first 6 weeks or so. All I did was nurse. (He was born at 5lbs, 12 oz) It's one of the biggest reasons we co-slept for the first 5 months. In the early days, it was the only way to get any sleep!

[lizajane]

i think this is normal and she does need lots of milk! if you are having a hard time, you could try to wake her to be sure she gets a full feeding. perhaps she is getting foremilk and falling asleep without getting the hindmilk that is more filling? i don't have experience with tiny babies, mine was a giant. but he nursed for 45min to an hour in the beginning. have you tried undressing her so that her skin is on your skin? playing with her ears? rubbing her palms to encourage the sucking reflex? tickling her feet? some might think it is mean to wake a baby to help her to keep eating, and i am certainly not an expert. but those are some things that the lactation consultants told me to do. (and i saw plenty, let me tell you!)

also, are you sure she is hungry and not tired? or not just exhibiting a strong sucking reflex? schuyler made noise every 2 hours, but then fell asleep as soon as i tried to nurse him, or wouldn't open his mouth wide enough. turns out, i was trying to feed him when he was just squirming in his sleep or when he was tired, not hungry.

you are not doing anything wrong by nursing her whenever she makes noise! just trying to offer some ideas if you are feeling overwhelmed and need a break now and then. i certainly nursed schuyler ALL DAY sometimes.

[jmofarrill]

And Anwyn is no different than anyone else's baby, it seems! LOL She ate ALL THE TIME for about 4 weeks, and then it was every 2 hours until 3 months. Once we started co-sleeping, we were in MUCH better shape; we both slept longer and felt more rested. Finally it's settled to about every 3-4 hours now, and I feel like I can get a couple of personal things done in between feedings. We both really love nursing; she's developed the cutest habits that just make me laugh and melt. Congratulations!