please help! how do I tell if DD is comfort nursing or still hungry?

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Anyone who has insight, please reply! I BFd DD for 5 hours straight today and I am so frustrated.

Here's the pattern...2-week-old DD usually eats every 2-3 hours but will often cluster feed. It's to where I can't tell if she cluster feeding bcz she's hungry, or if she's comfort nursing.

So today was the worst...I fed her around 8 a.m. off both breasts, she falls asleep within 2 - 5 min of being put on, so I stimulate her all I can to get a good feeding in (rub her head, strip her clothes, scratch her back, tickle/flick her feet, cold wet wipe, etc.). I feed her until I can't keep her awake anymore and her sucks are teeny tiny.

So I set her down in the car seat, crib, bed, etc. and she wakes up within 5 - 10 min crying. I try to comfort her (bouncing, swaddling, rocking, singing, walking, etc) but NOTHING works. She's giving me all the cues that she wants to BF (sucking her hand, moving head back and forth, opening mouth, looking for breast, etc) so I put her back on. REPEAT from above....OVER and OVER for 5 hours!!!!!!

I can tell she's getting milk bcz I see it on her mouth and hear her swallowing. How can she still be hungry??? And if she is, why is she falling asleep?

Around 1 p.m. I broke down crying. I just can't figure out what's wrong. I understand if she's hungry, but I can't keep her awake to get full!

So how do you tell the difference? And if it is comfort nursing and I'm constantly giving her the breast to calm her down, am I starting a bad habit? As of now, she won't fall asleep without being nursed.

I'm going to the BF center tomorrow if this continues, but I thought someone here might have some words of wisdom.

[egoldber]

This is really, really, really normal. Newborns nurse. Sometimes they want to nurse all.the.time. Normal. Its how they bring in your supply and get it fully established. Two weeks is also a typical growth spurt time, so she will want to nurse more often at that point anyway.

Have you read this? I found it very helpful to know what was normal for nursing a newborn.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing.html

And this will explain why its so important to nurse as much as you can in the early days:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/milkproduction.html

[jillc]

Yep, like Beth said, that sounds completely normal for her age, especially with there being a two-week growth spurt.

I had many, many days like you're describing with both my DD & DS.

It's really common to stress out about it & to stress out about letting the baby nurse "too much" or similarly, wondering if you'll "create a monster" by offering the breast *again*... I think all of my friends and I wondered with our DC #1 if we were letting them nurse too much during times like that. Nope. The babies were just doing their job of nursing a lot & the mommies were keeping the babies happy and fed.

My best advice is to try not to worry and just go with it. Really. This too shall pass.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Ds2's 3w growth spurt sounds just like that. I didn't think it would ever end or that he would ever be satisfied. I have very vivid memories of ds2 just being attached 24/7 for a few days- and then it was over! I just told myself he knew what he was doing and I needed to trust him.

Beth
PS- how was the birth?? I have been checking the Lounge for an announcement. Did she come out willingly or need that medical nudge to make her debut?

[bubbaray]

Sounds totally normal to me. Both my DDs did that for their growth spurts. Can't remember when exactly those growth spurts were, but they were basically nursing 24/7 for a couple of days, then back into a more regular routing. It takes your body about 3 days to adjust to an increase (or decrease when weaning) demand for milk.

Good luck!

[rds97]

Thank you for asking this! I am going through the EXACT same thing right now. It is so frustrating and really makes me doubt myself and consider quitting. I don't have any advice, but just wanted to say that I feel your pain!

- Rebecca

[mmsmom]

This is totally normal but know you can't do this everyday! If your BF center has a scale where they can weigh your DD before & after a feeding then definitely go! I had a lactation consultant come to my house & it was well worth the $80. My DS would nurse all the time if I allowed it but through the scale I was able to determine he was getting most of the milk within the first 15 minutes and the additional 20 minutes (per side) I was keeping him on he was getting less than an ounce-- not enough to justify 20 more minutes of time! So the lactation consultant gave me good tips on how to tell when he was really getting milk & how to keep him productive.

Also, your DD may just want to suck-- I think most still say to wait until 3 weeks to introduce a pacifier but you can let her suck on your finger. If that satisfies her you will know she just wants to suck & isn't hungry.

[SnuggleBuggles]

The problem is that a newborn, especially 1 having a growth spurt, will want to suckle. That stimulation builds up your supply because baby tells your body, "hey, I wanted milk and there wasn't enough so make more!" I'd wait till you are sure you are past the 3w growth spurt to offer a pacifier b/c you don't want the paci to get the stim your bbs should be getting.

Don't throw in the towel or start supplementing with pumped milk or formula if you are committed to making bf'ing work. Even me, a die hard bf'ing mom, was getting discouraged with the 3w growth spurt and had visions of sending dh out to the store in the middle of the night for formula but I knew it was a slippery slope and I wouldn't act on it. Less than 24 hours later things had improved dramatically. We entered phase 2 of a growth spurt- sleep, beautiful, sleep!


Beth

[scoop22]

nak

i totally know what you are going through. ds is 5 weeks and is doing the same thing. i read kellymom.com yesterday and that relieved some of my tears. ds will cry every night.. he is only satisfied if i am feeding him. it is tough when dh isn't home and ds1 wants to play.. i hope this passes fast for you!!! try and stay positive!!! I KNOW IT IS TOUGH!! this to shall
pass!

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Thank you so much to those who replied...it is so comforting to know that this kind of stuff is somewhat normal. I was able to figure out the problem, although it wasn't the 2-week growth spurt...Turns out DD is not getting enough milk.

After my OP four days ago, I ended up taking DD to the ped and the nursing center at my hospital. They weighed her on Wednesday at the ped's office and Friday at the nursing center. Both days she weighed 7.4 and she is supposed to be back up to her birth weight by now, which was 7.10.

The whole pattern that I mentioned (nurse, fall asleep, wake and cry, repeat, repeat, repeat) has made it to where my milk has come in, but isn't "in" strong enough bcz she is falling asleep so fast and not sucking deep enough. No matter how much I would stimulate her, she just isn't getting that fervent suck when she first latches on. I mean, she nurses...but it isn't that intense "I'm hungry!" nursing.

So although she's getting milk from me, it's only enough to sustain her, not enough to get her growing.

So while at the nursing center they suggested supplementing with formula and begin pumping to bring in heavier milk supply. I know someone said in the PP not to do that, but once I found out she really isn't getting enough, I thought it best to follow their advice. (Nevermind the fact that I broke out in tears knowing that my precious baby has been hungry for days ) I REALLY didn't want to give her formula, but decided to do it just until I could get enough pumped milk to supplement.

I was told that once my milk has heavier flow it will keep her awake better and hopefully the problem will be solved. It's like she has to learn how to nurse differently bcz she just falls asleep too damn fast.

So on Friday I gave her 1 oz of formula through a tiny tube while she nursed. She seemed more content right away! I gave her 1 - 2 oz every other feeding after that for the next day and I pumped for about 10 min. after every feeding. As soon as I could supplement with the pumped milk, I did, so she only got about 4 feedings of the formula while nursing.

Today my milk is heavier and I can tell she is more content. She's sleeping better and has much more alert time as opposed to crying time.

I am still going to pump for a couple more days just to keep the flow going and monitor if the heavier flow keeps her more awake during the feedings.

And I'll take her to the nursing center tomorrow to have her weighed and get into the ped sometime this week.

Thanks for the input. I'm so glad I went and had her weighed or else I would have just thought this was normal.