
13:45 - you need to get some help with breastfeeding and read other books before you give birth. Newborns are NOT supposed to be on any type of imposed feeding schedule, and doing so could lead to Failure to Thrive if baby doesn't get enough food. PLEASE consult someone who knows what they're doing, for your baby's sake!!! |
OP here with one further question: when you feed on demand, do you also let the baby decide how long each feeding lasts? The books say that you should drain the breast in each feeding session and stimulate the baby if she falls asleep on the breast. But is
this really necessary if the baby nurses so frequently anyway. Sometimes DD only wants to nurse for a couple of minutes before she seems satisfied. |
Your baby is a week old, right? So that means there are a couple factors in play. First is whether the baby is getting enough to eat. Many newborns are really sleepy critters and will fall asleep before they have eaten as much as they need. The second factor is that in the early weeks of breastfeeding, your body is figuring how much milk it needs to make. The more the baby eats, the more milk you make.
From baby's point of view, you can't nurse too much. From a milk supply point of view, you can't either. My son is 4 months now--when he was tiny tiny, I would keep him awake for at least 10 mins on each side. I would compress the breast so that milk continued to flow out (that seemed to keep him interested & not sleepy). He would typically nurse once every 2-3 hours, but he would also "cluster nurse" a couple times a day--nurse with 30-45 min intervals between nursing sessions. I'd definitely also encourage you to go to the 0-4 months class at the Breastfeeding Center (http://www.breastfeedingcenter.org/). It is free, you don't have to register, and it's a bunch of new moms with questions like yours. |
I could have written this verbatim 3 months ago. Totally normal, but I felt alone. There's a new moms group (meets every Tuesday) at the Breastfeeding Ctr downtown that would probably be great for you! In hindsight, it was a very good thing. I have a very healthy milk supply as a result. |