Is this normal?

[AmyA]

Firt this isn't a growth spurt b/c it has been going on for weeks. Dd nurses about every 1 to 1 1/2 hours ALL DAY LONG. She's never content either. It's like perpetual hunger. Our night time routine emerged into straight 3 hour feeding sessions (really!) from about 7-10 and then waking multiple times per night. I had been pumping a bottle so dh could feed her in the early am, but decided to try the bottle at night (she's now going about 6 hours once she goes down). So now she nurses from 8-8:30, gets a 4 ounce bottle, then goes back to nursing for 20-30 minutes (with sucking /swallowing) then goes to bed. She's gaining weight, but I'm still wondering if she needs more from me. This just doesn't seem normal. Plus I have a 3 1/2 year old who needs my attention and care and I'm having trouble with a hungry 2 1/2 month old who's attached to my breast ALL DAY! Is this normal?

[ErinFiat]

It sounds like what we went through with my older 2. Honestly, it does get better. Something that worked well with my DS was to sling him. He needed that tight, swaddle-ish hold and closeness. I also had to put him on a binky. He was nursing himself into vomitting (terrible reflux).

It was, looking back, short lived. At the time, I thought I'd never get to sleep again and always be covered in baby vomit.

:hug:

[ILmomtobe]

Is she always nursing for food? I know she's swallowing, but is she kind of backing off the nipple a bit? Ds did this, and he would have been happy if I were naked 23 hours out of the day. I started him on a binky and things settled considerably. With dd, she was just a snacker. She liked eating for only a few minutes every hour or so (odd, she still does this).

[CodeNameMom]

I was wondering how you were doing. I read the thread in the MW forum a few weeks back. Sorry to hear you are still having issues. I don't have much real advice my dd was a power nurser and didn't stay latched long. She was strictly business. Perhaps a pacifire would help as others have suggested.

[AmyA]

I've been using a pacifier and it works for about 15 minutes and then watch out! If I start bfing her at let's say 10:00, she'll eat until 10:30 and by 11:15 she's hungry again. I can hold her off for maybe 15 or 20 minutes, but that's it. I went to my local bfing center and the consultant told me to try nursing on both breasts instead of just one, which I did, but it didn't help. I started yesterday supplementing b/c I can't go on like this. By the end of the day there is just no milk in my breasts-literally. I'm not producing anymore either. Her weight is fine, but her system and our day-to-day lifestyle just aren't meshing. With my dh working such long hours and not having a support system, I just can't keep up. My ds deserves more attention and a happier mommy. So she's getting a bottle every other feeding. I'm still pumping a bottle in the morning and she gets that at night before bed, so really she'll probably just get 2, maybe 3, bottles per day. I feel liberated!

[CodeNameMom]

I am glad you found a solution! I think you could probably try some remedies for increasing supply to see if it would help. But if you need to supplament for sanity then i think you should feel confident doing it. You are still giving her the best you can. You need to be happy and still be there for your son. :hug: