breastfeeding

[tashana]

my baby constantly wants to feed. sometimes 14 times a day.  she won't take a bottle, only breast.  i am exhausted.  can you help?

[jills]

speak to your visiting midwife at her next visit, or go and see her for a chat. You don't say how old your little one is?  Some very wee babies just do like to snack and take a while to get into a better feeding pattern.  It could be a number of things....even maybe that she's too full, and so cries again but will still take the breast for comfort.  Or maybe she has colic?  Our wee boy Charlie did and he cried and wanted boob for comfort, not cos he was hungry, the sucking soothed him.  We used a dummy at those times, and infacol and baby massage both helped. Also, skin to skin contact was soothing for him. Fortunately, it was gone before he was 13 weeks old.   You could maybe try a variety of teats and bottles as she may prefer one over the other, and some bottles only give milk when baby suckles, not just in a constant stream like normal teats do. It could be so many things...you should try to speak to someone as soon as you can; they will be able to help and give you lots of ideas. Sending you both big hugs, let us know how you get on. xxx

[Jules001]

my son did this when he was a baby (he's 16 now so can't quite remember how old he was at the time) but I spoke to Health Visitor about it and she said he was just sucking for comfort and advised me to get a dummy for him which I did and he was fine with it and quickly got settled into a routine of feeding 4 hourly and we never looked back. I was opposed to giving him a dummy as I don't like kids about 3 etc running around with dummies in their mouths, but we kept it strictly for bedtime and was able to get rid of it before it became an issue.

[sunflower68]

I would have to agree with Jules there tash.  I was always opposed to a dummy for my kids but your letter compelled me to reply because I am sure you have a 'sucky' baby!

A dummy, once I was persuaded, gave me endless days of sanity!  I loved having my kids as babies but nobody can deny that it is so stressfull sometimes and we need time out.  That is what having a dummy did for me, and the kids.  At about 2 years old, when they could understand,  I showed them the dummy was broken(!) and we bought a new one to give to a friends baby.  Never mentioned again!  good luck any way that you play it. x

[tpfan]

It could also be that she isn't actually feeding long enough each session for the hind milk,which is more sustaining, to come through. Seek help from health visitor, midwife or your local breastfeeding support group to get to the real cause as you need your rest to be able to enjoy your baby. I breastfed my first 3 with no problems, but my youngest was exhausting - feeding every 2 hours day and night, sleeping very little, and refusing the bottle. If you are going to try the bottle again, try leaving her, and some expressed milk, with granny and go home for a couple of hours sleep.She won't starve and you'll not be able to step in with the breast after a few minutes - been there!

[Solarjunkie]

Don't go the bottle route! Once you have got over this hump, with the help of a dummy & a midwife to ensure she is getting the milk properly, you have a much easier life with a breast fed baby.

Where's lunch? - under my jumper! Free, healthy, less colic, snuggly - and the nappies hardly smell.

Good luck.

[Kellygray]

Hi there, I had the same trouble with my baby until he was about 3 months old, I was told by the health visitor that he was having a growth spurt???

[jills]

I should just add that the bottle route I suggested would only have been for expressed milk...to give  a very tired mum a break at night perhaps.  Breast is definitely best (mine is still getting a feed from me at 14 months), but if the toll it takes on mum is just too much, then everyone suffers.