Frequent Feedings

Hi Everyone,

Callen is about 2 1/2 months old now. For the past couple of weeks we have had a bit of a problem with Callen wanting to feed all the time. When we are home through the day, as soon as he sees my chest he wants to nurse. It might only be 45 minutes from the last feeding, and we might be in the middle of play time, or quiet time - it doesn't seem to matter. Then he ends up nursing on one side only each time. Occasionally will it mix up his night time nursings as well, making him wake up more often etc.

If I take him out throughout the day, he sticks to a 2-3 hour nursing schedule, and doesn't get fussy or anything until its time to eat. It just happens at home as soon as he sees me, when there are no other distrations around. Today, when he was with my husband he was fine, as soon as I was there he wanted to nurse.

Any thoughts or ideas on this? Its getting very frustrating, and painful.

Thanks,
Chrissy

Sounds to me like he is "comfort nursing". I had a hard time with that with my daughter. You can talk to your pedi about it, and see if they have any ideas on how to fix it. It may also be time to think about introducing cereal.

Hi there,
Please do not take offense as I am not judging at all, I am actually really jealous because I wasn't able to successfully BF because Lydia had a health issue. But, it sounds like you have a lot of schedules going on ... playtime, quiet time, nursing time ... the thing about babies is that their schedules change all the time. In addition to what the PP said, and it does sound like he is comfort nursing, check with a lactation consultant in your area for suggestions. But., as a mom who would have given her right arm to be able to supply milk for my baby, isnt that the point of BFing?Comforting and nourishing your child?He's a little young to understand when it is and is not the right time for you to breastfeed on your schedule .. Just my two cents.

Hi,

No offense taken. I actually don't have any schedule other than an evening routine. I was just trying to explain that he does this during all times of the day, no specific activity triggers it.
And yes, it is wonderful to be able to breast feed, and I do appreciate the closeness, but I am so sore after a day of this type of feeding.

I hear you ... I remember crying because it hurt so badly the first couple weeks. I hope it works out soon! My mom always says that if you don't like something in your child's shedule, give it a week because its sure to change. But, I hate it when she's right.

 There are several things you can do to help with the pain, the first thing is to make sure that you do not use any soap on your nipples when you shower, this can dry them out and make them crack which will be very painful. The second thing to do, is apply nipple cream (get the good stuff, it's worth it to put the money out because you only need a tiny bit and it has SO many other uses) to your nipples as soon as you get out of the shower (even while they are still wet!), this will help trap the moisture in and relive some of the soreness. The last thing to do, is at the end of every feeding hand express a small amount of milk annd rub it all over your nipple, and let it air dry for a min or two, there is nothing better. 

If you continue to nurse him on demand, the pain should not last long, if it does I would call a local LC to just come in and check your latch.

To me it sounds like a growth spurt, and is a natural progression to helping you increase your supply. My oldest did that quite a few times and I spent two weeks constantly nursing him around 2 months old. Then my supply caught up and it tapered back down to 2-3 hours in between.

Here is some info on it

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

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/growth-spurt.html

 I don't believe in comfort nursing, if baby is asking to feed there is most likely a reason. Your LO is at the age where they are going to grow like crazy and growth spurts are going to be common, the more they grow the more milk they need, and he has to tell your body that it needs to make more and the best way to do that is to nurse more. Never try and push a 2-3 hour schedual on a breastfed baby, as it can lead to failure to thrive and failing milk supply, listen to your baby, he knows what he wants and needs. 

Good luck, but really it sounds like you are doing everything exactly right!

Wow! What a lot of good info! :-) I'm so coming to you when I try again! 

You can email me day or night! I struggled so hard to nurse my guy, and it is my hope to one day become a CLC, so if I don't know the answer I can usually find someone who does LOL

My first suggestion would be, that while you are still pregnant get yourself a copy of the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and find a local LLL (I swear, they aren't all scary, crazy lactivists LOL), also read EVERYTHING you can on Kellymom.com! I made sure I was prepared for every scenario at the hospital, from pushy nurses to stupid doctors and because I was armed and ready to fight on the way in I never felt like I was making the wrong decision, or second guessed myself and my guy never got the formula they where pushing. 

Hee hee, the doctors and nurses where happy to see me go when Matty was finally released.