1st time mom with 1 week old needing help/advice!

[@llli*myates622]

Hi Ladies - My daughter is 1 week, 1 day old and I am just having some some breastfeeding concerns.
Right now, she eats about every three hours during the day and I mostly have to wake her to feed her. At each session she goes anywhere from I'd say 7 minutes to 15 minutes. We occasionally get a 20 minute session and I want to jump for joy when that happens. Short sessions are due to either her getting disinterested or falling asleep, despite attempts to rouse her. Yesterday I started trying to introduce both breasts to try and encourage her to eat more.
Night time is the bigger problem - this girl likes to sleep! I have to wake her between 3-4 hours and it is SO hard to rouse her. Last night I grabbed a cool washcloth and that barely woke her. Her feeding was 10 minutes tops and I had to wake her again 3.5 hours later. Shouldn't she be hungry and waking up??

I also am kinda clueless about how/when to pump to help with my supply and also start stockpiling for when we want to introduce bottles. Do you drain the breast you were working on (tried this last feeding and got zilch) or pump the other one during/after feeding?

Basically, I am worried that 1) she is not getting enough to eat (although we weighed me and then me with her and she's close to her birth weight according to our scale) and 2) I am worried that my supply is low. I want to exclusively breastfeed /pump for at least 6 months and I am worried I won't be able to.

Any help is appreciated!

[@llli*mommal]

Welcome and congratulations on the new baby!

A lot of what you describe sounds very normal for such a young baby. At just a week old, a lot of babies are still very sleepy. But your daughter will wake up more and more as time goes on, and I'm willing to bet that by around 3 weeks you won't have to wake her for feedings any more.

Short feedings can be normal. Some babies can get a lot of milk very quickly, even in the early days. But sometimes short feedings and sleepy babies do combine and cause inadequate milk intake. The way to know if your baby is getting enough to eat is to count diapers: if she is producing the right number of wet and poopy diapers, she is getting enough to eat. If you're in any doubt, a weight check at the pediatrician's office can't hurt. (Remember, weights should be done naked and always on the same scale.) Your plan to offer both breasts at a feeding is an excellent one- that's a great way to increase the baby's intake and your supply.

I also am kinda clueless about how/when to pump to help with my supply and also start stockpiling for when we want to introduce bottles. Do you drain the breast you were working on (tried this last feeding and got zilch) or pump the other one during/after feeding?

Most moms begin by choosing 1 time of day to pump. Mornings are popular, because most moms have the most milk in the mornings, making the milk easy to obtain even for a novice pumper. You can either try to pump the breast you just used or pump the unused one, or pump both- but at just a week I think I'd probably hold off on pumping, provided that diaper output is normal. A lot of moms overuse the pump at first, and consequently end up with problems with milk oversupply.

[@llli*rcsmom]

Sounds like you have a sleepy little girl on your hands. Does your LO have jaundice? Not trying to worry you but it is very common for a LO with jaundice to be extra sleepy. You are on the right track by waking her to eat. Have you tried undressing her or tickling her feet? Sometimes that helps. This link has some more ideas about keeping a sleepy baby awake.
http://www.mother-2-mother.com/cc-ba...m#SleepyBabies
http://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/h...epy_baby.shtml
How are her wet/dirty diapers
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/enough-milk.html

[@llli*jeno]

Excellent advice from PPs above. I would second mommal's advice not to worry about the pump yet. In fact, depending on when you are going back to work (assuming 10-12 weeks), I would completely ignore the pump for at least a month and then come back here and ask about it then.

[@llli*lila.nj]

My son is a week old too. Same issues, falling asleep at breast and I have to wake him every 3 hours to feed during the day. At night, he sleeps longer and I have to set an alarm at 4 hours to wake him. Some feedings are 20 minutes, some are 15, some are only 5. I was worried at first but since he was having the right amount of dirty and wet diapers each day, I thought he must be okay. I just took him to the doctor and he said he was perfectly heathly. He is beyond his birth weight and doing well. I only pump if he does not take the breast. So far, that has only happened once. Hope this helps.