Help for a newbie with a 4 day old?

[@llli*snouchik]

Well now we're home from the hospital, and last night was our first night. What a nightmare! He would feed about 5-7 minutes at a time and fall asleep, but when we tried to put him down in the bassinet (in our room) he would wake, fuss, and then scream until we put him back on the breast. This happened nearly all night, until he finally went down at about 5:30-8am.

This morning he had a wet diaper, and wouldn't feed right away. I finally got him to eat about 30 minutes after he woke up, but only for 10 minutes.

I know there is no "normal" with babies, particularly newborns, but surely these super short, very frequent feedings can be resolved. Anybody have any advice? I've been crying all morning out of sheer exhaustion and frustration. Another night of this would be torture.

[@llli*bfwmomof3]

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your new baby!

A newborn's job is to nurse and nurse and nurse so he can grow. Constant nursing is what will bring your milk in. The best thing you can do for him right now is to keep him as close to you as possible, offer him the breast whenever he wants it (and if he's not nursing at least 10-12 times/24 hours, waking him to offer him the breast), let him stay on for as long as he wants - whether 5 minutes or 45 minutes or even longer. Keep track of wet and dirty diapers. Remember, baby is learning how to do this too. He may only be spending short amounts of time now, but in a day or two he may be spending much longer amounts of time. Things change from day to day at this age.

Yes, the reality of a newborn baby is feeding around the clock. So to help maintain YOUR sanity, make sure you are napping when baby drifts off during the day. Get others to help you with cooking, shopping, housework. Your job is to sit on the couch or lie in your bed and nurse. (Speaking of lying in bed, it helps if you can learn to nurse the baby in the side-lying position, helps your rest during and between feedings.) Have someone bring you a pitcher of water and snacks to your side, set the TV up or magazines/books or what have you to keep you occupied while baby is on the breast.

Nursing a newborn is hard work but it gets better fast and it is so worth it to be able to breastfeed your baby! You can do this! If you need encouragement, keep visiting the forum, you'll get plenty of people cheering you on and offering advice on how to get through each stage.

[@llli*alisdb]

Sorry to see you struggling! I will say that day 4 with both my boys was always the hardest and it does go up from there.

What he is doing is normal but there are some tricks to help it a little more.

First after 5-7 minutes, do you try and wake him by wet cloth, tickling him, etc...? My 2nd is an efficient feeder and could get his fill after 10 minutes. He does need to nurse constantly at this age though!

Putting him down in the bassinet, whether he is starving or full, is likely to result in that meltdown! Do you swaddle him tightly? His arms are probably waking him up. Also, he knows you aren't in the bassinet! Chances are that if you lay him down beside you in your bed (warm with your smell) while swaddled, he might be happy to sleep there for an hour or more. Most babies do not sleep kindly in a bassinet on day 4 by themselves, they are programmed to cosleep.

[@llli*djs.mom]

I know there is no "normal" with babies, particularly newborns, but surely these super short, very frequent feedings can be resolved.

Nope. It can't be. Your baby's stomach is the size of a grape. And breastmilk is very quickly absorbed into his tissue an organs so that he may grow. He needs to eat very often. 10-12 times in a 24hour period AT LEAST. I would STOP trying to put him down every time he falls alseep. Especially if YOU want to rest. Your child is used to being with you ALL. THE. TIME. So for him to wake up and not be able to sense you is VERY traumatic. And he is letting you know. Keep your baby near you. So he can smell you when he is sleeping and he will probably give you longer breaks.

[@llli*snouchik]

Thank you ladies for your responses, they helped a lot!
He's been nursing for some slightly longer periods, we even passed 20 minutes the other day! Plus he's had plenty of wet diapers, and two poo-splosion diapers, too. I've been tickling him, stroking his cheek, chin or head, etc., to keep him awake when he starts to doze during nursing. And I've been holding him on my chest or lap for a good 10-20 minutes after each feeding to help him go more deeply to sleep before trying to put him down.
We noticed that he does NOT like to lay flat, so we got a rock n play sleeper that he seems to like much better than the bassinet.
Anyway, I'm feeling a little more confident today, and a bit less overwhelmed, so thank you all!

[@llli*bfwmomof3]

Glad to hear things are going better.