Help! Lazy Daytime Feeder

Hi Everyone,

Just hoping for some breastfeeding advice really ... although i'm sure there are other threads already on this tricky subject!

I'm having a real battle with my little one. She's a big girl (4.3kgs at birth and now around 4.5kgs) and 3 weeks old today.

Basically she's a lazy feeder in the daytime ... she'll do a few sucks when I put her on the breast and then try as I might she'll drop her good latch and just sooth herself on the nipple. No amount of feet tickling or blowing in her face will make her carry on.

Of course she's not getting a proper feed so as soon as I put her down she'll scream. I know she knows what to do because she'll feed really efficiently during the night.

Any advice would be much appreciated as it's really getting me down and i'm desperate to persevere with breastfeeding

Thanks weegee

Well at the moment there's no real discernable pattern. At night she'll wake after 3-4 hours, feed really well and then go down again happily, but yesterday for example she was up from 10am to 5pm never really having a proper feed ... I can initially hear her have a few good mouthfuls and then she'll just stop and comfort suck. When I put her down she'll be crying after a few mins and doing all those classic hungry mouth movements

I don't know if I've read what you were saying right..

But she was up from 10am through to 5pm, are you meaning no sleeps?

That's a crazy long time for a bubba to be awake. Maybe she has wind during the day? It may not be causing pain but maybe just making her feel bloated and therefore full?

We used the hour turn around at that age. Up, had a feed, wind, tummy time (helped him burp some more) and then down for sleep all within an hour. Once that was going good he fed better. But winding really helped with our feeding probs (I had tons all the time with Daniel and BF and getting the little ratbag to feed lol)

Edited by kebakat

Yeah I agree with Stacey that is a long time for a new born to be awake, i was thinking wind aswell....or maybe she isnt getting enough from the boob? Have you tried expressing to see how much you can get?>
Its just my son did the same thing(but he did sleep) he would drink a few good mouthfuls then would stop sucking properly and then scream. It turns out that he wasnt getting enough from me...

Other than that Im not sure as DS is formula fed now due to my lack of milk.

Yeah I was going to say that, maybe try somthing to boost your supply? I was told to eat lots of protein and have complan.

She could be getting overtired too if she's not having day sleeps, I know lil miss gets really fractious at the breast if I miss her tired signs and it's a battle to get her to feed.

Are you swaddling her when you put her to bed? If so, have you tried feeding her in a swaddle? Most babies find being swaddled comforting and it might help her to concentrate on what she's supposed to be doing ie. feeding!

I definitely agree re: seeing a lactation consultant. I know under Auckland DHB it's free up to 4 weeks postnatally. Failing that, you could try your local Plunket Family Centre, your midwife or Plunket nurse can refer you.

Yay, glad things are settling down!