New mom, and i have a few questions?

Tia - posted on 06/04/2012

sounds like shes perfect :) nothing wrong atol. expect it around 3-4 months of age too :)

Michelle - posted on 05/16/2012

This all sounds totally normal to me....if the constant feeding is making it difficult to get anything done I would really recommend wearing the baby as often as possible. Look into getting or making a wrap that can be worn for breastfeeding. The hugabub or maya style wrap worked great for me, and was the only way I was able to do simple household things like the dishes whilst my son was an infant. This style of wrap can be daunting at first because there are many ways to wear it, youtube provided me with a lot of assistance when finding a way to wear my son, especially for hands free breastfeeding. I would try this before resorting to a pacifier or any other synthetic comforter, mums body and smell is the most soothing thing for a baby, wearing her will most likely help alot as far as extending nap times and will give you a chance to use your hands and get up off the nursing chair. It can be seriously exhausting and frustrating when you are constantly feeding, if you can find gentle ways to adapt to your situation, you and your baby will be reaping the rewards for the rest of your lives.
As for the seemingly irregular bowel movements, that is also totally normal. Breastmilk is such an amazing food, it provides everything your baby needs and is so perfectly balanced to your baby's needs that there is very little waste, this results in infrequent bowel movements (sometimes up to a week between poos). If she has a cold, she is probably a little dehydrated, hence the sticky poos and the need for more breastmilk, (and possibly the shorter naps)
Good luck with it, and good work in talking about it. There are so many things that are new and daunting and confusing when you a new mother, the best thing we can do is ask as many questions as possible. You and your baby will be just fine.

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Ania - posted on 05/14/2012

This is normal.... there are so many newborn behaviors and they are all exhausting but its normal

Elizabeth - posted on 05/14/2012

@Aleksandra B - I was imprecise and I do want to clarify. By mucousy consistency, I did not mean the presence of mucous. I meant with the same viscosity as mucous has, as opposed to the super sticky thick meconium poop, the super-wateriness of diarrhea, or the solidity of later poops. Mustardy is normal and the consistency may be dry-ish (together but not shiny), loose almost to the point of diarrhea (or actually to that point for my girls) or in between, which is the consistency of mucous to me.

But you are right, that for many children - not all - the presence of actual mucous is indicative of a problem

Sharon - posted on 05/14/2012

heya my daughter is nearly 6 moths and breastfeeds on demand if feels like it is all the time, babies use your boob as a dummy aswell, that why they always want it,

Hella - posted on 05/13/2012

She sounds like my first born son! I went through the same thing with him. I except , that this is the way he is. He was a big baby, and thanks for my patient , he is super smart, all because I let him be. I eventually weaned him when he was close to be 3 years old, but he still actually wants it, and my breast gives him comfort, and he misses snuggle up with me every night I guess just respect her personality. My son had a hard poop after he was about 6-7 month old, but it was because of teething. he was very sensitive on that too. So don't worry about her poop, until she has normal yellow baby poop. She will have less poop because she use up the breast milk, and since there is no solid food yet, what should she poop out? She might even don't want to have solid food for a while. My son didn't want solid food, until he was 12 month old.And all this is ok. The main thing,if your baby is happy, then don't worry about a thing. She is a little person, and this is the way she is. Just be happy , and love her, and let her lead you, and show you who she is. :)) Good luck!

Candice - posted on 05/13/2012

Just ride it out! She is fine! Have you tried babywearing? Wrapping in a Moby will give you the use of your hands back. :D

Aleks - posted on 05/11/2012

@Heather Kelly
Its the other way around.. a dummy/pacifier is nothing put a poor substitute for the natural thing - the breast.

@Elizabeth Marchand
"exclusively breastfed poops are mustard color and often that sticky mucusy consistency"
That is not correct. Mucusy poo is never a good sign - mucus is a sign of inflammation. I would be checking ones diet and how it affects the baby if this is what was visible in the poo. Since the original poster never mentioned mucus I would assume that none was present, which is a good sign.
@Charlotte
"She's up for about an hr and a half and then will take a solid two hour nap."
That sounds like a perfect pattern for an 8 week old baby. And as for pacifiers, not all babies take to them.... I have found that those babies that are totally breastfed on demand don't really take to pacifiers (well... generally speaking, I am sure there are exceptions). And I don't blame them.... sucking on a latex tip isn't the nicest thing I am sure... ;-)

Aleks - posted on 05/11/2012

Its the 8 week growth spurt. Normal.

Poo - normal, this is what a exclusively bf baby's poo will look like all the time unless there is a problem, or solid food is introduced.



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Good luck

Happy - posted on 05/11/2012

Sounds like growth spurt and new Mommie syndrome. When all of my littles were under 3 minths it seemed like all I was was a cow! I just recelty (9 days ago) gave birth again and once again I feel like ALL she does is eat, eat, EAT! It is tiring at first, but with all my babes it has been SO worth it. Shewill mellow out around 3 months and by 6 months it will all be so routine that you won't even blink when it is time for her to feed. (((hugs)))) Mama! Keep up the great work!!!

Amanda - posted on 05/11/2012

Sounds to me like she's in a growth spurt! She'll nurse a LOT to increase your supply to keep up with her growth. Once your body knows how much she needs for this stage she'll be able to go back to her regular feeding schedual. It's partially for comfort too, sometimes growing isn't very comfortable. When they constantly want to be held and fed it can seem like it will never stop, but it's just a short time in the scheme of things. Get a really good baby carrier that you can nurse in comfortably (my favourite for this is my Babyhawk) and then you can at least walk around and get some necessary things done and keep her content at the same time. This too shall pass!

Melissa - posted on 05/10/2012

My daughter breastfed every 45min to 1 1/2 until she was 8 months old. My son was every 3 1/2 to 4 hours. All babies are different, enjoy meeting her needs for now. By the way at 23 years old she still eats something every couple of hours and is 5'3" and 105lbs.

Charlotte - posted on 05/10/2012

Thank you all so very much. My daughter has been napping much better the last two days. I've discovered if i shorten her "night time" she naps through out the day. When she wakes at 7 i feed her, keep her awake by playing with her, and then finally feed her again. She's up for about an hr and a half and then will take a solid two hour nap. Then we just continue that throughout the day. I've tried just about every pacifier and she hates them. She will spit them out at me and give me a dirty look, (she has such a personality.) When she naps throughout the day she eats much better. She will do a Veronica normal nursing session, and then be content, rather than eat all day long. I went to a breastfeeding group this morning and it helped a lot. Between this and that i think we can handle anything. Thank you all again so much! It is very much appreciated.

Emily - posted on 05/10/2012

Sounds like both my kids when they went through the same phase. The poo is normal. My daughter would go up to a week without having a poo. It's normal because breastmilk is so perfect that there is very little waste. Both my son and daughter fed constantly at that phase and I found it hard to put them down. With my eldest, I would take him for a ride in the car just so he would sleep, but I didn't have that option with my second. With my second, I got a baby carrier and it was a life saver. Also, I found feeding in bed helped. As long as I made the bed safe, we would often fall asleep together or the baby would fall asleep so I could get up and take care of myself. It's a rough period, but the baby will grow out of it. Remember, your priority is to the baby and yourself and not the housework. Don't forget to eat. I remember having to put my eldest down in his Moses basket and let him cry a few times because I needed to eat. It's okay if they cry a little. You need to make sure you get what you need too. Sorry if this is a bit all over the place. I think it is so important that breastfeeding mums are supported because it's so easy to quit. Good luck and I hope all goes well for you and your baby.

Elizabeth - posted on 05/10/2012

All totally normal, totally temporary. exclusively breastfed poops are mustard color and often that sticky mucusy consistency - though that may vary depending on your diet, sometimes infrequent due to the efficiency of digestion (same reason that she eats a lot - she digests it fast and well).

Different things will cause the nursing marathons and 8 weeks is still quite early to expect any semblance of routine in an EBF kiddo - she is hungry hungry hungry and growing. Growth spurts, illness, and baby kookiness will cause cluster feeding and nursing marathons. But you will look back with surprise at how short this time was. My second baby was a nursing maniac - to the point that I has to learn to nurse on the potty and in bed (a requirement for a nursaholic - you need sleep, if you can nap and nurse at the same time it is a huge help).

In addition, my second was a terrible sleeper (still has issues at 2yrs, but she's mostly great now). You will find a way to get those naps in - don't be afraid to try lots of different things. I discovered that if i let my little one hold the nipple she wasn't nursing on (like she would a blankie or stuffed animal) she would pass out well enough that i could lay her down for a while. When she was a little older i just weaned her off the nipple-holding.

Heather - posted on 05/10/2012

Try getting her hooked on a MAM pacifier. I love this brand and it has worked for me and my friends. She is using you as a pacifier, so it might be better to give her one. You can then try to wean her of it in a few months or more, up to you. But I LOVE pacifiers!

Her poop is normal. All kids will get upset when you walk away, you just have to tell her that you will be right back, and let her cry. It sucks, but she will live and be better off for it. If you need a shower, put her somewhere safe, like in her bassinet or crib, and go shower. If she cries, that's fine. She will be fine when you get back.

She is only 8 weeks old, in time, things will get better. Try letting someone else hold her when you can. Also, don't hold her when she sleeps. Always put her down, in her own bed when she sleeps. You will thank me for this later.

Erin - posted on 05/10/2012

supposedly babies have a built in gauge so that they will not overeat. My little guy used to eat until he threw up so I did have to time him and take him off. If that's not your situation then I do not think it is a problem.
At the beginning, a nurse told to always check if he was swallowing. More than 4 gulps without a swallow probably means she is just hanging out.

Beth - posted on 05/10/2012

My daughter is also 8weeks today and exclusively breastfed. She is exactly the same, she NEVER comes off the breast on her own i always have to take her off, i know that some women would say that's wrong and that you should always let the baby come off when they have finished ect bla bla bla but in order to stay alive and eat and get anything done i always take her off. She is never fussy after and will go fine for another 3hours or so until she wants feeding so personally i think she just loves to nurse. I have tried her on a dummy so many times, which i actually hate but you got to do what you got to do to survive! But she hates the dummy! Although she will take a bottle with my breast milk in, so i advise to try and build up a stash of milk, and keep persisting with the bottle so occasionally you can quickly give her that to have when you are busy. Hold her close to you and lye her on her side as if you were about to feed her, i always dip the teat in boiling water and dry off so the teat is warm like your breast and then rub the teat around her lips and nose almost tease her with it for a while then as soon as she opens wide enough firmly push the bottle in. My daughter has also just had a cold and during this time she was very dehydrated so she fed constantly and was also doing about 1 bowel movement a day so i would not worry about this. Her digestive system is probably just a little out of sync from the cold. My daughters poo is also sticky so not to worry! Also consider the fact around this age they go through a growth spurt and feed constantly! Hope this helps in anyway! and congratulations!

Celeste - posted on 05/09/2012

Normal normal normal! They're supposed to be constantly feeding! Do you have some sort of sling?

Charlotte - posted on 05/09/2012

Oh and i should add she is exclusively breastfed. No bottles (she won't take them). thanks again