Falling Asleep On The Boob

[*Country Bumpkin*]

hi everyone:wave:

well DD is now 15 days old the problem is that she constantly falls asleep while shes feeding then if I put her down she wakes up and screams!! I always wake her up if she has only just gone on but if I try to put her down when she falls asleep after a feed she wakes up and wants more

Ive worked out that she is a coumfort sucker also. ALot of the time she will be sucking but not swallowing... Shes does this ALL day.

I have DD stuck to me for pretty much the WHOLE day and its driving me insane!! I cant get anything done..

I know that not nutritive sucking is normal for B/F bubs but ther comes a point where enough is enough!! I need to do things and at the moment Im sitting in a chair ALL day with DD attached to me....

Im sure that some of you would have had this problem before... So what did you do? :detective:

HEEEEEEEELP IM GOING INSANE (and my but is constantly asleep now too lol)

[Mum&bubs]

I know how you feel :hugs: :hugs: Summer was like this too & still does this at times :( I've tried just feeding her on one side of the boob & if she falls asleep on that after a feed waking her up & swapping sides making sure shes extra full. Good luck with it & sorry i dont have much advice but just wanted to let you know i understand how it feels! Used to drive me insane as well when things needed to be done & i had Summer hanging off me non stop.

[SnoozesWithCats]

How are you at bf lying down?

This is what I used to do with Julia: lie down in the middle of the bed with her next to me, feeding (later on it was "on a mattress on the floor"). Then when she went to sleep, I'd just slip a finger in to detach her and I could get away without her noticing.

She slept really well in our bed too - much better than her cot.

Good luck! :hugs: this is a really hard time - I don't know anyone who had it all together at 15 days! And it'll all be different in a couple of weeks too...

[misskittyfantastico]

Have you thought of a sling?....at least then you're mobile. My DD was like this, and it can really get to you.

I used to do the laying down trick as well.

HTH:)

[MonkeyMum05]

My son was like this aswell...!
Sorry, I don't have any advice to offer except that like everything... 'this too shall pass' :D

[sethsmum79]

I don't know what your thoughts are on dummys, but my DS was a comfort sucker. He would happily suck away on me all day - even while asleep, and like Skyla, would scream when I put him down.

I found that sneakily popping a dummy in his mouth and taking away the nipple worked great....I would just cuddled him for a minute while he settled with the dummy and he was fine.

This trick is now working with DD! :yelclap:

[the_queen]

I wouldn't give her a dummy Adele, you don't want to risk nipple confusion - which I know does NOT happen to every baby, but I personally wouldn't start using a dummy until Skyla is at least 4 weeks old.

If I was in your position (hey, I was, and am still!!) I'd just enjoy this time of having the perfect excuse to do nothing but cuddle with my bubba :D

[Rainbowbrite]

Go for a sling. They are lifesavers :yes: MJ still falls asleep on the boob. Its great when she's overtired, she passes out every time :thumbsup:

[Percy]

DS was exactly the same, and actually still is. It can be so frustrating at times.

i didnt really find much of a solution either. I think the sling sound slike a great idea though!:thumbsup:

[Funkychicken]

My DS#1 was just like this too. After some time, I accepted that this is the sort of bubby he was and I kind of went with it. i know how hard it can be-not getting any housework done, meals cooked etc... but as Monkeymum said, it will pass eventually. I never gave DS a dummy and he did slow down on the feeding after a couple of months. I got into a routine of going out to do jobs/errands in the morning and getting home to make lunch in time for him to lay across my lap on a right angle pillow and suckle away for 2-3 hours. I actually hired really long videos (sagas) and waded through these for about 6 weeks. (no such thing as a DVD then!) By 6 months he was well past feeding for such long amounts of time but I did always feed him to sleep right up until he was weaned at 14 1/2 months.
Try not to stress over 'getting stuff done'. In the long run, a shining house can't touch spending time with your bubba! :hugs:

[meme]

sounds pretty normal adele, it does pass. i think the sling is great, often bubs settle really well in the sling and it can allow you to still have your hands free to get some things done. i'm with funky chicken on the tidy house thing too,

Try not to stress over 'getting stuff done'. In the long run, a shining house can't touch spending time with your bubba!

if you can enlist help from your support network with meals and regular chores so that you can concentrate on nurturing your breastfeeding relationship and spending plenty of time adjusting to motherhood.

i found when i couldn't get someone else to cook the evening meal i was better off prepping something in the earlier part of the day that was easy to 'cook', (like salad!:laughing: ) or something that could just be shoved in the oven, (wish i had had a slow cooker) so that i could just be stuck on the couch with bubs.

i also had everything set up close at hand-water bottle, books (once i had mastered attachment enough to use a hand for books) cloth nappy for spills, breastpads, remotes for tv ect., cordless phone, pillows...oh yeah, i was comfy on that couch!:D
i also found i had to burp bubs after feeds or they would wake more with wind. and i used a little bouncer rocker sometimes to sit them in a lot , sometimes being that little bit upright after a feed can help.
it does pass.
good luck with it.

[Seekrit]

I'm with all others, jsut let her do it.. for the first few weeks, all Cobey did was eat-sleep-poop. He'd always fall asleep on the boob if he was tired and hungry. I learnt to feed lying down (may need pillows to lift baby to boob level.. or in my saggy-boob case, nappies to lift nipple to mouth level) and let Cobey suck until his tummy was full and he chose to detach. Unless I -HAVE- to, I'll never detatch him, I'd much prefer to keep lying there and read/watch tv and have him drain my boob, than to have him not-so-drain it and cause plugged ducts and mastitus.

I know it's tough but there is an end in sight, adele.. I also suggest a dummy.. but only invest in one when you know her attachment is correct. It took me 4 weeks to 'cave' into the dummy but now that I have one, I go into cold panics when I lose it!

[kadownie]

the one really useful piece of advice I received when I had my bubs was that 'the only thing you have to do is feed the babies' (I had twins) and I took that to heart and that's all I did-

sure- our house was messy for awhile- but bubbies won't remember that- I fell however that they do remember their cuddle times!!

You're doing a great job. In a few weeks it will pass- I would second the sling!! (and the dummy- my life savers- though we did have nipple confusion!!!)

[shed]

Bubby went through a bit of a growth spurt at three weeks old and I nearly went mental. There were tears at the end of the day let me tell ya.

Then he got over it and it calmed down to a more normal routine.

In regard to the dummy, we started to use it just so he could fall asleep, but lately DP (and me too, a bit :o ) have been shoving it in his gob all the time and he is starting to act like a two-bob watch on the boob sometimes, so we have just decided tonight that we are going to scale back the dummy use.

I was determined not to have an "opinion" on dummies, I was going to let my baby decide, and now I believe they do have their place but that we were starting to cross the line (which is where they get their bad rep from!). Its a steep learning curve for new parents!! By giving it to him so much I think it is starting to affect his attachment because we have previously had no problems whatsoever.

Babies do go through little growth spurts, which it sounds like Skyla is doing. It will pass and calm down and then she will have another one a few weeks later.

If you want to use the dummy to help her settle then do it (just don't do what we did!!).

You're doing a great job by the way!

[*Country Bumpkin*]

Hi everyone!!

Thanks for all the advice

In answer to a few questions....

Dummy: Skyla does have a dummy SOMETIMES. Its rare but occasionaly she will take one. Yesterday for example we were in the bank and she woke up I knew she wasnt hungry and she started to cry so in went the dummy and she was straight back to sleep and out popped the dummy:thumbsup:

Lying down to feed: Ive had this mastered since day 2... Normaly Skyla will feed at around 9pm so wee both lay down. DP stays awake and watches TV so I can sleep while i feed cause I worry I will roll on her(Ive almost done this a few times) Then he wakes me up at around 1.30am when hes going to sleep and Skyla has another feed then its into the rocker or bassinet for the night till about 5.30am:o

Sling: I couldnt find any in the shops so I brought a Baby Bjorn- She will sleep in that for hours:yelclap:

Attachment: Weve had NO attachment probs... Skyla attaches herself now too!! Ohh and I havnt had cracked or sore niples either... lucky me!!

[abbynmonique]

thats great you are finding some things that work, another tip is to make sure you wrap baby up tight in a sheet or blanket before putting them down to sleep.
I used to wrap my baby up, before the second booby side , after a sit up for a min , and that way,when she falls asleep at the breast I could put her down without her realising ,and if she tried to suck some more , i would gently push her chin,so her mouth closed and she would just make the sucking motions,but with nothing in her mouth. If you swaddle a baby they are less likely to wake up by moving their arms when they are put down for a sleep or when they hear a noise. :wave:

[KiLLaKaZ]

some advice my doc gave me:

u don't necessarily have to worry about burping the baby after the feed, they'll do it after they wake up if they haven't done it b4. this was helpful to me because i'd spend AGES trying to burp Q.T. after a feed, & this would wake her up & she'd refuse to go to sleep. since i've stopped obsessing about burping her, she seems to have LESS wind pain!! :D

something i discovered (may just be unique to Q.T.) is that if she falls asleep but is still 'nibbling' on the breast, if i take her off, she wont sleep for very long. however, if i tap her/ blow on her face or make a sudden noise, she'll wake enough to keep sucking & then come off on her own & she'll have a longer sleep.

however, for the first month or two, she was feeding about every hour, for 10 - 20 minutes & it was driving me INSANE! till it hit me that it needent drive me insane! i realised that ALL i needed to do was cater to her needs, not worry about housework etc, & then it didn't bother me as much ;) i figured i could catch up on sleep in a month or so! ;) lol.

i also spent A LOT of time feeding her while watching DVDs (of TV series)

[Seekrit]

something i discovered (may just be unique to Q.T.) is that if she falls asleep but is still 'nibbling' on the breast, if i take her off, she wont sleep for very long. however, if i tap her/ blow on her face or make a sudden noise, she'll wake enough to keep sucking & then come off on her own & she'll have a longer sleep.
Yup! Cobey will stop sucking so much and just kicking back so I give him a tap and he'll go "OH THAT'S RIGHT" and keep on drinking.. hehehe :D

[Milliner]

I would try the lying down on the bed method, I always feed him lying down it's just sooooo much easier.