Hi ladies,

My little man is 3 weeks and 3 days old and I have been exc bf him since he was born. On the whole it's been going really well and he is putting on weight nicely...however..I am really starting to struggle at night. He just seems to want to feed for hours...he fights me when I am trying to get him latched on and I worry I am hurting him trying to get him on. (I know I'm being silly but in the depths of night when I can hardly keep my eyes open it's hard you know?) Last night he just wouldn't settle and I just started crying un controllably into my pillow and oh was really freaked out. I am planning to express soon so oh can help a bit and give me a break but I keep getting different opinions on how long I should leave it and it just seems to get longer..

I am just really tired and feeling like a crap mummy at the moment, I don't want to give up but there have been a few times at night that I have thought about just going onto formula

Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks

Sazzle xx

you can start expressing now.... Dont be surprised if you dont get much out at first though as some people just dont take to expressing.... but you can certainly start now - mornings are generally better for expressing...

have you tried feeding lying down? Baby should just be able to be brought closer to you then and they should get a decent latch with minimal positioning...

are you having plenty to drink through the night as well? And eating a nice snack for supper before bed to ensure any milk produced over night is good and fatty...? Could you maybe try that?

are you trying to get a nap during the day if you can to help with the lack of sleep at night..?

~How often does LO feed during the day? Could you squeeze another feed in before bed to try and fill him up a bit more? they like to cluster feed in an evening to build up a nice supply of milk for sleep.

it is prime time for a growth spurt so it could also be a bit of that making him feed so often...

Hopefully he will settle down soon and let you get some much needed rest.

xxx

I'm with Mummy Stephe - start to try and express a little more each day, and you'll get more each time. I was apprehensive about expressing at first, but i found that it's a lifesaver for me (I don't function at all well without sleep).

My lo is 7 weeks old, and for the last few weeks I have been expressing enough so that my hubbycan give the baby the first feed of the day,so he gets a good nights sleep, but gets up early,and I get to catch up on a few hours first thing in the morning. It's not much,but it helps! I express first thing in the morning, and it's fine for at least 24 hours if kept refrigerated properly. It also meant that I got to go to Ikea last week - baby had the expressed milk while we were there (I don't like bffing in public) and then I expressed when I got home.

It's trial and error for a while, to see what works out best, but it's worth trying!

xxx

Thanks girls, I will try your suggestions as really don't want to give up as I do enjoy bf on the whole and I know it's best for my boy. Got all my sterilizing stuff out today and will have a go at expressing from tomorrow.

Thanks again, will let you know how we get on
xx