My son goes through these spurts about twice a week where he cannot get enough of my breast. Last night, for example, he nursed for about two hours. He could have continued, I am sure, but I put him in my sling and walked him to sleep. It becomes exhausting and I find myself contemplating supplementing with formula. Also, the poor baby has diaper rash and bad gas. I had to be on Cipro for two weeks due to an infection from my C-section. So, it's a double edged sword b/c the baby is hungry, hungry but then suffers so badly with cramps in his tummy, then produces loose stool and has diaper rash. Ugh!
Thanks gals! No thrush and thankfully the Cipro ended on Friday. He goes through about two days a week where he is just a breastfeeding monster. When I was a baby I had a nonstop appetite and my mother in law told me that my husband had an enormous appetite so fate is sealed. :) I appreciate the consolation you all have offered.
Wow, ditto to everything Alexandrea said. It will slow down. Don't supplement with formula because the more you do the more you will have to. His growth spurts create a greater demand for milk and that is what causes your body to produce more milk regularly which he will need as he gets bigger.
Yes it is normal, it will subside sometime in the first year, lol. Yeah I said first year. Most likely he is going through a growth spurt when he goes on a breast binge. These happen around ten days to three weeks, six weeks, and three months of age.
The best thing to do when they are going through this is to just get into bed and nurse away, have your DH take care of things and bring you lots of water and good food! I know it's easier said than done sometimes, and for me when my son did this I would even call off work if I could.
KUDOS for nursing, keep it up. It really is the best gift you can give your DC, I'm still nursing my 27mo. But he's almost done.... I think!!!!
For his gas, could you cut out dairy from your diet? That mopst likely is the cause. Caffine too.
Above all I would suggest you find a LLL meeting in your area and go to one and they will be a BIG help to you.
That is totally normal. It sounds like he is going through a growth spurt. He increases his nursing to increase your milk supply. I know it is hard, but supplementing with formula would only cause a problem with your milk supply.
Also, you might want to supplement your diet with pro-biotics (acidophilus). If you were on antibiotics for two weeks that may have killed off all the good bacteria in your digestive system (and his) as well. He might be having problems with thrush (hence the diaper rash).
Keep up the hard work, you are doing a good job!
One of my kids was a nurse-a-holic every few days or so ... no worries. They are just preparing for a growth spurt. that's what gets your body in gear to produce more for teh baby.
Watch your diet for teh cramps. eliminate some common alergic triggers (nuts, dairy, beans or soy are common gas-triggers for many people) and that may help with the baby's gas. Also make sure you're drinking plenty of water and watch your caffeine intake. That will keep your production up too! :)
Good luck and congrats on teh new addition to your family.
Hello H.! My name is M., I am 34 expecting in June and I have a 6 yr. old boy. I am from Jupiter, I recently moved here from NJ. I am not a doctor, but from own experience, I can tell you that my son was so very gasy until I switched him to formula. He was like a new person, and so was I! I would give your baby as much food as he demands, so the formula might help with that as well. You must know that this can cause nipple confusion, but you must decide on your own for his comfort and health what is the best coarse to take. We live in a day where formula is a great substitute when breast feeding can not keeping up with demand and may be the best choice for a multitude other reasons. If you can give him breast for the first 6 wks. atleast he will get the antibodies he needs to have an advantage on his immune system. As far as the diaper rash goes, if you know he just did a BM clean him up asap and let him hang out bare butt as long as possible and Desitine is awsome.I am sorry you are not feeling well with the infection, try to take care for yourself as well. Good Luck!
Hi H.:
I am a mom of 1 boucing 8 month old son. You mentioned that the baby has a bad diaper rash and that you were on antibiotics over the last couple of weeks. I was given antibiotics right after my delivery as well and a few weeks in to nursing I noticed my son was getting a little red bottom, after closer inspection of his tounge and lifting up his upper lip, I noticed that he had thrush. He got it from the antibiotics that was in my system, which in turn killed off the very few good bacteria in his little immune system, I did have to supplement with formula because of this and by the time both of us were cleared of the thrush (because the baby inevitably passes the thrush to your breast)and you both must be treated seperately fot it.... my milk had dried up :( and to this day, 8 months later we are still fighting this thrush every 3-4 weeks. I just wish the doctors would have told me that this was one of the complications from breast feeding a newborn while I was on antibiotics...
So, just to pass this info on to another new mom, check your son's mouth/tounge/throat for any white patches that can not be easily washed away and looks thicker than milk.....The diaper rash/loose stool is a sign of thrush because babies that ususally have it, the fungus works it's way through their whole system.
As for the non-stop nursing, that is normal for breast feeding babies, for some of that time you might even notice that he is not even eating, until you try to take the breast out of his mouth and then he will began to suck again, mostly he is just probably very comfortable and doesn't want to move out of that position, it's the closest he can be to you other than being in the womb and that is what he is familiar with; also about 1 month, 3 months and a couple of other times in the next few months they go through growth spurts and they need to eat and sleep a lot more to supplement all the work their little bodies are doing.
hope some of this helps...I know it's exhausting, but that's why we were chosen to be the mommies because our men, as much as we love them would have handed in the towel a long time ago (smile)
I would have to say yes it is normal for him to want breastfeed for long periods of time, He's a growing boy.
But as everyone else has said since you are on antibiotics definately check him for thrush. Talk to his doctor if you see any white patchy spots in his mouth. The Dr. will probably prescribe Nystatin for him. since your son is too little to swish, use gause or cotton squares soaked in the medication and wipe around the sides of his mouth and tounge, using the dropper place a small amount in both cheeks. If it has spread to your breasts ask for nystatin cream to prevent passing it back and forth.
Another good thing to try for his red little bottom is to coat it with vaseline, it provides a barrier on his bottom and prevents the diaper rash from spreading as well.
Best of luck,
God Bless
S.
Happy Christmas as well
As everyone has seemed to say, and I agree it is probably a growth spurt. And as far as the diaper rash, AQUAPHOR! This stuff is awesome, you can get it at Publix, drug stores, etc. It works great for everything. I even used it for my 2yr old sons nose when it was dry and sore from a runny nose due to a cold. One application and within an hour the redness was gone. You can also try A&D Oitment with aloe.
Most all have said that your son is going thru growth spurts and he is increasing your milk supply and that is true, but also pay attention and keep a food diary to see if this is coinciding with days that follow after you have not consumed enough calories. What we pass on to our babies are the calories that we have consumed. If we are not consuming enough then your best milk will be like skim milk and not as filling. I found this out with my son who wanted to nurse an hour every other hour and my LLL person told me to pay attention to what I was eating and that turned out to be a big culprit. I was trying to loose weight, but my son didn't wanna. Good Luck.
Hi H.,
My daughter Emma is 9 weeks old & is drinking formula. She gets really bad gas also. I asked her doctor & she told me to change the formula to Good Start so I did. She continued to have really bad gas so I took her back to the doctors & she then told me to give her apple juice. That worked once. As of today she is still in pain when she tries to poop or pass gas. It gets so bad that she turns beat red, sweats & thrashes her small body around. I found that the only thing that helps her deal with the pain is giving her a bottle with formula (that fills her stomach & puts pressure on her intestines)& while feeding her I lay her flat on my bed & I lay on my side with her knees bent as far up as possible & her feet on my chest so she can push. My doctor is out of town until tomorrow & should be calling me regarding this problem again. I hope that this help!!! I will try to let you know what my doctor tells me.
Is he hungry or just nursing to soothe himself? It doesn't seem possible that your breast would have enough milk to nurse for 2 hours. My son would take a long time to nurse but the pediatrician told me that if he was really feeding, he would empty each breast in about 15-20 minutes.
Sounds like he is using you as a "binky". My son did the same to me!
Good luck!
