hey! Avery Claire is going on four days old... today she is really fussy, and wants to nurse every hour or so... is this normal? she only wants to nurse for 5-10 mins total... she sleeps, wakes up an hour later wantin' more bf'n, but only for a few minutes again... she has been passing gas a lot, since birth, could this part of the problem?

thanks!
 

i know they will be able to help you here brandi.
 


i really think it sounds normal..thats exactly what Lola did...and she is still a big gas bomb.

That is what my little one (baby chazz) did. The doctor said it was normal, but you do need to try to get her to eat longer. The doctor said that for the first 5-10 minutes of feeding the baby is just getting the foremilk. Which is just a watery substance that is quenching the babies thirst. But, the baby needs the Hind-milk that comes next.
The Hind milk is the fatty stuff that keeps the baby full and asleep longer, and helps the baby gain adequate weight.
When the baby starts going to sleep my doctor said to try to keep him awake if he doesn't feed long enough.
I used to have change his diaper (even if he didn't need). If that didn't work I'd take all of his clothes off. If he's (or her for lola) is too comfortable she will fall asleep. I would also play with him sometimes to entertain him and then finish feeding him. After a few days he got back on a good feeding schedule.
Well, good luck. Hope I helped.

it is actually probably not that she's really looking to nurse every hour, but that the nursing helps with the painful feeling of the gas.

Try burping a little more often. Many times, mom's make the mistake of not waking their baby back up when they fall asleep at the breast to burp them. That baby still needs to be burped. Trust me, the baby will fall back asleep very easily once you're done burping.

Also, around day 4, the milk really comes in full force and the baby oftentimes struggles to keep up with the flow of milk. What happens is the baby starts gulping and sucking in too much air.
So if you "prime" your breasts before letting them latch on, you'll reduce the flow and they'll struggle less trying to keep up. All you have to do is hand express into a cloth diaper or burp rag to 'take the edge off' the flow. THEN, attach the baby.
 

i will definatly try that... she just nursed for 20 mins and then i had to mess with her to get her back awake and she nursed 10 mins on the other side and is asleep now... we'll see how long she sleeps for.... thank you all so much... i'm always willing to try any advice you ladies will offer up!