What is he doing?

I am having trouble getting my baby to sleep!

He's nearly four weeks old and is sometimes up for 4+ hours during the morning and afternoon, or he will cat nap during the day for 20-30 mins at a time and then wake up again. He will resettle for 5 minutes or so but then wake up again so eventually I will get him up and feed him again.    Sometimes it feels like I am feeding him every hour or more!    If he has gone 2+ hours he will feed for 20 minutes from one side, change and then 5-10 minutes from the other side. After I have fed him and changed him and he won't resettle I offer him the second side again and he frantically looks for it, like he is starving, will pull at my boobs and thrash around, latch on for three-four sucks and then pull of screaming like he is pain!   This continues for a few minutes before I give up and try to either cuddle him, burp him, or put him to bed.    

It takes me about five hours at night to completely fill him up by on and off feeding him, then he will sleep for about four hours, then three hours and then I go through the same thing the next day!   I don't mind demand feeding him and I'm not really expecting any sort of routine out of him just yet but the pulling off and screaming is a bit much!    He's not spilly, but power chucked the top up of formula I gave him, so we're not doing that anymore as my supply is massive.

Also, I have a really fast let down, but have found leaning back for the first few minutes helps with that.

Any help would be much appreciated!

At least he must be gaining weight well

4+ hours does seem like a long time for a bubba that small to be awake, he could be getting overtired. If he's waking up 5-10 minutes after settling that sounds like wind to me, he might need extra burping (some babies are just stubborn about holding onto their gas, and if you have a fast letdown that might be causing him to gulp a bit of air - I had that problem and JJ was very gassy too, although thankfully not spilly).

Since you have a fast letdown could be he's used to getting it quickly so when he latches back on again immediately after having just had a feed he might be pulling off and screaming in frustration because it's not immediately forthcoming then. Impatient little tyke

With the fast letdown there are a few things you could try. There are a few positions that can help (leaning back like you already are is good!) and things you can do to calm your supply - kellymom has a good page on the topic here.

Has he always been like this or is it something that he's suddenly started doing - could be a growth spurt?

weegee wrote: Has he always been like this or is it something that he's suddenly started doing - could be a growth spurt?

I saw my midwife this morning and in a week he has gone from 4.66KG to 5.02KG, so definitely gaining heaps and she seems to think it could be a growth spurt too as the constant feeding and the huge weight gain leans towards that! Little piggy!

Thank you so much for that kellymom website link, I saw you post it another time and absolutely loved reading everything as all this breastfeeding is so new to me. I couldn't breastfeed last time so didn't bother loading up on information!   

One other possible thing to consider is reflux. Ryan started to show symptoms of reflux at 3 weeks and we thought it was wind for the longest time as he seemed so uncomfortable after he ate. We also thought drawing his legs up meant it was gas but it can also just be a pain thing. The whole latching frantically and then pull off screaming really sounds familiar to me (I shudder thinking back on it)

Also, the powerchucking after a formula topup might also be a dairy intolerance. Reflux and dairy intolerance seems to go hand in hand sometimes. It might pay to go dairy free for a couple weeks to see if it helps with his symptoms. Even if it's not reflux, a lot of littlies can't handle digesting cow milk protein.

I know - another thing to keep in mind and maybe you already knew all this stuff but that's my two cents

Im not sure about the sleeping thing, but Isabella does the exact same thing with the feeding sometimes, pulls off, crys then madly roots around for my nipple then sucks a few times then pulls off and gets madder and madder, and its cos I have a forceful let down and she gets too much milk in her mouth and it annoys her.
I try feeding her in different positions when this happens, and feeding reclined seems to help. but she is finally getting used to it now.

**hugs** it will get better!

Jacob does exactly the same thing.
fussing around at the breast and trying to suck but can't ( after he's had a big feed) is a classic sign he's overtired so i pop the dummy in and he goes to sleep.
Wasn't keen on dummy use but was recommended by Mw's on day 2 as he's a sucky baby and comfort sucks a lot. had no concerns/problems with nipple confusion or anything.

This fussyness, and wanting to feed all the time, jerky movements, drawing knees up arre signs they could be tired. i wrap Jacob and put him to bed and rock him we have a caraboo swinging bassinet.

But is it tricky at this age as they are just learning how to self settle and sleep. Also the sleep phase, some babies can wake after 30 - 45mins the light sleep phase. i try not to rescue J right away he make a few small noises then self settles if not i get him up and cuddle or feed.

hope that helps! remember your doing a great job! Cluster feeding is normal, you can never overfeed a breastfed baby.!

oh and the sleepstore website has good info on sleep tips.

chelle i think it could be a big baby thing as jacob was 9lb 7oz and doing the same thing. Could be a boy thing!! They are fussy never make their minds up!