Is this normal? - Kayla's nursing pattern

MomToMany wrote: I don't know if I'm just worrying too much or what. She's still nursing ALL the time; every hour still (at 2 months old). I wish she would go longer between feedings, mainly so I can get other stuff done.

She's sleeping all night from 10 pm to about 6 am. Then the feeding starts! She will eat when she gets up for about 20 min. to a half-hour. I'll burp her and she will be happy for about 10 minutes. So, I put her back on the same side, hoping she gets some of the more filling milk. Hannah's usually nursing on the other side (Kayla gets the fuller side). Kayla will nurse for another 10 or 15 minutes, then I burp her. She usually falls asleep, but that never lasts long (usually 15 minutes). Someone always wakes her up. By then, she needs a diaper change, and she starts acting hungry again. So, I end up feeding her again on the other side this time for another 20 minutes or more. This goes on all day. She's still pooping like crazy, and they are green. They've been green for a few weeks now. She used to have the nice yellow BFed poops, but not anymore. I've cut all dairy out of my diet to see if that will help at all. It hasn't yet, but it's still early. Her poops look like normal BF poops, just green. One BM was almost black. She has one after or during every feeding. She's obviously gaining weight (although I haven't had her weighed recently).

Am I doing something wrong here? She hates her swing, won't sit in her bouncy seat for very long. She just loves being held, which is great; I LOVE doing it, but I just can't do it all day long.

Any opinions or advice will be appreciated!

jem0622 replied: I am trying to dig into my memory here...cause I've been through a lot with nursing both of the boys to a year or more.

I thought green poops meant you have an overabundant supply? In which case she is getting more foremilk than hindmilk. One way to cure/help this is to nurse her on one side for 20 minutes and let her go to the next feeding. Then for the next feeding she nurses for 20 minutes on the other side. Switch off for each feeding.

At 2 mos she is going through a growth spurt to boot.

Have you checked Kellymom's site? Dr. Hale is only good for medications and breastmilk so that's where I'd go for verification.

I'm thinking it is overabundant supply plus her two month growth spurt. And the overabundant supply can cause her to have more gas/tummy upset than is normal.

HUGS

amynicole21 replied: Babies are growing like crazy at this stage, and it sounds to me that she is just going through a nursing frenzy. Unfortunatly, this is really common. One thing I can suggest is that if she wants to nurse within 15 min of her last session, put her back on the same breast that she last nursed on. She will be getting more of the hind milk which is more filling. I don't think that anything is wrong with her or that it's got anything to do with what you are eating. The fact that she is sleeping all night is probably causing her to tank up all day. Trust me, this is NOT a bad thing. Sophia had it the other way around and kept me up all night long

I hope she gets on a more predictable feeding schedule soon. Growth spurts tend to spread out after 3 mos... there's hope!!

coasterqueen replied: Sounds like it's normal as far as her nursing pattern goes. They go through soooo many growth spurts in the first few months, it's bananas. It usually slows down after the three month one, though

Sounds like maybe if you are cutting out dairy, that that's not the case. My next guess would be oversupply or foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. Do you have oversupply?

MommyToAshley replied:

I was going to say the same thing. Ashley didn't start sleeping through the night and stop nursing at night until around 10 months. During the day, she nursed every two hours until she was almost a year old. And, until 10 months old, she nursed a couple times at night too. I think it is great Kayla is sleeping at night for you.... If it were me, I wouldn't mess with her feeding schedule.

As for the green poops, I have no idea. But it sounds like everyone has already given some good ideas.

MomToMany replied:
Maybe that's the whole problem. I looked up on Kelly's site, and Kayla has all the "symptoms" for over-supply/forceful let-down. I'm not engorged all the time, nor do I feel "full", except in the morning. I read to only use one side for every two hours, then to switch.

I'll try this for awhile and see how it goes. I'll keep you all updated.

Thanks everyone!

alice&arik replied: Good luck Mollie! Hope you figure it out. I have no clue about any of that stuff. I wasn't much of a nursing mom. That is great she sleeps through the night. Hopefully she keeps it up for awhile and you can stock up on some sleep!!

kit_kats_mom replied: Oversupply/forceful letdown was my problem. k nursed all night too though.
I solved the problem a couple of ways. for awhile (until my pump broke) I would pump a little bit to just get past the first letdown then I'd pop her on. The other thing I did was I basically resorted to feeding her 3 times per side during the day, and from only one side during the night. That's what worked for us.
Good luck and I got TONS of info from kellymoms site.

CantWait replied: Sounds like you have a little Anthony on your hands. he would do the same thing. Nursed all the time, although everyone is saying this is normal, barely slept during the day (unless I held him), always wanted to be held. He didn't like his swing either or his bouncy seat. I'll just say that if you give in to holding her all the time, she's going to grow to expect it as awful as that sounds to say. I hope that things get better soon.

MomToMany replied: It's nice to know I'm not alone here! Thanks for all the advice! I'll keep you all updated on how it goes!

Thanks again!

kimberley replied: just wanted to send some (((hugs))) and let you know that Jade was the exact same way right down to the green poops. she was much better by 4mos nursing every few hours. i was just thankful that i finally got a baby that slept! lol
Jacob was a nibble nurser AND he didn't sleep through the night
good luck and i hope you get some rest.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: This is late, but Ethan is the same way. I don't have an overabundant supply, but Ethan will nurse every 2 hours from 5 or 6 in the morning until 5 at night then he eats every hour until he goes to bed at 9:30. Then he will sleep the rest of the night for me. He is building up a reserve so he can sleep. Aren't they precious?????