Constant nursing

lauraeprice

My baby is now 10 days old. When we were in the hospital, a nurse gave him a pacifier. Im not sure if that's why, but he had trouble learning to latch. I took the pacifier away and he started getting good at latching. But a little too good. Because now he wants to nurse 24/7. I know he's getting tons of milk because he's peeing and pooping like crazy and he's gaining plenty of weight. He will also fall asleep on my boob, so I try to gently slide him off, but when he realizes he's no longer latches he cries bloody murder to be put back on the boob. This goes on for hours, sometimes like 6 hours or even more. I start to lose my mind. I can't leave the house or do anything but just sit in one spot and nurse all day. The doctor said don't give him a pacifier until he's at least 2 weeks old, and lots of sites online say to wait until 3 or 4 weeks. Plus he seemed to have some nipple confusion earlier and I don't want that to return. But I can't continue this constant comfort nursing forever, I'm losing my mind and my nipples are destroyed and I have no time to do chores or pump any milk for my husband to give him.

psherman42wwsa

That's completely normal. If your nipples need a break you can use a nipple shield, but dont use it exclusively or your baby may forget how to latch properly on your breast. i gave both of my children pacifiers as soon as we got home from the hospital and nursed ds1 for 15 months and its been 5 months so far with ds2. Some say nipple confusion isnt real, I think it depends on the baby. Dont worry about chores and doing things around the house, your baby is only 10 days old and he needs to be close to you. He is still adjusting to life outside your belly. Everything is a phase.

meggyme

Babies that age use sucking as a soothing method, which might explain why he’s crying when you unlatch him. We used a pack from day 1 with DD and she never had nipple confusion. She knew it wasn’t giving her milk and could tell the difference. If you think BFing is pretty well established then give pacifiers a try.

fishakris

My babe is 8 days and has had some pacifier. I was told that as long as it's to calm her during fussy moments like diaper changes or first getting to sleep, it's okay.  It's when the baby is hungry and a pacifier is used that causes nipple issues.  It's all trial and error.