Now we're having short frequent feedings?

Shermany

Hi ladies,  I posted earlier about having blood and pain while using a nipple shield.  We're past the shield; I declined to use it after that one day, because I didn't want him to get use to it and he had already succesfully latched.

 Well now we're home from the hospital, and last night was our first night.  What a nightmare!  He would feed about 5-7 minutes at a time and fall asleep, but when we tried to put him down in the bassinet (in our room) he would wake, fuss, and then scream until we put him back on the breast.  This happened nearly all night, until he finally went down at about 5:30-8am.

This morning he had a wet diaper, and wouldn't feed right away.  I finally got him to eat about 30 minutes after he woke up, but only for 10 minutes.   

I know there is no "normal" with babies, particularly newborns, but surely these super short, very frequent feedings can be resolved.  Anybody have any advice?  I've been crying all morning out of sheer exhaustion and frustration.  Another night of this would be torture. 

CLLDLL

So sorry to hear you are having a tough time. It gets better I promise. 

I like PPs suggestions.  They are all good.  A few other things to try:

Try undressing LO down to just a diaper to feed.  This will keep him/her awake more.  Whenever he/she starts to fall asleep before you think enough has been eaten tickle behind the ear or wipe the cheek with a wet wash cloth.  It took our Lo about 2 weeks to really get the hang of feeding and staying awake during the whole feed.

At night keep things dark (just a small night light to see latch), quiet, and don't do anything stimulating like talking to or making lots of eye contact with LO.  Then during the day keep things light, a little noisier, and as PP said wake every 2-3 hours to feed. 

Shermany

Thank you ladies for your responses, they helped a lot!

He's been nursing for some slightly longer periods, we even passed 20 minutes the other day!  Plus he's had plenty of wet diapers, and two poo-splosion diapers, too.  I've been tickling him, stroking his cheek, chin or head, etc., to keep him awake when he starts to doze during nursing.  And I've been holding him on my chest or lap for a good 10-20 minutes after each feeding to help him go more deeply to sleep before trying to put him down.  

We did get a rock n play sleeper that he seems to like much better than the bassinet.  

Anyway, I'm feeling a little more confident today, and a bit less overwhelmed, so thank you both!