Side laying Breastfeeding with 5 week old

Research the cuddle curl position if not already. I only burped whilst we were up, never after a nighttime feed. If latch is good they shouldn’t be taking in much air and unless they’re sick or gassy whilst lying down, I wouldn’t bother burping during the night. BF babies have a much lesser need to be burped than bottle fed babies, definitely don’t disturb your rest and get all the sleep you can. Baby will let you know if they are uncomfortable. Join happy cosleeper facebook group, it’s great for advice x

Shouldn't need to burp if breastfeeding x

A lot of the benefit of side lying breastfeeding *is* that you can fall asleep! You don't need to feel guilty about that! Breastfed babies don't usually need much burping, though I guess your baby is spitting up a lot while laying down in bed? This sounds like there might be an underlying issue. Maybe reflux or tongue tie or something? Maybe someone with more knowledge will chime in with some ideas. It sounds really rough to only be getting 3-5 hours a night. Can I ask what the night looks like for you? That sounds like a low amount of sleep for a bedsharing mom. Maybe we can help troubleshoot and find ways to get you some more sleep.

@Tess if reflux or tounge tie, what do I look for? This whole time I thought it was because laying down the milk just sits there and comes back up if that makes sense.. he has a pretty good latch but he does latch on latch off at times. Our night looks like a bath and then I get him ready for bed with fresh diaper and sleeper, I breastfeed him upright then burp and hold him upright for about 10-15 minutes to let his stomach settle after eating then we go to bed and he wakes me up about an hour or two hungry so we do side laying position and he eats then drifts back to sleep and then squirming and little grunts and that's how I know it's either he needs to burp or it's all about to come back up so I'll sit up with him and burp him and then rinse repeat all night. Sometimes I fall asleep while feeding him and then spit up everywhere sometimes I wake uo and he's soaked. I have to change his sleepers like 2 or 3 times a night if I don't put him upright and burp after feeding.

I guess probably technically, spitting up *is* reflux, but there are different causes of it, some of which you have some control over. I'm not an expert, but that sounds like it could possibly be tongue tie because I think that can cause them to swallow a lot of air. You could get assessed by someone knowledgeable about tongue ties. They have to do a functional assessment, not just look in their mouth. Maybe a qualified lactation consultant? Maybe your pediatrician, but probably not because they don't usually really know what they're doing with tongue ties. Also could be some other cause of reflux, which is super common in babies. The sphincter that closes the top of their stomach is immature so they're vulnerable to it from a bunch of different causes. Could be worth talking to your pediatrician about what it could be. They may or may not be able to help, but sometimes it can be caused by a health condition you have some control over, like an allergy.

@Tess thank you so much ♥️

Not every baby has reflux and some spit up only rarely, so it's not really just the fact that they lay on their backs, though that doesn't help when there is something else going on. Milk doesn't just sit there, they should be digesting the protein with stomach acid and moving it out of their stomachs, just like adults do with their food. The sphincter at the top of the stomach should be stopping backflow, just like with an adult. It's just that there are many ways that can go wrong with a baby!

With my question about nighttime, I wasn't really asking about your bedtime routine but about what you're doing during the night that's only allowing you to get about 4 hours of sleep. From your description, it sounds like you could be getting more. How much time are you spending in bed with the baby? How much time are you spending awake on these activities and could you reduce it, like by sleeping while you feed on your side? You could even try setting a little unobtrusive alarm to wake you back up to burp him if that helps, like a vibration alarm on your phone that you set when he starts eating for about however long he usually eats. Could you try for 9 or 10 hours in bed so you could get more sleep? There's nothing inherently bad about broken sleep--it's pretty normal for humans to wake up in the night and then go back to sleep. Everyone does it, even if you don't remember. You just need to be able to string together enough hours so you feel okay.