Congrats!! OMG, that baby is so cute...
You've gotten a ton of great advice. It's so cool to see so many breastfeeding moms here...it amazes me that more people don't do it. I blame the medical community for not educating new moms about its benefits! It's such a wonderful thing.
Like everyone has already said, frequent waking is normal. My son is 8 months old. Sometimes he wakes 2 times per night, occasionally he'll have a night where he wakes constantly (his nights of frequent wakings, at this point, have a lot to do with teething!). Most often he averages about 3 wakings per night. When he was your daughter's age, he woke ~every 2 hours during the night. I highly recommend sleeping with your baby! Most doctors will tell you absolutely not to--but it's totally safe if you follow a few common sense precautions. I really recommend Dr. Sear's books--any and all of them!! His
The Baby Book is a great reference to have. He gives lots of hints and guidelines for safe co-sleeping. Our son sleeps with us, and it's great. He doesn't fully waken during the night, just squirms and fusses a bit....I just "plug him in" and we both fall right back to sleep.
It is also normal for a young baby to nurse seemingly constantly during the day. It gets better as they get older, it really does! Just go with it and offer your baby to nurse often. You'll get really good here shortly at reading her cues to nurse. She might root, make a certain noise, make nursing movements with her mouth, etc.
If she's colicky, it could be a sensitivity to something
in your milk, but she is not actually allergeric
to your milk (there is some condition where a baby has a true problem with breastmilk itself, but it's very, very rare and your baby would be really sick if this were the case). Someone already mentioned the common culprits of things that you eat that might affect your baby through your breastmilk. Also, unless you have been diagnosed with a true low-supply issue (also pretty rare) and/or your baby is truly not gaining well as diagnosed by a medical professional, never give your baby anything but breastmilk. Giving your baby bottles of formula will harm your supply. The current medical guidelines recommend absolutely nothing but breastmilk until 6 months of age.
Ok, I'll get off of my breastfeeding soapbox now.
I just think it's a great thing. Not only is it the best nutrition for your baby, it's such a great bonding thing, you know? If you have any trouble with breastfeeding, I would really recommend finding an IBCLC lactation consultant or a La Leche League leader in your area. They can be a big help!
