5 Week Old Wants to Nurse Constantly

If baby needs to nurse, just nurse.
There is also what is called 'cluster feeding" and this means a baby will even need to nurse every single hour. Normal.
It also serves, to make your body, produce enough milk per their needs/growth/development and per growth-spurts.

Not all babies take pacifiers.

6 weeks is a growth-spurt period in a baby. Every 3 week is one.
Then at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and every 3 months.

Appetites, fluctuate and per time of day. Just like Adults.
Hunger is not static nor predictable.

Pumping and bottle feeding: IF you are going to give a bottle, INSTEAD of direct nursing, this will decrease, your milk supply. So know that.
BUT, if you use a bottle as a chaser AFTER nursing, then that is fine.
Anytime you decrease direct nursing, your body will then produce less milk.

I would not give a bottle to a 5-week old, unless you have to. Since you are breastfeeding.

Also, some babies, will then ONLY take a bottle and may reject breastfeeding. Because, bottle sucking is easier, than sucking from a breast. Bottles just require gravity. But breastfeeding requires a mouth/tongue coordination and working to get the let down out.
And some babies, get nipple confusion.

Know a baby's hunger cues. ie: rooting, turning toward you, fist to mouth, crying, etc.

Again, an infant does not feed according to a schedule. It varies and per growth-spurts too. Thus, the need to nurse on-demand. This then keeps up WITH the baby's needs for intake.

And yes, at certain junctures, a baby will nurse constantly.
Breastmilk, metabolizes quickly.
And when cluster-feeding, they feed all the time.

Just nurse, on-demand.

Sounds familiar, and sounds like you know what you are doing. Keep it up Mama! Your doing great.

Congratulations.
J.

yes my son did the same thing, my pediatrician said it could be because milk supply is lower at the end of the day and he needs to nurse more frequently. My son also seemed just to nurse more in the evenings because that was his "fussy time" and it soothed him - so could also be that too! But yep, I had a similar experience for sure - off and on those first few months :)

My son actually has been going through his growth spurts early. I know they say 6 weeks is one, but his was at about 5-5.5 weeks and he was done when he actually hit the 6 week mark. Now he's at 11 weeks and sure enough, the 3 month growth spurt has started on week early! So when he was 5 months, I felt like he was constantly eating! He would do a lot like your son at this point cause he also started getting night and day better and would eat more as it began to get darker throughout the day. It was like he was "filling up" for the long night ahead lol.

Ah yes, my daughter was the same way. She would wake up sometimes in themiddle of the night and nurse for three hours off and on. So frustrating! But I think in my case, my milk never really came in well. After 4 months my cycle started back again and production went to like nil. I struggled through four more months of pumping (I was working) before I finally tossed in the towel. Looking back now I am really grateful for it. My daughter cut teeth early at 5 months (ouch) and I never dealt with the pain of engorgement. My daughter never took a pacifier either, maybe there is a connection? :)

My son also used my as a pacifier. When he was 6 weeks old, my friend felt sorry for me and just insisted he use a pacifier. He took it when she was holding him. Hurray! We used one of those clips for that one pacifier. Seriously, we never lost it because of that clip! It finally wore out when he was 9 mos. old and he didn't want it anymore. It was perfect timing since the pediatric dentist said babies don't need it anymore after 9 mos. They may have changed their tune since then but I was pleased to not have to go through the withdrawals.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

your son will grow more in his first year of life than he will ANY other time.

he might be going through a growth spurt. It's a good idea to pump to see what you are getting out - he MAY not have a good latch and not getting that heavy hind milk and may want to nurse more during the day.

It's also possible that - yes, even at 5 weeks - the teeth are starting to build below the surface (not actually teething) and the sucking is a relief to his ears as the pressure builds up behind them.

Gas? well, you need to watch your diet - broccoli and cauliflower are VERY gassy veggies....diary can also cause gas as well....

see what you are eating and note when he has the most gas...you can change your diet accordingly.

the pumping is the best idea though - you'll be able to see how much he's getting and he'll get ALL of the hind milk too!!

Again - CONGRATS!!!

Your baby is still very young. Baby and your body are both getting used to this nursing thing. Just keep it relatively quiet so you can hear if your baby is actually swallowing milk or just using you as a paci. That is a habit you don't want to get into.

He could be heading into the "6-week growth spurt" a little early, or maybe he's just not quite as efficient at nursing as he will be soon, and needs a little more time?

Sounds normal - first 3 months seems to feel like a constant feeding time. That is why this time is called the Fourth Trimester - you should google it if you've not heard of it.