10 minutes Feeds?

[Jaysfirst]

Hi, its Max posting for JaysFirst. (All well and good here, but Jay is SOO busy!

Quick one.

Our DD for the last 4 days has only breqastfeed for 5-10 minutes before falling asleep. She wakes every 1-1.5 hrs for another top up. Almost as if she were snacking. The same applies at night. (Although she sleeps in the evening, a little longer).

Before she was sleeping for 3 hours or more and feeding for 30 mins. She is now nearly 6 weeks old. (Birth Weight was 9lbs 5 and is now 12lbs 3).

Is there a reason for this, asks Jay! Also how does she make Harriette feeding longer, is this s a sign that its time to move to bottle?

Or should Jay introduce 1 bottle feed at night?

Cheers!

Max

[Smellen]

Hi Max
I'm not an expert, but I think babies tend to "snack" if they are poorly (does she have a cold?) or perhaps having a growth spurt. However, from experience, it's not easy to accommodate a snacker, and you might find it helpful to change DD's nappy after the first 10 minutes in order to wake her up so that she has a more complete feed. Then she should go longer till the next one.
Good luck.

[starlover]

no she doesn't need a bottle at all! unless you want to?
i would feed her for the 65-10 mins then do as smellen suggests and change her nappy, or just tickle her hands or feet to wake her up and carry on feeding.
get as much in as poss!

[starlover]

5-10 that should say... not 65-10! lol

[mandymac]

Hi

Babies do get more efficient at feeding, so feedtimes can shorten. Also if memory serves me correctly, 6-7 weeks could be a growth spurt hence feeding more often. My dd seemed to feed every hour in the evenings at this stage and her feeding times did shorten. Do you feel 'empty' after the 10 minute feeds iyswim? I can tell if dd has had a good feed as my norks go 'floppy' (sorry if to much info)

[RedZuleika]

When I first had mine, she fed for 45 minutes at a time. This rapidly decreased and now (at four months) she rarely feeds for longer than about ten minutes. Usually every two hours, except at night. My milk shoots out really quickly, so she doesn't have to work very hard for it. The length of feed isn't any indication of quantity, I think.

Also, we went on holiday last month and the appartment was quite well heated - and she started wanting to feed very briefly, very often in the evenings when we were sitting round the fire. I think she was just thirsty and drinking the more watery foremilk.

When she falls asleep during a feed, I rub her feet, which gently prods her into sucking, if she wants more.

If you want to move to formula, that's a separate decision, but there won't be a 'sign' that formula is needed. I would have thought that as long as she's gaining weight and producing wet nappies, you shouldn't worry about it.

[pookey]

I agree it sounds like a growth spurt. If it goes on though is it possible Harriette is crying with wind or some other cause rather than hunger for some of the wakings and snacking cos boob is offered?

[kiskidee]

agree with growth spurt. regular feeding is also the way baby's tell your body to make more milk. 'empty' breasts make milk quicker than 'full' ones and the milk will have a higher fat content. so those 'empty' breasts are actually providing more calories, oz per oz than 'full' breasts.

if you want to keep her sucking away for longer, try this .

[LucyJu]

Almost 3lbs weight gain in 6 weeks is brilliant and surely a sign that Harriette is absolutely thriving on breast milk. I'm sure the feeding pattern will sort itself out before long.
When my dd falls asleep in a feed, I usually try stroking the palm of her hand to encourage her to feed a bit longer. Other people have suggested other tips to stimulate babies to feed longer.
One thought - are you sure that she really is hungry each time she wakes up? Signs of hunger include baby opening and closing mouth, turning head from side to side, putting fists in mouth. Also, babies of this age can rarely manage to stay awake for more than 1 1/2 to 2 hours at a stretch. If dd starts crying after being awake for this length of time, it probably just means she needs to sleep rather than be fed.
I found the Baby Whisperer book by Tracy Hogg to be very good for explaining how to interpret babies' cries and also for establishing some sort of very loose routine. It might be worth a look. (However, the book is, I thought, quite unsupportive of breastfeeding in general. If you want information or advice about bfing itself, I would look elsewhere e.g. Mumsnet, NCT, LLL etc.)

[pupuce]

Your baby sounds completely normal. Many babies feed for 10 mins only.
If you are happy BF than carry on. Adding a formula feed is more likely to be disruptive than helpful.
Why I say this is because adding formula ultimately affects yourmilk supply, it is well known that you can very easily go from 1 bottle to 2 bottles, to more.... not necessarily but it is very common. If you enjoy breastfeeding and so does she.... then stick with it she is probably going through a growth spurt (compleetly normal at 6 weeks) where they feed a lot more (shorter intervals) for a few days. It is designed to help the mother make more milk. It's normal.
Babies get better at feeding, milk flow is faster and feeds are shorter....
Have a look at breast compresion to increase intervals between feeds.

[Jaysfirst]

hey , Jays here. Thanks to everyone for the helpful hints and suggestions. I was really pulling out my hair. Id rather not feed her formula just yet , i just thought it might fill her up more so as to get more sleep. Tried for tow days to get her to take a bottle, but to no avail, till today when she took 4 ozs, and in only 15 ish mins....... made me think that she is feeding really quickly and that maybe she is getting enough milk from me.... anyway i think i am going to give it a while longer before deciding for real what to do about the last bottle being formula. Have decided instead to try and feed her every three hours, with less time for sleep in between. I have also been trying to get into more of a routine with bath and quiet time before putting her down. Now in the past 5 wks she has been sleeping downstairs with us til we go to bed. Tonight i bathed her at 6 ish, fed her till 6 45 ( long and drawn out and had to keep waking her up all the time) then put her in her crib upstairs. She cried for a bit and twice DH went up to her to soother her (no talking though)and ONG shes been asleep ever since, is this a one off or did she need some routine!!!???
Anyway, the other thing i was going to discuss, was my 'let down' i think its happening too fast and that might be partly the problem. She drinks really fast, gulping all the time, so much so that she cant catch her breath and then chokes, cries and gets all wound up, making it not a pleasent time for either of us... any thoughts or ideas about this???

[kiskidee]

here is some advice regarding fast let downs. letdown

I hope others will come along soon and advise regarding 3 hrly routine. I am fairly sure that up till now its not something you can really do to a baby so young so for the past 5 wks I'd say you were unduly stressing yourself and baby. Are you attempting to follow some baby book? a couple of popular ones are not very bf friendly.

[Jaysfirst]

kk, no not following any baby book, just considering all options! fast letdown seems to be the prob i think. The link you gave me hit thenail on the head on a lot of things!! thanxs very much for it. will have to study it more closely! cheers evreryone.
BTW.... dd stirred at 10 15 so dh fed her expressed milk, and shes now still fast asleep next to me in crib, 7-12 ,cant be bad......ooops i wont spk too soon! night all xxx