4 month old feeding less and less, what do I do?!

[YourDaughterHasaTattoo]

Hi all DD1 (DC2) bf really well straight away -can't believe how lucky I was! She has been piling on the punds, she was born at 8lb 3oz and now weighs just over 16lb. Until recently BFing her was a dream. Now she really struggles to feed for long periods. She was having 3+ hrs a day, today she has had just over an hour and 30 mins breast time. She bobs on and off the breast, grins away happily at me, only feeds for 5 mins at a time. Only when she is sleepy will she feed for long. She isn't really waking anymore t's night to compensate (only one extra feed). I'm offering her the breast as often as I can in the hope I'll get enough in her. She doesn't seem unhappy, lots of wet and dirty nappies each day. Happy to play and interact and sleeps just fine. I'm worried about my supply and ensuring she had enough; I really don't want her to lose weight. She has never taken a bottle so I don't have that to fall back on either.
Any advice would be much appreciated

[Korora]

I'm sure someone more experienced will be along ona mo. But I remember dd having her feeds down tofive min by four months. They just get better and more efficent. Don't worry about it. As long as she is happy and sleeping.

[SomewhatSilly]

If she's happy, alert, with lots of wet and dirty nappies and sleeping well, then it's unlikely you have a supply problem :).

My second was an extremely efficient feeder and even by four months was taking very short times for feeds.

[silver28]

My DD was like that. From birth she seemed a v efficienct feeder and aged for short times (I think my flow was quite fast too, could always express quickly). As she got older her feeds gradually became shorter which i thought was odd, but she was fine. I ended up feeding her til 17 months (only morning and night after 11 months) and all was fine re supply.

[thezoobmeister]

It's normal. They get much much quicker at BFing so they can spend more time exploring the world around them - this is an important part of development. She'll be getting the same amount of milk in half the time, so your milk supply will be fine. She's nearly doubled her birth weight which is very good going!

If she's happy alert and active, pooing and weeing, putting enough weight on, then alls well and nothing needs to change. Enjoy your baby!

[BonaDea]

They get soooo much quicker and suddenly what would take up an hour of your day becomes 10 minutes!!

I'm sure she won't lose weight. Just carry on trucking!

[redcaryellowcar]

i think she is probably getting all she needs, as pp above says she just has got more efficient. when ds was around 4m i was convinced he would be hungry so took him to marks and Spencer cafe, sat down to feed him and all he wanted to do was smile at the old Ladies, when i tried to feed him he cried and left my boobs exposed so i think he just wasn't hungry! his best feeds at this age were first thing in the morning around his lunchtime nap (if we were at home) and before bed. i got the impression he thought three meals a day with the odd snack was the way forward. (3 months later it sort of was!!)

[YourDaughterHasaTattoo]

Thank you all for your advice. Feeling a bit better today as she slep from 7.45-5.10 before waking up to feed so she can't be hungry! I'll get her weighed again next week and hopefully all will be well. I really want to BF her for a year as I did DS1, but I suppose we'll just have to play it by ear!

[callamia]

I absolutely sympathise. This is my four month old. I've fought with him to get him to feed more and failed. Every day has been slightly different, and we've alternated between hungry days and days where he barely seems to take anything.

He's definitely more distracted and louder than ever - who knew boobs were for shouting at? But I think (hope) it's a phase. I'm just trying to remain calm about it. I'll have him weighed this week along with jabs and we'll see.