Advice for BF 9 day old please

[Mrsp2011]

Hi ladies, I am trying to exclusively BF my wee girl who is 9 days old. I'm finding that I am needing to offer both sides at each feed, when she comes off the 2nd side, she still shows feeding cues so end up putting her on first side again, this then seems to satisfy her and put her into her 'milk coma'! Is this ok? She is a sleepy feeder so wondering if she doesn't empty first breast. I do strip her down and all the things you're advised to keep baby awake. Because of this my feeds are taking 1-1.5hrs and would ideally like to reduce this time! Not sure if I'm expecting too much? Any advice on wether 3 boobs is ok?

[BuckingFrolicks2]

Of course that's fine! I exclusively BF twins. Just keep offering the boobs alternatively as long as she likes it. I had a sleepy eater and was told to pinch his ears!! So I did! He didn't mind just perked up his action abit

[Cinnamon2013]

Congratulations on your baby girl. I am no expert beyond breastfeeding my own two, but I did this plenty, sounds fine to me. Those feeds do sound very long - but it's still early days, once you both have the hang of it I'm sure it'll speed up.

[Enidblyton1]

Sounds like you're doing fine to me. I remember those early feeds taking over an hour. They should get quicker as she gets older.
Definitely keep her awake/cool by blowing on her if you think she is nodding off before a decent feed.

[CatsCantFlyFast]

It's fine and well done you. Feeds will get quicker over time. She'll also be working hard to increase your milk supply so the more time at the breast is great.

[daisydalrymple]

Sounds great, and as pps say, she will become a more efficient feeder over time. You may already know this, but be aware that babies go through growth spurts fairly regularly and during these periods, she may feed like crazy for a few days, just to increase your milk to meet her growing needs. Totally normal (catch up box set time!)

Also, for the first few months, each of my three were early evening cluster feeders. Again this can be totally normal, but not all babies do it. (Apologies if you know all this!)

[Mrsp2011]

Thank you everyone, good to know it's normal, and that it might speed up!! I am so keen to make it work, this is my first and had no idea how consuming it would be, but when u have a good feed feels amazing!

[CatsCantFlyFast]

Just to check - are you getting a gap between feeds? It's normal for newborns to feed for a long time but there should be a space between feeds otherwise it might indicate inefficient transfer of milk (ie latch problems).

[Backhometothenorth]

Sounds good to me! Big growth spurt at 10 days so may get better in a day or so. Just keep doing what your doing and things will improve. Enjoy this special time with your little one.

[Mrsp2011]

Thanks ladies, yes notwithoutmymerkin we're getting 3 hours between feeds. She was born at 37 weeks so hoping she's just a wee bit slower due to that and we'll soon speed up! Just worried that I'll end up stuck at home as a 90minute public feed not ideal!!

[Crumbs1]

Sounds like you are doing fine - just building up a steady supply.

[primaryboodle]

yep sounds exactly like my now 6 month old was back in the early days.

to give you hope by 3 months feeds were 20 mins long and now they are 5!

also i found that a large portion of those long feeds were her just suckling in her sleep and not feeding which is maybe why its taking so long!