5 week old snacking

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DD2 is 5 weeks and exclusively BF; previously fed for up to 40 minutes every 2 hours but these last few days she has been feeding for 5-15 minutes with no particular time intervals.

i am worried this may affect weight gain. any advice?

she having wet nappies and yellow No 2's but with less frequency than normal (was 6-8x a day soiled nappies now around 4). Could she just be a more efficient feeder or is this a downward cycle

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All sounds normal - 'snacking' is fine in itself, because as you say, babies may become 'better' at feeding. No reason why this should affect weight gain....forget all you have read about babies needing to stay on for x minutes 'to get the hind milk'

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thanks for the reassurance.

But why is this so widely publicised if not accurate? or is the time taken to get to hind milk an individual thing?

also my boobs have been feeling a bit lumpy (but not painful) since this snacking has began and are noticeably full waiting to be emptied, wehreas they were always 'floppy' before, to the point of me even wondering if i had enough milk at one stage.

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I wish I knew why this myth had taken hold

Hindmilk is not something that the baby needs to 'drill down' for. The milk in the breast is made the same....then the stickier, creamier part tends to be 'released' less readily than the less creamy components, so when the baby removes the milk, the less creamy stuff is readily there, followed by the creamier stuff as the breast gets less milk in. The milk does get fattier as the feed progresses, but to say 'foremilk' and 'hindmilk' implies that the foremilk has to go before the hindmilk is reached and that's far too simplistic. A baby feeding frequently will take creamier milk from the start of the feed ('cos it's been there since last time). The cream in the milk is proportionate to the amount of milk in the breast - lots of milk=less cream; less milk = more cream.

All the milk is tip top quality - there is nothing wrong with foremilk

Sounds to me as if you have a bit of an issue with confidence - just let bf happen without being too concerned about engineering it, and as long as your baby is thriving, then time on the breast does not matter.

Lumps sound on the normal spectrum. Obv not if they become uncomfortable. My guess is they will sort themselves out.

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yes you're right. My first DD did not breat feed due o lack of support confidence and misplaced advise from HCPs so i am still in awe of the fact this has been going so well, especially after a csection.

i will just relax and go with the flow. BTW my HV just popped over and continued to perpetuate the 'myth' by saying....'she must be just thirsty why she is 'snacking' as she is only getting watery 'foremilk' if she nusrses like that'

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Grrrr.....at your HV!

It can be a problem if a baby does not stay long enough at the breast to get fully fed...but this happens when a baby is weak and tired and unable to stay awake, or is in pain/discomfort, or fights for some other reason. Sometimes, very laid back babies accommodate a busy family by not 'asking' for feeds and just fitting in and watching the activity, and the mum has to be proactive and deiberately offer them.

But with a healthy, thriving baby, we can leave it up to him/her to decide how long and how often to feed. We don't need to count or use the clock or compare this week with last week.

You can read a good explanation of how milk 'works' at www.kellymom.com on the How Breastfeeding Works page.