Feeding lasting 2 hours+ - is this normal?

[cat811]

My 9 day old seemed to pick up on feeding really well, and latched on immediately. However, for the last 3-4 days, every time I feed her it lasts at least 2 hours - she seems to drain one side and then want the other - she often dozes off after 10-15 mins, but will either wake up after a few mins and want to carry on (and get very upset if she doesn't) or if I wake her up (as advised by midwife to ensure she's getting hindmilk) she will equally carry on like this - she only seems to stop getting upset when she falls asleep, which is only usually for an hour or so. Is this normal or is she not getting enough? She's definitely getting milk, nappies all fine etc.

I;m getting a little concerned as dh goes back to work next week and I have a 2yo - can't feed her for 2 hours and let him destroy the house/miss out on meals etc - what do I do?! I'm reluctant to top-up unless it's the only thing because she is definitely is still hungry - could there be another alternative though?

Thanks in advance.

This pattern is normal, cat - it's not a baby whose feeds are lasting 2 hours, but rather a baby who is actually feeding little and often within a period of two hours, dozing a bit and then still needing to be 'connected' to you and gets upset if this does not happen straight away.

There is no need to worry about waking her up to get the hindmilk - please ask your midwife to get herself better informed on this (er, you can't really, as it sounds a bit rude!) but what I mean is, that a midwife who is fretting about a term, healthy, thriving baby and thinks deliberately waking such a baby up from a welcome and needed doze is necessary for the hindmilk has misunderstood all the stuff about foremilk/hindmilk and should not be in the business of advising new mothers on bf.

Your baby can clearly be trusted to know what she wants and needs and is best supported in this by having her own pattern responded to - it's a newborn thing, really, and while cluster feeding may well last a while longer it gets easier to cope with and work with - hope others will post with some good ideas on this :)

Hello,

Well I'm not qualified at all but my 4 week old was doing the same at that stage, and like you, I was worried about what I was going to do with my 2.4 year old dd. In fact she was feeding for up to 6/7 hours at a time!

I was told on here that cluster feeding is normal, and not to worry provided baby is gaining weight well and producing lots of wet and dirty nappies.

Feeds are a lot more settled here now and have been for a week or so. Long feeds only last an hour or so and she's settling better to sleep in her pram in between feeds allowing me to tend to dd1.

Tips for coping: get friends and family around to visit, especially if they have toddlers. Visitor can make tea and hold baby and toddler can amuse yours - result!

Sit with toddler and feed baby while toddler is in the bath or eating lunch/dinner. Cook meals as soon as baby sleeps (whatever time of day it is) and leave in fridge to reheat.

Pay loads of attention to toddler when baby sleeps so they can deal better with the lack of attention when you feed baby. Put CBeebies on!! Show them videos on YouTube or photos of them as a baby on your laptop if you have one while baby feeds.

Good luck, I'm sure it'll be better than you think it's going to be.

Cross-posted with tiktok - I see a qualified person has now posted!

Oh I forgot to say remember to take one day at a time and if you're having a bit of a shit time say to yourself that this is one step closer to an easy-peasy older baby and a routine that you'll all get in to sooner or later, in no time at all in fact!

tiktok has given her excellent words of wisdom as normal, just wanted to add a suggestion for when your DH goes back to work & you need to run around after your 2yo - a sling :) Excellent way of tending to a baby's physical need to be close and some mums can breastfeed in them too.

slingguide.co.uk/ is an excellent resource.