Concerns re. breastfed 4 wk old

[redllamayellowllama]

Hoping for some advice. We had some latching issues in the early (or should I say earlier) weeks which are resolving themselves - thank you for all your help then!

DD went from 7 till 1 last night. At 1 I woke her for a feed as it seemed a stupidly long time for a 4 week old to sleep for. I really struggled to get her to feed, she did eventually, but not for very long. She then slept till 6 and I woke her again to feed, struggled again to get her to. At 8 she woke again and had a good feed on her own accord. Since then she has fed a further 3 times.

When she feeds, it is only for about 5 minutes and I can't get her back on (believe me, I've tried - stripping her, changing her, burping her, blowing on her, squeezing her feet). I know from feeding DS and expressing that I have a plentiful supply, but still have concerns over fore and hind milk ratios and what she is getting.

She sleeps a lot, but when awake is alert, noisy and following things with her eyes.

Her birthweight was 6lbs 2oz and she's now 8lbs 2oz, so a good sign.

So, what I'm asking is; is it ok for her to sleep for so long and feed for such short periods?

TIA

No expert but my DD has also been sleeping through (9pm til 4.30am/5am) from around 4 weeks. She is now 8 weeks and following her weight curve well. I think it's frequency of daytime feeds in these situations that is important - if your DD feed little and often she will still get hind milk as it's less full boobs that make give hindmilk not the length of an individual feed. My DD also had latching issues to begin with - lost 10.5% and was slow to regain but is totally fine now. For comparison she feeds around 2 hourly in the morning and hourly in the evening!

Interesting for the last 2 nights my DD has started request a night feed again - so I guess they know they are hungry and will let us know!

Also i have checked the sleeping through issue with numerous HV's and GP - all say that it is fine for baby to sleep through at that age - BUT I am certainly no expert so I hope someone qualified will be along to advise you shortly.

Maybe she's just a very efficient feeder?

My niece feeds for about 5 minutes every 2 hours and she's a nice big baby. Keep watching her weight and ask for an early weigh-in if you're concerned.

For comparison, my 6wo had to be woken after 5 hours last night, but she fed ravenously so clearly she needed it. She's also only just back to birth weight so we're not taking any chances until she's showing good progression.

Took her for a weigh-in today and she's gaining weight and is charting the 9th centile perfectly (not that I hold much stock in growth charts, but the HV was clearly impressed).

She's told me to enjoy it. No doubt baby will wake tonight 7 times..! She's fed about 10 times between 7 and 7 today, so I guess is making up for her not feeding at night.

Thanks for all the advice.