SLEEPY FEEDER after first 5 minutes

[IcklePickle]

My 5 week old takes the first five minutes foremilk then falls asleep. I take him off he wakes I put him back on, 30 secs later he's asleep again. This is repeated for 1hr+ at each feed. He's on contented baby routines and is contented but even if let sleep more still sleepy. When express and bottlefeed he is fine?

I would consult HV about this one as he is so young. Sounds like he associates boob with comfort and bottle with food. Depends on your plans for breast/bottle feeding. Maybe he just prefers the bottle at the moment. If you want to carry on breastfeeding you may have to eliminate expressed milk for a few weeks and get him used to feeding rather than 'nuzzling' your boobs. Check HV though and monitor his weight gain before trying to structure his feeding. Good luck.

It will pass. My ds was like this. Went through all this nonsense to wake him up - wet flannels, tickling feet etc, but in the end he just grew out of it. And he gained weight fine and was very healthy. Just think he found breastfeeding overwhelmingly relaxing! Stick with the breastfeeding, set aside lots of time to do it - watch films, read books, chat to friends in person/on the phone at the same time if you can -and in a few weeks it will be totally different. And don't get hung up on 'foremilk v hindmilk' - it's not really that separate - there aren't really two kinds of milk, just that milk tends to get fattier the more babies feed, and if your baby drinks enough he will get the mix right all by himself. Just make sure you put him to the breast a lot. Personally I'd ditch the routines for a bit until he perks up and just feed him a LOT.

I agree with everything aloha says, it should pass. I spent ages worrying that ds fell asleep when he fed, thinking it would ruin his 'nap' times and meant he wasn't feeding properly. But he always put on weight fine - so as long as your LO does, I'm sure he is fine. They are good at getting what they need, be it milk, sleep or cuddles! And he really did grow out of it. Now at 6mths he is such a nosey parker when he feeds I would love it if he just fell asleep at the breast more often. Can't believe it now that I tried to wake him up mid-feed when he was little! Looking back, BF in the early days really was a great excuse for me to have a well deserved break, so put your feet up, and enjoy those long, leisurely feeds - they won't last forever.