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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

so this 6 week 'growth spurt'..

10 replies

pinkyp · 19/01/2011 20:39

my baby is 6 weeks and a day. I was aware that he'd be having a growth spurt around now but he doesnt seem to be feeding more, BUT he is crying when feeding nearly every feed. He normally only crys once at night when feeding. Is this normal? i also woke with rather full boobs this morning, no idea y sleep times etc r same. Any thoughts?

OP posts:

Original poster

pinkyp · 20/01/2011 00:34

Bump

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ILoveItWhenYouCallMeBoo · 20/01/2011 00:38

some babies dont have a noticeable change in appetite or feeding pattern, some have their's a bit later., maybe 7 or 8 weeks, i would be very surprised that any baby would suddenly change on the day they turned 6 weeks.

when you say he is crying at every feed. what do you mean? crying before the feed? coming off during the feed to cry or crying after?

your full boobs could be because his appetite is increasing (even though you haven't noticed) so this is your body trying to catch up with his needs. breastfeeding is still being established at 6 weeks so it may be up and down for a nother couple of weeks.

Original poster

pinkyp · 20/01/2011 01:00

Sorry I ment coming off during a feed, crying but still routing, he normally does it once a day when tired before he has 'big' sleep (4hrs). I know it can happen anytime around 6 weeks I'm just waiting 4 it.

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Original poster

pinkyp · 20/01/2011 01:00

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ILoveItWhenYouCallMeBoo · 20/01/2011 01:04

have you checked his latch? it could be latch, try and get your BF counsellor to check it for you.

it could also be due to the fact that he is taking the milk far quicker and the flow slows down alot nearer to the end of the feed. if he has a good latch and is feeding well, and is having a growth spurt then he may be 'emptying@ the breast very quickly. i have put emptying in apostrophes because teh breast never actually empties, the flow just slows down alot. so he could be getting frustrated when this happens. do you feed on both breasts for one feed? what do you do when he cries? do you cuddle an dthen pop him back on same breast or do you switch sides?

Original poster

pinkyp · 20/01/2011 12:48

I feed from oneside usually. If he falls to sleep and wakes again then i put him back to the breast he was last on. If he's done this a few times and be feeding for a while (sometimes he's on and off for over a hour in the evening) then i'll swap breasts. His latch seems ok and in the morning and part of the afternoon he was fine.It was just late afternoon / all evening he was crying whilst feeding. Woke up with full boobs again and past 2 days i've had a little more expressed milk (i always express once every morning to empty my boobs so i dont get mastitus again)

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ILoveItWhenYouCallMeBoo · 20/01/2011 13:15

late afternoon evening is prime time for cluster feeding and babies can be on an d off the breast for the whole night into the wee small hours. it is very demanding and can be very frustrating. it sounds like this is what he is doing. it is completely normal and the only thing you can do is go with it. if he is happy enough to go back on the same breast then keep doing that. or you can alternate so that the other breast doesn't fill up too much and become painful or overfull. it will also give the breast he was feeding on a chance to refill a bit. i know this is a really tough time and it was at this stage i gave up BF with my first son as i never knew about growth spurts so i thought i didn't have enough milk. and yes keep expressing to relieve teh pressure in the mornings.

Original poster

pinkyp · 20/01/2011 15:35

Thank you, i'm glad its 'normal'. I was the same with my first ds and started giving bottles around this time. My boobs are feeling very full inbetween feeds so i'm guessing this is just them adjusting? or should i express then too? i'm a bit worried of getting mastitus again but dont use the expressed milk i express in the morning so it'd go to waste if i did

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runningrach · 20/01/2011 15:55

don't express more unnecessarily or you will stimulate your body to produce more unnecessarily and exacerbate the problem.

ILoveItWhenYouCallMeBoo · 20/01/2011 16:08

i agree with running, your boobs will take a while to get the balance right of just how much milk they need to produce. express in the mornings to relieve pressure if ds isn't taking enough from you but other than that let your milk supply regulate itself to match ds' requirements.

you can freeze any milk you do express and stor it in the fridge for i think 3 months although i could be wrong about that time frame so jsut check.

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