Anyone got a bf baby who only feeds for 4 mins at a time????

[Minnie24]

lo is 16 weeks old, worst feeder in the world. During day only feeds for abour 4 mins off one side only. Feeds about 3 hourly so one side will go about 6 hrs without being fed off. This is driving me mad. Bfeeding is the worst thing I have ever done, but I cant get her to take a bottle. I am so miserable. Would just like to know if anyone else is experiencing the same.

I've not being expressing much lately but when i do its usually in the morning - as its too full and sore.

I've also expressed before I go to bed so I don't have a surprise/upset in the morning, but I've been too tired or lazy to do it...

I might try and do it at the same time of the day and see if it works.

I just thought my milk supply should've settled by now without me expressing...

If you don't need to express then I wouldn't. I mean, don't use expressing as a solution to the oversupply problem - it will just make it worse. I just thought that if you were expressing cos you give a bottle of ebm or whatever then you should make sure you do it everyday and at roughly the same time. It may well be that this on and off expressing some days and not others and at different times has negatively effected your supply?

When did you last express? If you can cut it out then I would TBH.

aichi expressing will lead to you making more milk, so I'd stop that ASAP unless you need to store milk for another reason. All the stimulation is what's causing you to still be so full and leaky.

In bed, I cosleep for some of the night and only feed from my right breast to save having a baby between DP (big snoring lump) and me. I use terry nappies to stop leaks - I drape one over my side, over the uppermost boob and sort of tuck it underneath (I fail the pencil test many times over ) so any leaks are mopped up by the nappy. Works a dream.

DP - I fail the pencil CASE test :) Good idea with the nappy arrangement.

Thats what I thought too...my dd wont take bottle either so i've not been expressing much. or at all. Just whenever i'm totally desperate.

I feel crap in the mornings when its very full and sore with wet everything...i wake up with my wet pj sensation rather than my baby's cry!!

doricpatter - is terry nappy reuseable nappy/cloth ones?

Yes, they're just towelling so any old rag will do, even a muslin :)

aichi - you luckly girl having a lo who sleeps through the night. I dont think that is ever going to happen in this house! I dont find that my boobs leak between feeds it is during feeds that mine leak if they are going to. My dd has been really messy with her feeding last couple of days on and off during her "huge" 5 mins of feeding. She has a few sucks then come off then goes back on again and carries this on through the feed. It really feels like its one thing after another to stress me out.

LLLi factsheet

Does that sound familiar? In your shoes, Minnie, I would phone a counsellor for advice (helpline numbers listed down the right hand side of this page) because while it may be really straightforward to sort out your feeding woes, it's important to confirm what the problem is before fiddling with your supply too much.

thanks for the link Doric, some interesting advice which i will try!