Feed my newborn from one breast or two?

[SarahScot]

When I had DS, now 3, the advice from my HV was to feed him from one side, break for burping etc when he came off himself, then feed from the other side.

DD is 15 days old and the HV came yesterday and told me I should be feeding her from one side, break for burping etc when she comes off herself, then feed again from the SAME side. I tried that last night and although DD seemed happy enough, it means each breast goes 8 hours between feeds and they get MASSIVE and sore. The HV said it was to ensure DD gets the hind milk too, but I figure she must be anyway as she's 5oz heavier than her birth weight at only 2 weeks old.

Any advice?

Also, when I'm feeding her I can feel the letdown, but it happens in both boobs at once, meaning one just leaks all over the place. Is that normal or am I weird?

I always fed from both breasts at the same feed otherwise it would become extremely uncomfortable to go for that long.

No nothing wrong with letdown and one leaking while you are feeding.

Fed both DS like that one for 9 months and one for 2 years. I have never heard of that before.

The HV is wrong if she is suggesting only feeding from 1 breast at each feed. Always offer both, you can even go back to the first and keep switching if your DD isn't satisfied. The hind/foremilk issue will be sorted out by your DD, no need to feed in any specific way to engineer this.

The letdown in both breasts is normal, just make sure you have breastpad on the other side!

Sounds like you are doing fine. Look at kellymom for info on hind/fore milk etc then you can always helpfully pass this on to the HV so she doesn't misinform any other women who may not have the benefit of MN.

She doesn't need to 'get' the hind milk - it's not a separate type of milk or only available after X minutes of feeding. Kellymom explains all here.

Unfortunately what your HV is recommending is called 'block nursing' this is designed to lower supply levels in mothers who's babies have difficulty in coping with the fast flow that can sometimes accompany over supply.

When your baby is hungry let her feed until she comes off then burp her if you need to (not all babies need burping) then swap over to the other side. Let her feed on that side until she comes off and then burp (again if needed) and offer her the first side if she seems interested, if not then cuddle as required

You do mention that if you follow what the HV recs. then you go 8 hours between feeds on the 'other' side - are you cue/demand feeding or on a schedule?

Is she really only feeding every 4 hours?

This article is excellent about foremilk and hindmilk :)

Sarah, this is odd advice from your HV and it may be she does not understand how bf works.

can you check with her again?

Your feeding frequency sounds unusual too.

Thanks for the share BertieBotts :) Hope it helps and OP sounds like you're doing great.

Another one this week may resonate with some....
The consequences of passive breastfeeding support:
www.analyticalarmadillo.co.uk/2011/03/consequences-of-passive-breastfeeding.html

Woah, only feeding every 4 hours? That sounds like a very big gap for a newborn, especially during the day. 4 hourly means a max of 6 feeds in 24 hours and a newborn would usually be having at least 8-10.

If she's gaining fine and that's all she asks for, guess it's okay...just seems unusual.

Letdown in both boobs is normal afaik. I have to use pads for this or stuff a muslin down my top. DD is now 15 wo and I only have to worry about this at night now and don't seem to leak during the day.

Not sure if this is any help, but DS was only ever a "one boob man" until he was about 9 months! Then he needed a bit more so had both boobs. But really I think every baby is different and you have to try to sort out when they are hungry or if its something else.... Although my DS only wanted 1 boob at a time, he did want feeding every 2 hours...

It really depends on mum and baby - some breastfed infants do go four hours, others go an hour and a half. If baby is settled/content/not been "put on" with a paci or suchlike and gaining as she appears to be, there are really no rules.

Yes letdown in both breasts happens at the same time, but as baby gets a bit older and supply reduces a bit, it will stop leaking everywhere :)

AA

try again! "not being "pushed on" with a paci or suchlike!*

Yes, my baby went four hourly from the start but it is unusual and bears looking at to check that is enough for that particular baby. To make sure all the feeding cues are seen and that the milk is offered often enough.

In my case I have a lot of milk (I lean to oversupply) so DC3 was getting a lot of milk every feed, so she tanked up until the next feed four hours later. Plus I knew she wasn't getting any dummies, bottles and I carried her and respond to every chirp she made. I was offering hourly but baby was not having any of it. After two children whom fed every couple of hours it was a bit of a shock with my third going so far between feeds.

OP. If you have a free hand whilst nursing, you can firmly press the heel of your hand on your free nipple, that should stop or reduce the perfectly normal but can be annoying leaking OR you could invest in Lilypads breast pads which do the same thing without needign a spare hand.

Thanks for all the advice ladies. I was pretty sure the HV was talking bollocks.

I should have been clearer about frequency of feeds, the 4 hourly is only at night, during the day she is more like every 2 hours at the moment, sometimes even less!

I'll go and have a look at kellymom, and tell my HV politely to get stuffed.