4 week old feeding for shorter times

[nello]

Is this normal? My baby used to feed for about 1 hour at every feed, wanting both breasts, and at about every 3 hours, but more recently is feeding from only one breast at each feed and falling to sleep after short lengths of time, only to wake and want to feed some more.

she doesn't seem distressed and her weight gain up to now has been fine, although this change in feeding has only occurred in the last few days. We do live in Mexico and it has got hotter more recently, not sure if this could have anything to do with it.

anyone know about this? Should I be worried?

Thanks very much.

It's common for babies to cluster feed (usually from 5 weeks on) if I remember correctly. Perfectly normal. And of course she may be thirstier. I fed my dd boiled cooled water from 3 weeks if I thought she needed a drink.

But it seems that she is actually feeding less? she would have an hour of feeding every three hours before and now, for example today she has been sleepy all day and hasn't had one long feed at all. It seems like she is just 'snacking'...but she really falls asleep and there is not much I can do to wake her. I figure that if she was really hungry and I wasn't giving her enough she would let me know?

more snacking is normal when it gets hotter. Thirsty quicker but not as hungry.

Just wait until the 6 week growth spurt. Also after which feeding times can dramatically reduce (typically in half and gradually decrease from there)

It all sounds perfectly fine to me. If she was hungry she would take it. Babies go through different feeding patterns all the time. If you are really worried, speak to your HV.

Thanks. She seems fine and content, so I will just go with it for the moment. Don't really feel worried, just a little confused about the change!!

That's what babies do. Every time you think you've figured what they want, what soothes them and their routine, they go and bloody change it

I seem to remember that as babies develop (their muscles getting stronger etc.) they become more efficient at extracting milk from you. So it's possible that your baby is taking the same volume of milk as previously; just taking it more quickly.

Anyway, as you say, she seems content and as long as there are plenty of wet nappies, she will be fine.

Thanks warzone, I wondered about this too, as I am not only just getting the hang of breast feeding and feel like it is going better and producing more. How many wet nappies should I expect a day to know everything is ok?

I seem to remember being told 6 nappies a day, but dd usually only used 4. At 4 weeks they won't be heavy nappies anyway, as there only have tiny wees!

Does a wet nappy include poos? or just wees?

Sorry nello, I went to sleep.

You can't tell if a pooey nappy has a wee in it but it probably does, so I'd include it.

Word of warning though: breastfed babies can go for days and days without pooing. This is because breastmilk is so nutritionally matched to their needs, and they only take exactly as much as they need; therefore there is little waste.

When my dd didn't poo for 5 days at about 6 weeks old I was frantic! But this became the norm for her (one or two poos a week) until she started solids.

Bit off topic, but I wish someone had told me this might happen.

You shouldn't give a BF baby boiled water either. BM is enough to quench thirst and it just interfears with the supply and demand thing as water can fill there tummy's and make them take less milk.