worried DD isn't getting to the hindmilk

[slowangels1]

I think it's the hindmilk that's the thicker fattier stuff isn't it? DD is 7 weeks. She has started to feed on one side of my breast very contentidly for about 10 mins or so then becomes quite frustrated and comes on and off frequently and makes lots of wriggles and grunts and looks frustrated. She's rooting madly and obviously still hungry. If I move her to the other breast she becomes happy and sucks well for maybe another 10 mins or so. Usual feeds take about 20 -30 mins but I now seem to be using both sides in that time. I'm a bit concerned she isn't getting enough fatty milk and can't be bothered with the effort to get it. We've had problems with her losing over 10 % of body weight after birth and although she's now putting on weight, it isn't quite as much as hv would like apparently (was 8lbs 13 at birth and yesterday at nearly 7 weeks was 9lbs 14). ANy idea if this might be as she's just getting the foremilk and if so how to get her to feed longer to get more from one side - she just will not do it!

Breast compression might help? (If you google that, and 'Jack Newman', you can find good explanations.)

Swapping breasts is fine, you can even go back to the first breast after she's had the second, if she's still hungry then.

How is she otherwise? How often does she feed? Is she growing and putting on a bit of weight?

Foremilk and hindmilk don't really exist, per se - it's more a matter of, if she's feeding off a relatively soft breast, she will be getting fattier milk. There aren't two different kinds of milk, iyswim ...

You don't really need to worry about foremilk/hindmilk - she'll take what she needs.

If she's happy, content and gaining weight then does it matter if she's not as big as the HV wants?

she's pretty happy in herself notquite and eats about every 2.5 - 3 hrs in the day and as little as we can get away with at night! Sometimes I worry I don't make enough milk as my boobs get really soft sometimes after not much feeding, so hoping all is OK. If I got too long they do go painful and hardish though so must be making a decent amount.

Glad you don't think this is a prob as was worried it was my fault she wasn't putting on enough weight.

Not much milk is actually stored in the breast - most is made during the feed - so they will get soft during the feed. So long as you are feeding on demand every time she asks, and offering both sides at each feed, I'm sure you'll have enough milk.

If you are worried about weight gain the best thing to do is offer feeds more frequently and offer both sides more than once at each feed.

This doesn't sound like there's necessarily a problem. Babies are stressful and weird. If she's gone from taking only one side to taking both, that means she's working to up your supply, and everything is working as it ought to.

I've heard that foremilk/ hindmilk imbalance results in very runny poos (if too much foremilk) or greenish poos. This happens from time to time anyway with no lasting problems.

But if she's gaining weight then i think it's highly unlikely to be a problem.

Just swap back and forth if that's what she wants. As your breasts get less full, the milk gets gradually fattier, so if you go back to the 1st breast after offering the 2nd, the milk will still be fattier than it was initially.