Bfeeding established but having a crisis of confidence

[MidlandsMom]

I would really really appreciate some advice about breast-feeding my 14 week old Dd.
I really want to succeed at breastfeeding and am scared of things going wrong just as things are getting easier and I am enjoying it!

When she was newborn she wanted to feed most of the time she was awake! But now things have settled down and she typically feeds every 2 hours in the day (unless she has a long nap) and feeds once or twice at night.

When she was around 6 weeks old she was really windy (took hours to settle her and get rid of all the wind) and had a green poo which a counsellor said might be due to me switching sides too much and a fore milk/hind milk imbalance. I tried to feed on one side for all feeds within 2 hours to put this right and it seemed to do the trick. I now feed on one side per feed (without offering second side to avoid the problem we had before) and she seems to have taken to this fine.

When she feeds she does so really quickly, sucking and swallowing for only about 5 minutes and then either getting sleepy or fussing on and off the boob, so I finish the feed and wind her then maybe trying again to check she's had her fill. During the last couple of days she has been really fussy at the boob and only seems to feed properly for a few short minutes.

Do you think 2 hours between feeds is normal?
Is 5 minutes per feed OK?
Is one side per feed a good strategy? The major thing is that I hope I'm not diminishing my supply or not giving her enough. I'm worried about going back to switching sides as I don't want to disrupt things but will do if she needs it.

Inbetween feeds she is generally happy, is doing wet nappies and is a good weight.

Thanks very much!

it all sounds fine to me!
i've always offered both breasts at a feed, and if she is fussing but still seems to want more I think at this point (now your supply will have settled down) you could try that... if you find that you are getting the green poos/unsettled behaviour then stop again

but everything else really does sound very normal!

I'm not sure about the more technical bits - but yes, two hours between feeds is totally normal. That's roughly how long breast milk takes to digest, I believe. Someone also said recently that, in cultures where babies have unrestricted access to the breast, they feed every 24 minutes on average!!

Thank you both for your replies, that's put my mind at rest. I think I'm going to try to offer both sides just to make sure she's had her fill.

if you try it and the green poo comes back without the wind don't worry...green poo in itself isn't a problem unless there are other symptoms too.

Your supply will be pretty established by now so try not to worry too much.

Thanks MFM, supply was my main worry (although there's no evidence of a problem), so you've made me feel better!

Also at 5wo she isn't as experienced a feeder as she is now. She was also windy and that probably made her come off the breast early. She is now much faster and when she comes off you can assume she is either full or has emptied a side. (BTW 5min is perfectly fine. My 5mo DD does 3-5min for a couple of months now).

When bf is working, it's wonderful isn't it?

lots of people have unfounded concerns about supply so you are not alone. I think it stems from previous generations getting rubbish advice like schedual feeding, or no knowledge of growth spurts, so they didn't properly establish a supply and really did have problems. But cause they were doing as they were told they thought the problem was with them. All my older female relatives milk "dried up" though i doubt there was any unfixable problem. But we hear about all this and it chips away at our confidence.

I stopped switching sides every feed at about 10 weeks. If she wants the other side she makes it very clear! I was worried about it at the time but as you've been feeding successfully on demand your supply should be attuned to her needs. They get much, much quicker very suddenly too, most of our feeds are only a few minutes with a couple of monster (hour long) feeds each day. I was lucky to have an informed and helpful HV to reassure me that this is normal! Well done by the way xx

I could have written this OP myself as DiddyCakes is doing exactly the same thing. I also had the same concerns so am relieved to find out everyone thinks it's normal & all going to be fine. Thanks OP!

Thanks everyone for your replies. it is a relief to hear that others are similar to us! I've been trying to offer both sides for the last day or two, but she doesn't seem to need it very often so I think the supply has adjusted to just feeding on one side.
Thanks again!

Sounds like you are doing great!

My experience is very limited (11wk old DD) but with mine I weigh her every week and if the weight is fine (which it has been) I let her eat whenever and whatever she likes. I can't say she has any sort of schedule, sometimes she settles for a really long feed (2-3 hours with burping breaks), sometimes she wants to feed every 2 hours, ocassionally she will go 5 hours with no food. I think I could get really stressed out thinking about it too much, so as long as the weight keeps pilling on I don't pay too much attention to what is going on other than feeding on demand!

I remember my second child had green pooh for a while at about the same time as yours. I checked with my midwife and she said that it was most likely meconium and that it can take a while for all the meconium to come out. The conventional wisdom is to offer both sides and to me this makes sense.