Breastfeeding Muddle at 12 Weeks

[luisa1980]

Hello can anyone please give me some advice??

My lo is 12 weeks old and ebf. I have had issues with her positioning since she was 9 and a half weeks. She will only nurse lying down at the moment, which had been going ok. The main problem is that she will only stay on the breast for 5-10 mins and then comes off and won't go back on. She is not draining the breast and so I have started putting her back on the same breast the next feed. She has also been having the explosive green poo from too much foremilk, and my breats seem to ahve gone enormous again.
She generally feeds every 2-3 hours in the daytime. How can i get her to stay on the breast longer? What should i do with the other breast if she is doing two feeds on the same one?

I really am in a muddle.

hey Luisa, hope your day has been okay so far. Considering how unpredictable our babies can be, perhaps the issue has resolved itself already. I wonder how comfortable or skilled you are with expressing? It was never my strong point! It may help to apply a warm damp cloth to the breast and encourage the letdown of some foremilk before attaching your lo. I would think that if you are feeding from the same breast after 2 hours, then new foremilk will have accumulated even if you feel the breast was not fully 'emptied' (they never are trully emptied) at the previous feed. At 12 weeks, breastfeeding would be pretty well established and the change in demand may be your baby's way of adjusting the supply, since this is how the system works! It must be inconvenient only being able to feed lying down - brings on some great visuals for shopping days! Another thing to consider - when lying down, what is the baby's position? a preference by you lo to only lie in one position or one on side may be an indication of tenderness somewhere in his/her body? Or has this become a preference that you could change by not giving in to it too readily, and only offering a feed in the sitting position on a day when you can handle a little more noise than usual. sorry if i've stated the obvious with any of my remarks - looking back on the breastfeeding experience from a few years on, those difficult days seem less traumatic. I wish you well , and good on you for problem solving with something so important.

Babies get much more effective at milk removal as they get bigger. So it maybe she is getting all the milk she needs in those five minutes.

From what I have read block feeding (continuing to offer one side for several feeds) isn't really recommended unless you have over supply issues.

Could you try a few days of just feeding as she is demanding. So letting her come off and the offer her the other side at the next feed?

I agree with hazchem - shorter feeds in a baby of this age is almost always normal. You can't make a baby stay on longer, either, really.

Trying a few days of going with what she wants, and alternating breasts, as hazchem suggests, is definitely worth trying.

The positioning thing - keep trying with different positions. You might find a 'halfway house' with 'laid back breastfeeding', and that might allow her to transition to more versatility.

Difficulty in bf except lying down is sometimes associated with a sore head related to birth experiences but your baby has only just started doing this....a call to any of the bf helplines might allow you to explore what's going on.