16wo feeds only take 5 mins - normal?

[CyrilSneers]

Is it normal for a 16 week old to feed so quickly? I'm bf and after 5 mins on one side he starts fussing about and seems content when I take him off. I usually then change his nappy and offer him the same boob again (as I'm worried he's not getting enough hindmilk) but he's rarely interested. I feed him approx every 2 hours: might this be the problem? I'm wondering whether I should try and stretch out the time between feeds to make him feed for longer. Also suspect this 'snacking' during the day may be why he's begun waking me up every 2 hours (if I'm lucky) in the night. He used to take a good 15 minutes or so, but recently has been much more distracted and fussy. The only feed that's differnt is his last feed before bed which takes around 20 mins.

This is normal behaviour. It allows a baby whose beyond newborn to take in more of his world and to make social relationships, just as his brain is ready to understand more :)

Please don't worry about hindmilk - the baby sorts this out, no need to 'engineer' his timing.

Easier to accept it rather than fight it - maybe it is connected with more frequent wakings but this will pass.

Nothing wrong with it as long as baby is happy and healthy. My DD was very similar, quick feeds from the start. She fed frequently too. I had a few attempts at trying to feed her less often and for longer (mostly because other people seemed to think I should) but that didn't help either of us so I soon gave up and just stuck with my original plan of baby-led, demand feeding, it's worked for us ever since. My DD still prefers to eat little and often (solids and milk) at 15 months :)

Thank you tiktok Thought I should just 'go with it' and great to get some reassurance. Sometimes I wish his brain wouldn't understand quite so much so I could sit and watch a whole episode of the Kardashians in peace while he feeds