Is she not getting enough from me?

[Chloe55]

My baby is 6 weeks old, all in all bf has been going pretty well. With my first baby we never got the latch quite right, feeding was something I dreaded every few hours, sore nipples etc and I quit after 4 weeks. This time feeding has been a much better experience and my nipples are comfortable. Dd was last weighed a week last Wednesday and she has been gaining weight progressively and the HV is happy, couldn't get to weigh in this week due to the snow but people who have seen her have commented how much she's grown so I'm not worried. However, these are my concerns:

1. She doesn't seem to feed longer than 15mins at a time, despite nappy changing/winding etc in between then encouraging her back on to the breast.

2. Because of the above problem I'm reluctant to offer both breasts as when I've done this in the past she gets green nappies due to her only seeming to get foremilk.

3. I have been expressing first thing for a couple of weeks, partly to build a supply as have a non child wedding to go to in a month and partly for the odd night that I need more than 2hrs unbroken sleep and dh gives it her in a bottle-last night was one of those nights as she had an unsettled day, didn't sleep great and despite feeding every 1.5-2hrs she cried a fair bit. I put it down to her having tummy ache/overtired as seemed to have covered every other possibility. Dh sent me to bed at 8pm and said he would do the next feed, (I'd just fed her). He said this morning he gave her the 4.5oz I had expressed about 15mins after I'd gone to bed 'just to see' and she had wolfed it down [sa Now I feel terrible as she was clearly starving!

4. She fed well in the night but again this morning she has had a maximum of 10mins at my breast then flicked my nipple about and grinned happily at me, couldn't get her to have anymore!

My worry is she's feeding so often because she is hungry but not seeming to take much each feed - should I top up after every feed with formula? I dont really want to. If I try to express after a feed I get next to nothing which I know doesn't nec indicate they are 'empty' but its worrying me none the less.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

She sounds like she is doing brilliantly from you, growing and thriving! soe babies are very efficient feeders and can take what they need very quickly. i think the expressed feed is a bit of a red herring, lots of babies like to cluster feed in the evenings. DD caught her breath and enjoyed the second course. Has she got plenty of wet and dirty nappies? Is she content after a feed for a while?
Six week olds will feed a lot, this will calm down as her tummy gets bigger and she can hold more milk.

Hopefully an expert will be along soon. But it sounds to me like all is going well.

If she has plenty of dirty/wet nappies and is gaining weight, she is getting enough from you.

My DS was feeding for 45 minutes every 45 minutes at 6 weeks; my friend's DD fed for 10 minutes every three hours. They were both normal.

My DS had lots of green poos as a baby - I think this is relatively common and wouldn't worry unless it continues all the time, when I would ask a midwife.

As for her taking the expressed milk, she may simply have wanted another feed 15 minutes later. At six weeks it is normal for babies to cluster feed and have feeds followed by more feeding. So you weren't starving her - she just decided she fancied more and may well have taken it from you if you'd been available.

With the expressing, I breastfed a child who was so chubby that they called me "gold top" at the weigh ins. I could not express more than an oz or two ever, before or after feeds. Ever. Your breasts don't empty altogether and the amount you express has no relation to what your baby takes. So don't worry about that.

If you are concerned about her feeding, just offer her the breast regularly (snuggle up in bed for an evening with her on your chest and le her latch on and off as much as she wants).

And you can always ring the brilliant La Leche League if you are worried; they kept me sane during a week when DS fed from 6-11 non-stop and I thought I would expire!!!

Thanks for your replies. We are getting lots of wet and dirty nappies, eg. yesterday morning I changed 5 nappies in 10mins as just when I thought she couldn't have anymore left in her BAM! She'd explode again! But the rest of the day she just left the odd greenish tiny poo. Lots of wet nappies still though.

Dh thinks I should feed for longer and she'd go longer between feeds but I have no idea HOW I can get her feeding longer if she just won't?

Putting on weight.... check
Plenty of soiled nappies.... check
Feeding as long and as often as she wants.... check
Happy baby.... check

It all sounds perfect. Well done, you're doing great.

Don't worry! She's feeding fine for her age - my dd didn't (& still doesn't) feed for very long - all it means is that your baby is efficient at taking what she needs. As she gets older she will go longer between feeds, bit for now just let her feed as & when she wants. When my dd was around 8 weeks or so I was made to feel guilty as age didn't go at least 3 hrs between feeds. Cue lots of angst & unnecessary worrying on my part. Now she is nearly 20 weeks & goes around 3 hrs in the day & 4 at night.

Offer both boobs at a feed - the foremill imbalance is a load of crap (as our resident bf expert Tiktok will tell you) & the green nappies are probably entirely unrelated (do mention it to your HV if you're worried though).

You're doing brilliantly! Bf is bloody hard work, but you're more or less over the hill now & you should find it gets easier from now on

That's right forgetful I do keep getting this whole should be 3hr between feeds info so have been worrying its not! Thank god for mn, I def thought I was depriving her til this morning when I have read your replies and am actually beginning to realize that a really she sounds very 'normal' If I am occasionally skipping a late eve feed when it gets replaced with a bottle will it affect my milk at this time each night? I prob replace it twice a week or so.

Yes it will Chloe - best thing is to change times fairly frequently otherwise you will find that eventually you have no milk at the time you usually skip bf. So, for example, if you usually skip bf at say 9pm, after a while you won't have any milk at 9pm. Tbh as long as you vary the time, it won't cause an issue & I think it only becomes a prob when your dd starts to feed at set times. At the moment you'll be fine as she's feeding whenever.

Just to add to all the good advice above, don't worry about her "wolfing down" the bottle, they have an automatic reflex to suck on the bottle, it does not necessarily mean your baby is hungry. I think that is why with bottle fed babies you have to be careful not to over feed. She will let you know if she is hungry!

Sounds like you are doing a great job. My baby used to do crazy cluster feeding morning and night, but it started settling down around 6 weeks and I think he got into a regular pattern at 8 or 9 weeks.

Please do not worry about not having enough milk we (almost) all have thought this and it's ( almost) never true!

My dd was tounge tied and occasionally had up be supplemented with formula. It was soul destroying seeing her wolf it down. Devastating. Utterly crushing. I really feel for you.
The three hour thing is nonsense, they are all different mine feed for 23 hrs a day for 8 weeks
You cannot make her feed for longer.
You can't make her suck.
Let her set her own pattern it will only be short lived anyway as they change and grow so fast.
Look for a local breast feeding support group. I cannot emphasise enough how valuable their support was
If you are topping up with formula it is worth doing it at the same time each day so your boobs kno to expect it so do not make milk they ate not using (which goes off and becomes mastitis)
You are doing great, it really does get easier!

I have found that when my DD has a bottle of EBM she wolfs it down too- seemingly regardless of whether she's hungry. She's then full of wind for a good day or two- we're right in the middle of this now- had 4oz bottle yesterday, in a matter of minutes. Didn't feed at bedtime, fed every three hours thru night but then screamed most of today and farted and belched like a trooper! Hardly fed for any time at all today, but I know in a day or two she'll be back to normal. She only has a bottle every now and again- and this doesn't happen every time. Think it depends on how hungry she is when I give her the bottle.