Quick Q should I worry about his feeding yet?

[Munz]

bit concerned, not unduly about joey, he seems fine within himself - lots of wet nappies pooping has settled into a morning full of pooey nappies thenm nothing till the following morning (has been this way for about a week) but the past 2 days he's only been feeding for about 8 mins 10 max on my boob (except for his evening feed after his bath when he fed for half hour).

he's feeding then having half hour or so awake/play time then going to sleep for an 30 mins hour to an hour which is shorter than his usual 1.5 hours, but i'm slightly concerned for 2 reasons.

1. he's not on the boob long enough to get a decent amount of milk/hind milk. althou I know he's obviously getting more efficeinet but wouldn't have thought he was that effecient yet??

2. my supply - I don't want it to dwindle down to anything, yesterday I didn't express any additional as I've got 8 bottles of EBM already in the freezer. i'm worried if he doesn't take a good feed my supply may start to dwindle?

i've tried doing everything I normally do - ie he'll take about 10 mins then go asleep so i'll change his bum to wake him up a bit, then he'll happily feed for another 30 mins or so. but yesterday/today every time I try to lay him on his pillow for a feed he screams blue murder. he seems to only want to be up right having a cuddle.

should I worry? I think I would more if he wasn't as alert etc. he's not pasty/tacky/feel like he's got a temprature. (ooh and he's 11 weeks now) he's still feeding every 2.5 to 3 hours by day which is normal for him.

? It's a guide. A confidence boost.
You've no idea how much they're getting. After the milk comes in, you can hear them gulping and swallowing but that's about all. If it's your first baby you really haven't a clue. It was a good guide for me- he fed for a long time in the hospital when he was "learning", and once we had come home, we had both got the hang of it, I was worried he wasn't getting enough- so what she said put my mind at rest- so really it was quite obvious but I needed to hear it, if he was content for 3/4 hours before needing the next feed, 10 mins is what worked for us. You can't say that's rubbish! I asked her how long a feed should take (yes, I know...) and this was her way of reassuring me that what we'd worked out was what my baby needed. There is no right or wrong, but individual for every mother and baby, and that was what I needed to hear. If he was looking for another feed within an hour of the last one, imo and ime I could have offered him some more the last time. He was a very sleepy baby so I wasn't sure how much I should try to wake him to give him more- was he falling asleep because he'd had sufficient, or because he was so sleepy?
It's what works for everyone, tiktok, she wasn't telling me that's how it was, she was giving me the confidence that we were doing fine. She did explain that for some that feeds can last an hour. All depends on the sucking etc. SO please, don't "despair"! For me it wasn't actually "rubbish", it was spot on, and I have a very contented baby.

That was a reply to tiktok, you posted at the same time as me munz!
There really isn't any answer to your question- though did you see my previous post? It got my ds in to a good routine. He started sleeping through at about 3/4 months quite well but then growth spurts made him wake again. Sometimes even twice! He always went back down no prob tho so we were lucky. He's 9m now and woke the last two nights, 12 lastnight, 4 the previous and 2 the night before that. Though he'd been sleeping thru for a fortnight. You'll find lots of posts on here where babies are still feeding thru the night at 2 or 3 yrs, it's all individual. Also depends on when you start weaning. It will all settle down soon I'm sure.

bramblina, I am all in favour of mothers' confidence being boosted and if this midwife helped you, then great....but it is still misleading and potentially undermining to tell a mother, any mother, to look at the gap between feeds in order to assess whether bf is going well and/or the baby is getting enough.

It's not the place to debate this, really, but looking at how often a baby feeds ignores the individual baby's needs, which may be to cluster feed (for example).....well-fed babies and busy mothers who prefer predictability in their babies' feeding pattern can work together towards longer gaps, it's true, and that's fine, but as a way of assessing breastfeeding effectiveness at any age, it is indeed, rubbish.
:)

don't believe there is a hard and fast rule when they drop a feed. that would be stardust if it exists.

as all can tell, i didn't read any of the other posters before I posted. that's what happens sometimes with a demanding toddler.:)

Hi Munz

I agree with kiskidee in that there is no hard and fast rule.

My DS is 1 and still has one night feed. He could go without one but because he doesn't take much milk in the day - too distracted and busy - he actually has his best feed at night and it helps keep my milk supply up because of the feeding hormone thats released at night. Also, he sleeps in his cot until he wakes once small hours and the co-sleeps with us for the rest of the night so its no hassle.

I personally wouold just go with the flow and try not to think about sizes, weights, feeds, rules etc. I have found most of these things to be rubbish. Babies can go longer stretches at night when they get bigger and their tummys hold more.

Good luck again and enjoy the summer and yoour baby. Don't let the silly books & leaflets confuse you and complicate things. That was my mistake. Just bin them and your get their faster through experience.

x x x

Why didn't I know about Mumsnet and Tiktok's fantastic, sensible advice last year when I thought (an idea suggested in a routine I was trying to follow) that my ds had to feed for twenty five minutes on each side! And why, when I mentioned my difficulties with keeping a newborn awake and sucking for that long to my health visitor, did she not give me any useful advice? My life became much less stressful when I stopped timing feeds, and my ds certainly never stopped putting weight on at a great rate.