Hi,
I'm currently feeding my five week old on demand, and I have a few queries and worries that I'm hoping some people with good experience will be able to help me out with. I realise this sounds like the ramblings of a neurotic, but I am really keen to breastfeed as successfully as possible. We had a tough start with him being in NICU, and being bottle-fed like a goose being kept for fois gras. For the first week we came home, I supplemented a little bit with formula before stopping that about three weeks ago. We initially struggled to establish feeding without him ruining my nipples, but some trips to a breastfeeding cafe helped an awful lot. However, I still feel fairly under-confident about what I'm doing. I've read as much as I can, but these are questions that I can't readily find answers to.
My main worry is about length of feeding. My baby has never fed for very long - it's usually around ten minutes, but can be as short as five or as long as twenty. Recently, he's been feeding less frequently during the day. I think now he feeds for a total of about two hours per day (from three to four in the first few weeks). I know I shouldn't be clock-watching, and I'm pretty sure that I have a fairly fast let down - he does sometimes cough and choke a bit, so he probably gets a fair amount in that few minutes, but I'm just wondering if this seems reasonable. I think it's too early for him to be a routine, but I'm also wondering whether I should be trying to persuade him to feed for longer, and if so, how? He tends to fall asleep at the breast, and doesn't want to feed if I wake him again - it feels very counter-intuitive to wake him.
My other concern is that he can be quite inconsistent in his latch - sometimes he flails around, doesn't open his mouth and then gets really upset. He does end up feeding, but the initial flurry of activity makes me wonder whether there's anything different I could be doing. We feed in a couple of different positions, but mainly cradle.
I know that this all seems a bit something and nothing. He's been putting on weight (3lbs since birth), and produces wet and dirty nappies, so I know that there's no real need to worry. I just want to be sure that I am doing the best for him. I'm grateful for any thoughts and advice. We will go back to the local breastfeeding cafe, but this week is coincides with my six week check-up, so we won't be able to go. Thanks lots.