Long feeds - 1hr plus

[MollyWho]

My DS is 6 weeks old, he's had a slight tongue tie snipped but he still takes well over an hour to feed each time he's been known to be at the breast for 2 hours at night time before we've topped him up with formula.
When he's feeding he alternates between a strong suck swallow and lighter sucks. He tends to take so long that he falls a sleep but then when put in the basket he wakes up and roots again.

Is there anyway I can encourage the stronger sucks to speed things up.

I've tried massage and compression but don't feel comfortable doing that in public/company.

Any tips would be much appreciated x

Molly, this may seem long, but it is within normal limits for a young baby. Babies stop, start, have a little rest halfway, decide they're finished, change their minds, want a bit more....it can easily add up to an hour or more with occasional cluster feeding episodes when it becomes pointless and impossible to work out where one feed starts and ends and the next one starts and ends....it blurs into one whole session of off-and-on.

He may prefer to sleep close to you, in your arms a lot of the time.

I don't think it's worth massaging or compressing - these are things that help with a baby who falls asleep before he has had sufficient milk, because of being underweight or lacking in energy.

Does this help? As your baby gets older he will take less time to get what he needs. But for a young baby, the emotional and physical connection he experiences at the breast is a lot more than the milk....he 'knows' what he needs and alternates his stronger and lighter sucks to regulate his intake.

While this period lasts, you need care and nurturing yourself, and it really helps to accept that other 'stuf' in your life/house/schedule can wait unless they're an emergency.

:)

It does help, thank you tiktok.
Reading about feeds lasting 10-15mins made me feel we were doing something wrong.

It might help to hook up with a breastfeeding support group, Molly - you'll see a whole range of bf experiences. You are def. not doing anything 'wrong'.

At this stage I hated feeding and felt I was definitely doing something terribly wrong.

I'm now nearly 17 weeks in and dd is much more efficient. Still cluster feeds almost all morning but later feeds can be very short - it'll get easier, I promise

At this stage my DS was still feeding for 1-1.5 hours a time and pretty much continually in the evenings. As other people have said, it's very normal and goes away more quickly than you can imagine in your current sleep deprived state!

Time really is the best cure, just a week or two can really make a difference, and in the meantime a bf support group or line might help keep you sane

Unless you are also having issues with weight gain there is also usually no need to top up with formula at this stage (unless you are actively choosing to mixed feed), the reason for the long feeds is to bring the supply up to exactly what is needed, then it will soon level out. Good luck!

Thank you. It's been very reassuring to read your replies.
TBH the formula top ups started because of weight gain issues but now we use them when it gets late and he's already fed for a long time - it's just a quicker way to get some sleep! I'm happy to do a bottle of formula a day as I struggle to find time to express so it gives me a bit of freedom to go out too.

I'm mix feeding too Molly. Approximately 1-2 a day and it's working a treat for us. I'd have probably jacked bf by now otherwise because of exactly what you're describing.