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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Baby only feeding 5 minutes at a time!

14 replies

CAnn88 · 14/02/2014 18:26

My LO is 4 weeks old and will only feed for 5 minutes at a time, 10 absolute max and I'm not sure why.

In the evening she cluster feeds, but in the day she just seems to snack off and on. In the night she will feed for 5 minutes and then sleep for 4/5 hours. I'm so worried that she isn't get enough food as I'm also only able to feed her with one of my breasts and it never feels full as such. The HV and the midwives have made me feel terrible about bfeeding and have encouraged me to just switch to formula, they reckon it's not going to be sustainable to feed with just the one but I'm determined to keep trying. I was giving formula occasionally but she has been refusing to take it for the last week or so.

Is her just eating for 5 minutes at a time a problem? LO has plenty of wet nappies and a dirty one every day or so, but she's such a big baby (10lb12!) and I'm concerned that the amount of milk she is having won't sustain her! Sorry for all the questions, I haven't been physically able to get to a BF clinic and all of the advice I've received has been so mixed. I'm not very knowledgable about breastfeeding, I just sort of assumed I'd do it and that would be that!

OP posts:
5madthings · 14/02/2014 18:27

If she is gainikng weight well and has wet nappies etc, not a problem at all, she is just an efficient feeder! Some babies are.

5madthings · 14/02/2014 18:28

Btw your milk has made her that big so yes your milk will sustain her, my ds4 was 10lb 13oz at birth and was fine on just bmilk.

TheScience · 14/02/2014 18:30

If she's 10lbs already then surely you have plenty of milk and a very good feeder?

Cakesnbeer · 14/02/2014 18:32

Your body has no problem feeding from one breast only (it is supply and demand) and actually quite a lot of people do this for different reasons.

Five min feeds are normal for some babies as is your breast not feeling full.

What was your babies birth weight? It doesn't of course matter - you can feed a whopper as easily as a tiddler:)

BrianButterfield · 14/02/2014 18:39

Both my DC have been masters of the five-minute feed and often only have one side at a time. They're "little and often" snackers, which is fine.

Original poster
CAnn88 · 14/02/2014 18:53

Sorry of I wasn't clear, she was 10 lb 12 oz at birth so big from the start. She's been putting on 4/5 oz a week since which my health visitor said was 'just about ok'. She also felt my breast and said 'yeah, there's definitely not much going on there'. I'm worried she's right as I never really leak and hardly ever see any milk!

OP posts:
TheScience · 14/02/2014 18:58

She felt your breast??? How bizarre - not sure what she thinks she was feeling for Confused

4-5oz weight gain sounds pretty good to me. Isn't 4-7oz a week supposed to be the normal range for newborns? Some babies who are born big seem to gain a bit more slowly at first until they find their true line iyswim - this happened to a friend of mine, her DC2 was over 9lbs at birth but by 3 months had dropped to the 25th centile and stayed there ever since. Birth weight seems to be more about the pregnancy that the size the baby is destined to be.

I hardly ever leaked or saw milk and DS was breastfed for a year.

geekaMaxima · 14/02/2014 19:06

It's totally possible to bf a baby on one boob. Imagine if you had twins - they'd be having the equivalent of one boob each. Why can you not feed from the other boob though?

4-5 oz a week is in the normal range but it could be a bit higher. Does your lo pull away or fall asleep when the letdown stops? If so, you could try breast compressions to speed up the flow again and get more milk in.

geekaMaxima · 14/02/2014 19:13

[accidentally hit post too soon]

And there are lots of other things you can try to increase weight gain - see Kellymom. Don't let the HV and midwives pressure you into giving formula if that's not what you want. There are plenty of bf solutions to try first and your baby's gain is only a little slower than average so with luck you can increase it without too much trouble.

You're doing great so far. Well done!

Cakesnbeer · 14/02/2014 19:26

4-7 oz a week is average. If you want to see if your baby wants more just offer more.

As for the squeeze, seriously complain. Did she ask first? If not I would be incensed and complain hugely about an unpleasant assault and only marginally less cross if she had asked as touch tells you nothing.

Seeing no milk and having soft breasts is normal for most of us eventually and for done of us from the start. I never leak and that was normal for me.m

TheHouseofMirth · 14/02/2014 19:40

In my experience many midwives know practically nothing about breast feeding and it sounds like the one you saw falls into this category.

DS1 was also a snacker and put on 1 pound in the week after he was born, but he only weighed 6lb 7oz at birth. As long as your baby is happy and having a sensible amount of wet and poo-ey nappies then I think you have nothing to worry about,

Have you discovered the Kellymom website? it's vey helpful and reassuring.

callamia · 16/02/2014 16:26

I have a fast feeder, and he still cluster feeds in the evening a little bit. It used to really worry me, but his weight gain and general development has persuaded me that it must be ok.

My son is now 18 weeks, and still

callamia · 16/02/2014 16:30

Oh fgs, stupid phone, he still feeds little and often during the day, with longer gaps and ten min feeds at night.

I'm cross for you about your HV - and the fairly poor advice you seem to be getting. Have you seen a bf counsellor? I suspect that there's a better way for you than topping up with formula (if that's not what you want).

EMMAW19901 · 03/01/2023 14:27

Hi I have a 10 week old baby I have had a right game with my bf journey from birth I was pumping and breastfeeding which absolutely exhausted me so I chose to ebf which for the past 3 weeks has been okish but my baby now only feeds for 5mins off both breasts and screams that she's still hungry when I check I'm completely empty no milk comes out after the first minute or so she then starts thrashing around cuz to her there's nothing coming out so I've had to start giving her formula which I'm devastated about! It's like I'm full for the 1st feed, she had a decent feed then (she feeds every 2hrs) and then after that feed it's like I'm not filling back up! I know they say we really never empty but I don't believe that because trust me I'm literally having to express my milk and drain my breasts into her mouth I'm gutted that my journey has come to an end 😞

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