3 week old BF, slight concerns about supply

[TriciaMcM]

My first child, DD was EBF and despite lots of worrying, thrived on it. I did spend huge amounts of time on the then Breast Feeding forum here reading as much info as I could.

This time around, I expected feeding DS to be easier without the anxiety. It is but I'm a little concerned about my supply in the evenings so came back to check a few things and realised I may be doing lots wrong. Read some advice from tiktok to another poster (tiktok should receive a medal for helping anxious mothers btw) and not sure if guidance has changed or if I'm misremembering.

I haven't been offering both sides for every feed, only on rare occasions that he seems hungry still. I'm guessing that hasn't helped boost my supply? DD used to take ages to feed (about 20-25 or 30 mins a side) but DS is never really feeding past 12 mins, he'll stay messing about but not feeding forever, but he's definitely not actually feeding at that stage. I have to tickle him to keep him awake to get him to feed past 10 mins. Is he missing out on hind milk or is that outdated advice too?

He's having lots of wet/dirty nappies and gaining weight. He lost about 7% of birth weight but was back over it 10 days later. 3.86kg at birth, 4.14kg at 2.5 weeks. He's alert etc when he's awake. I feed on demand so he seems to cluster feed before a decent sleep & then can sleep for 4+ hours. In a 24 hour period, he could have 2 4+ hour sleeps. He seems a very content baby, only grumbles with wind and very rarely actually cries.

He did sleep for 5.5 hours last night, should I be waking him more often at this stage for feeds during the night? I usually set an alarm for 5 hours but in my exhaustion set it for 6.

Summary:

1. Should I offer both sides each feed? Even if he falls asleep after 1?
2. Does 12 mins sound long enough for a feed at 3 weeks?
3. Should I wake him for feeds & if so, how regularly?

Many thanks for any advice/suggestions from an exhausted and befuddled mother.

I'm no expert but if he is gaining weight and is happy/content is say you were doing fine, since having ds2 I am constantly amazed how different two children with similar genes can be!!! And if you were my friend i'd tell you to stop worrying

You have great supply, your baby has good gain and your body is better prepared having done it once before.

Output mirrors input, there is plenty so that is good. Is poo yello mostly then plenty of fat being processed- no need to worry about fore/hind milk the very terms which over simplify and mess up our grasp of the way milk changes in a feed, throughout the day ...

Is it best to offer both sides, yup but it won't always work. Can a baby be an efficient feeder from the start - yup - you goth sound like you are doing great:)

I'd say you were doing fine even!

Thanks for reassurance! Yes, poos are yellow, we had green ones one day after I started on antibiotics for an infection but yellow again since.

The constant worry and anxiety took a lot of joy out of the early days with DD so I was trying to avoid overthinking things this time around, but still obviously want the best for DS. Went to Kellymom but there is so much info I didn't know where to start.

Honestly. I don't see how you could be doing better! He's happy and alert, gaining weight, sleeping well, peeing and pooing.......sounds completely perfect to me!

I forgot to mention in the epic first post (problem with typing on phone!) that the reason I'm worried about supply is that I've had a few 'feeds' recently where although he seemed to be sucking properly, he wasn't getting any milk from either side, like there wasn't much left in there. I don't want to supplement but obviously don't want him to be hungry either.

Efficient feeders often seem to be not getting much.

He'll tell you if he's hungry!

The current advice I was given was offer both sides but don't worry if they don't always take them.
And feed uuntil they un latch be it 10 min or 40!

Sometimes my dd has seemed not to be getting much then do a milky burp or drool of milk straight after so clearly she was, but I didn't feel it.

If the baby wees and poos properly they must be eating. Longer term, if they're growing and healthy in themselves.

Thanks for the replies. I might bring him to be weighed next week and then on a weekly/fortnightly basis just to keep an eye on things. I guess the anxiety doesn't go away fully second time around, though I thought I was doing better!