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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Extending time between 6 week old's feeds

13 replies

mummymilkfloat · 05/03/2015 06:49

Just looking for some advice please :-)
Our 6 week old DD is putting on weight and is generally pretty happy. I just wish she would go a bit longer between feeds. She is breast fed. At night we are getting one 3 or 4 hour sleep then she will only sleep in 1.5/2 hour chunks the rest of the night.
In the day she feeds often as well-every 1 or 2 hours, very erratic!
She only feeds for between 5 or 10 minutes and then won't take any more.
Should I be leaving her longer between feeds? I can't leave her to cry knowing if I feed her she would be happy so maybe I'm making a rod for my own back?
Sorry this is so rambly!

OP posts:
caravanista13 · 05/03/2015 06:55

It's such hard work, but in the early weeks this is really the way that breast feeding works best. If you try to space out the feeds it's likely to reduce your supply. If you can work through it it does get better!

IAmAPaleontologist · 05/03/2015 07:01

She sounds perfectly normal. That is normal bf baby behavior. That night time stretch is fab. Some people find they can knock that big stretch a bit too get it to when they are in bed themselves by rousing baby for a feed before they wake. Doesn't always work but perhaps worth a try. You are doing great, rest when
you can, the rest will come in time.

PrimroseEverdeen · 05/03/2015 07:46

Totally normal! You have to just go with it I'm afraid! It won't last forever!

Original poster
mummymilkfloat · 05/03/2015 08:12

Thank you!!
I just find myself worrying as she doesn't seem to feed for very long compared to what other people say their babies are doing.
And everyone from our antenatal classes says their little ones are just feeding every 3 hours.
I can't help but compare!
Also didn't help when the health visitor asked disparagingly 'oh you're still feeding on demand then?' I thought that's what I'm meant to be doing!
Just looking forward to a bit of routine but think its too early really. Thank you for the reassurance :-)

OP posts:
TarkaTheOtter · 05/03/2015 08:15

That's really normal I'm afraid. Keep feeding as much as possible in the day and that night stretch should start to get a bit longer.

Bugaboom · 05/03/2015 08:22

Just to reassure you, my dd is nearly 8 weeks and sounds exactly the same. If I remember rightly it was around 3 months before my son settled into 3 hour feeds. I tend to bring dd into bed with me after the first stretch and feed on my side so the wake ups aren't so bad.

Bugaboom · 05/03/2015 08:24

I mean three hourly feeds rather than feeds taking three hours!

Bohemond · 05/03/2015 08:31

My six week old is doing exactly the same and is healthy and putting on weight - he does tend to feed a bit longer though. I'm trying to establish some sort of routine but am basing it on sleep times rather than feed times ie still feeding on demand but putting him down to sleep at specific times, not just after a feed. Hoping this will make life feel a little less erratic.

Original poster
mummymilkfloat · 05/03/2015 10:13

Thank you everybody :-)

OP posts:
QuietNinjaTardis · 05/03/2015 10:23

My dd was a very efficient feeder and only fed for 5/10 mins at a time since birth. So long as you let her feed for as long as she wants and then offer the second boob (which she may or may not take) then you're doing it right. She's just getting your supply established but as she gets older the feeds will space out a bit.

nutmegandginger · 05/03/2015 15:55

It will get better. I remember my dd doing the same as yours at 6 weeks and just wishing she could go longer at night. 5-6 weeks was a real low point for me because the lack of sleep was really starting to build up by then, and she still seemed to be waking so much at night. But then the first sleep started to get slightly longer and it became much more bearable, You just have to wait for her tummy to get bigger so she can take more in and last longer. Re the length of her feeds - she might just be an efficient feeder. The lactation consultants I spoke to said not to worry about how long a baby feeds for as it varies so much and doesn't necessarily reflect how much milk they are taking in.

Original poster
mummymilkfloat · 07/03/2015 03:59

Thank you for the reassurance :-)

OP posts:
Writerwannabe83 · 07/03/2015 08:13

When my DS was that young he was feeding all the time. He had prolonged jaundice (something that some BF babies can suffer with) and so I had to keep a detailed log of his feeds and in a 24 hour period he was having a minimum of 12 feeds a day and sometimes as many as 15.

Having a 3-4 hour block of sleep at this age is amazing!!!! My DS was up every two hours without fail Smile

It sounds like you are doing an amazing job. Breast feeding in a healthy, weight-gaining baby should always be on demand because that's just the way it works. Until my DS started being weaned at 6 months he was still demand fed. He was having less feeds a day, maybe 7-8 but they were still very erratic, there was certainly no pattern to them.

Enjoy your baby and keep going as you are Smile Flowers

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