12 week baby doesn't seem hungry

[user1466256502]

Hi everyone.

DD2 is 11 weeks old and ebf. She was a big baby (9lbs 6oz) and only lost 3lbs and was up to birth weight in under a week. She has been gaining weight since but has dropped from 91st centile to 75th. She was weighed two weeks ago and had gained 8lbs since previous weighing (so between week 8-10) and planning to get her weighed again tomorrow.

My question is, she hardly seems to feed, she has just had what I call a good feed (5-10mins) now at 2pm. Her last good feed before that was about 6.30am in bed. She seems to be awake for 1hr then asleep for 1hr throughout the day but will occasionally have a long nap up to 2.5hrs. She has all her naps in the sling. I have been offering all day but she's just not interested, stays on breast for about 30 seconds so has a little drink. She is content, happy, active and has at least one dirty nappy a day and plenty of wet. Am I worrying about nothing? Should I just wait till she asks instead of offering all the time? DD1 was constantly on breast s maybe that's why this seems to unusual to me!

If she's gaining weight and is content, I'd say she's just a very efficient feeder! Count yourself lucky : )

Thanks for reassurance, that is what I think logically too but just find it so strange! DD1 was reflux, colic, dairy intolerant so maybe I'm just finding it hard to believe that it can be this calm!

As long as you have plenty of wet and dirty nappies, and good weight gain you are probably OK.

I still offer every few hours even when my baby doesn't ask for it, and he always takes some. I would personally carry on doing that as even if not hunger I would have thought babies would like a drink every few hours like we do. I also think my baby's feeding signals aren't as obvious as they were when he was a newborn!

Great to have an efficient feeder!

I'm assuming where you've written lb you mean oz (!!)

But otherwise everyone recommends feeding on demand. If nappies are wet and dirty, plus baby is happy and growing, then keep it up. Maybe monitor growth a bit more closely (fortnightly?) than you otherwise would and make sure she's going up each time.

You'll know if baby is unwell due to being lethargic, grey, sallow eyes and showing signs of malnourishment. If that happens, take to HV/GP/hospital. Until then (hopefully that's never), I think do as you are doing.