1 hour feeds at almost 4 weeks old every 2-3 hours - can baby feed out of boredom/obsession??

[Jellybabie3]

Just curious. I thought babys cant overfeed on bf. But ds seems a little obsessed with feeding/my boobs even when hes had a good fill. I have no probs with the hour feeds per se but in the night its obviously gruelling especially when i then put him down and he wakes up and we end up repeating the process when i am convinced hes full already (turning this into a 2 hour stint ) I know they comfort suckle which he does. But he also wants to feed after hes been sick which feels as a result of over eating....

Maybe i am over analysing but just curious on peoples thoughts/experiences. If he plays for abit he seems to forget about the boob for a min!!

This is easily on the normal spectrum at this age, jelly :)

I'm assuming your baby is growing well and is basically content.

For a young baby, breastfeeding is warmth, contact, closeness, food, drink, reassurance. Feeds lasting an hour or so are fine and some may last more (usually the baby is actually stringing together lots of shorter feeds with short breaks - sometimes called 'cluster feeding').

It's very typical of the early weeks and tends to resolve itself over time :)

Thought so. But good to hear. Amazes me he can feed for an hour, fall asleep for 10min then wake up and go 'ooo boobie please' little toad

Thanks

It's completely normal, he's still absolutely tiny, his stomach is tiny, holds tiny volumes, needs refilling often. You should attend some local breastfeeding groups to learn more about it all and how normal many of your queries are.

BF babies don't tend to overeat, no. But you can break the latch if your baby has fallen asleep on the breast. Stick your little finger in between your baby's mouth and your breast to pop them off. I had to do that to protect my nipples in the early weeks.

I recommend the suggestion to find a local BF group so you can talk to other mothers in a similar situation.

Ok thanks. Apologies if I'm asking stuff thats all been said before.

Well it's not been said to you so no worries asking!

I found that once the baby's weight was stable, I could kind of tell the difference between hunger and comfort seeking. As mentioned my nipples were horrible sore at the start and I couldn't just let her nurse for hours. A lactation consultant showed me how to break the latch and encouraged swaddling as an alternative method of comfort.

My 8 week old is doing an hours feed every 2-3 hours 24/7 ! It's killer but totally normal.

Are you sure he has an effective latch? It might be that he needs to spend a little longer to get enough milk due to tongue tie or something.

But if he seems to be swallowing and there are signs he’s drawing milk it’s probably just that he’s a hungry baby.

My DS has tongue tie which meant feeds were 45 mins out of every hour, once we had this snipped his feeds did regulate but there ate still some times he can feed for ages!

There’s a difference when he’s fallen asleep on the breast, if I get the feeling that he’s asleep and doesn’t need to be eating I use my finger to break the latch. He lets me know if he’s actually still hungry if he’s happy or not to come off the boob.

Has your latch been checked by a breastfeeding professional? Has your baby been checked for tongue tie?
It can be totally normal, or it could be a sign of a problem. Is weight gain ok?
Bf in the early days can be hard going it does get easier though.

This was totally normal for us! When she was 5 weeks, Mine once went for 36 hours only sleeping for 15-30 mins at a time - feeding constantly in between. My DD also comfort fed and cluster-fed at night until around 10 weeks (although we had early feeding issues due to tongue tie, so we took a bit longer to get the hang of bfing efficiently) and I can honestly say the thing which made me stick out those mega night feeds was finding a good support group.

Good luck!

Hv and mw both happy with latch. We had problems at the start due to tough birth - low milk etc which required formula top ups. Ds lost alot of weight but is now over birth weight. Hes put on 10oz in 10 days and is now 8lb 8oz at almost 4 weeks. He hasn't had formula for coming up 2 weeks. Abit house bound atm due to c section. Milk is pouring out of me now....literally. I guess its comfort. Hes still young