Sudden change in newborn feeding

[FuchsiaG]

Hello, I’m a bit concerned about a sudden change in feeding with my 11day old baby. I felt we had just got to grips with breastfeeding after finding it difficult initially and he was feeding every couple of hours for stints of about 10-20 minutes. For the past couple of days however, he will only latch on for short periods (2-4 minutes) and seems to fall asleep after just a few minutes of feeding. Once he comes off the breast he wakes up and tries to get back on but then the same thing happens again. He is putting his fists in his mouth and turning his head so I’m worried he’s hungry but he doesn’t seem able to continue to feed. He then won’t settle in his basket like he usually does during the day. I’ve had a midwife and health visitor visit this morning and neither of them were concerned as he has gained a good amount of weight.

Is this normal? Does anyone have any advice? Thanks.

Hi. I have no advice but you have my sympathy & ? ?! I have a 17 day old and am going through something similar. Goes from sleeping soundly to hungry rage in approximately 0.1 seconds and then rears himself away from the breast/gets his hands in the way of his mouth/won't latch properly/stays on for like 5 mins. The only difference is that mine was losing weight so am on a feeding plan that involves topping up with expressed breast milk and then formula (if still hungry, which he always is!)

Thanks for the reply :) it’s so frustrating isn’t it? He awas feeding so well before this. I just dont understand what has changed and why he keeps stopping each feed so quickly, especially when he seems hungry afterwards.

My 17 day old baby has started doing this today too! It's a worry isn't it? She's showing signs of hunger then falling asleep 10 minutes in and waking again in an hour or two for another small feed.