12 day old baby taking 2 hours to feed

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Hi,
12 day old DD born with 3.16 kgs weight. First week she didn't lose any weight, but yesterday at 11 day HV check up her weight was only 3.17. First week i was not producing enough milk/colostrum and she had top up of approx 40- 60ml after every BF. She latched on well but just fell asleep after few minutes. I have now started expressing as well and even with fenugreek, lots of water I am only producing about 50ml combined from both breasts. She is still bfing too, but i doubt she is sucking enough as again she falls asleep in 10- 20 minutes and when I lay her on her cot she wakes up and hungry for more. Breast feeding can continue for 2 hours or more especially at nights.. HV has said that since she hasn't gained enough weight in 2 weeks I should think of putting her on formula, something I don't want to do. I am looking for advise as to how to increase milk supply( have only been pumping for 2 days and 4 times at max. Will try n put a pumping session at night) and most importantly if the baby is feeding for 2 hours falling asleep in between, is there any hope for her to be exclusively BF with doing one feed in 20 -30 minutes in future.. i don't want to give up on BFing ... looking for some support and advise..

Hi, have you ruled out tongue tie? I strongly recommend talking to La Leche League - a govt subsidised breast feeding charity. They were fantastic with me. Look online to find your nearest. If there isn't one in your area, try their info sheets on their website - but bf problems aren't always easy to self diagnose so try the advisors first. Good luck

The best thing you can do is keep her on the breast as much as possible as this will stimulate more milk production. Get settled on the sofa with snacks and tv and settle down for the day if you can (I miss those days!). Tickle her feet to wake her if she keeps falling asleep.

Also second la leche league. Lots of good people to follow on Instagram too like littlepeachlondon and milk making mama.

Another thought - if you top up feed, you won't dry up, unless you're replacing the regular feeds. Your baby might need a temporary boost and then you'll be able to drop the formula if you want to. I know plenty of people who have done that - or let their partner do the occasional formula feed which is v handy if you go out/get ill

My daughter was like this, I ended up caving and going for formula as she just wasn’t gaining weight. I discovered when she was 2 that she had a significant tongue tie! I wish I had known that when she was newborn, I would definitely recommend that she is assessed for a tongue tie and get some breast feeding support, your health visitor can help with that

I would get a breast feeding consultant to make sure your daughter's latch is the best it can be. Does nursing feel comfortable or are you having any pain?

Also... don't beat yourself up if bf doesn't work out. You really can't tell the difference between bf and formula fed children & I'm sure you'll be a great mummy which what really matters

Hi All,
Thanks for all the responses. Sorry for not replying earlier, since yesterday I had fever due to mastitis. I did feel my DD was not draining my breasts completely hence had been pumping for last few days just too avoid mastitis but i still got it.

@squeakyclean13 , @Ciwirocks- she has been checked for tongue tie couple of times and doesn't have it. She has also been checked for a good latch and the miss wife and HV could see she had latched properly..

@squeakyclean13- yes that's my aim to try n keep giving her as much breast milk as possible n then try to bring down the formula milk. Strange thing is one of my breast produces only 1/2 Or at times only 1/4th of what the other breast produces. N the same low production breast has the blocked ducts which have caused mastitis.

@SophieGiroux- thanks for the info I will follow them on Insta. As of now due to mastitis, i am trying to feed as often as possible and pumping couple of times..

Mid* wife not miss wife

My DD was only 2kg at birth and lost over 10% of her birth weight. She struggled to latch as she was so tiny so we had to combination feed to start with. She also used to nod off while feeding and have feeding marathons - this is normal. Cluster feeding is baby's way of building your supply. She should be able to stay awake for longer as she gets older and should also become more efficient at feeding. The amount you pump isn't necessarily indicative of your supply.

I also got mastitis twice early on so feel your pain - it's horrendous!

My DD is now almost 9mo and EBF, and her feeds usually take anywhere from 10-30 mins. I haven't had mastitis again (couple of near misses when DD started not needing to feed as often as she used to but managed to clear it). Just hang on in there and keep feeding that baby as much as possible.

I agree with thepurplemoose, that the amount you pump isn’t what you produce - I was a copious producer, but could hardly get anything by pumping. Having said that, I also had one side that produced much more than the other initially and had to keep on going with the feeding while the supply evened itself out. I also had mastitis while the problem resolved. I don’t think 10-20 mins feed is bad for a newborn. Mine both took frequent shortish feeds at first and then longer as they got older, stronger and hungrier. Is she taking 2 hours in total in the night to feed, or 2 hours per feed? If 2 hours total, then sadly that’s fairly normal at this stage of the game. I had mine in a crib by the bed so I could just drag them in and out of bed with the minimum of fuss and also ended up watching a lot of stuff of my phone to stay awake! 2 hours per feed would be different and might suggest something like colic & reflux & one of contributory issues here can be too much thin formilk and not enough fatty hindmilk than can come with frequent short feeds. If that’s an issue try finishing off the first breast before starting a new one. i hope that’s helpful. Good luck!

@squeakyclean13-thanks for the info. she usually takes one feed in between midnight to about 5:00 A.M. and that can last upto 2 hours. And usually the same duration for rest of the breast feeds.. but last 2 days her feeds have taken about an hour or hour and half. Also she was weighed today and her weight has slightly increased to 3.23(from 3.17 on Thursday) .. so fingers crossed she is gaining weight from breast feeding.

@ThePurpleMoose- thanks for your response. Good to know it worked for you.. hoping it will work for me too and i am able to EBF my DD.

Thanks again everyone.. you have helped me to keep my hopes alive..I am going to try and follow all the advise given here n let you know how we get on. TA.

I also have a 13 day old baby who falls asleep after 5 minutes and is not gaining enough weight.

Lactation consultant gave me a really helpful piece if advice. As soon as she falls asleep take her off and swap sides. Then when she falls asleep again swap back. Important to get back to side 1 so she gets the hind milk.

I find undressing her is the only thing that wakes her for any reasonable time!

Anyway I've being doing this for 2 days and feel like I'm seeing a really noticeable improvement. Today I managed to put her to bed at 7:30 instead of the usual relic 5 hour cluster feed.

*epic, not relic.

Also squeeze the boob to help her. It really does. Think I was told not to do that with DS1 but 🤷‍♀️ whatever works right?!

My DS was formula fed and would take him a good hour to try and get 3oz down him. It got easier in time x

I was given the same advice aria999, and it really worked for me, too. DD1 used to take about 90 mins per feed but was actually just snoozing and using me for comfort for most of that time. When I actively managed a feed by changing sides often, tickling and blowing gently on her/undressing her etc she would feed in about 30 mins and then have a much deeper sleep off the boob.

I'm slightly confused about the HV comments re weight as it's completely normal for babies to lose up to 10% weight. I would actually stop the top up - what you are pumping is not reflective of your supply and topping up could have a negative effect on your supply. Yes she may lose a bit of weight at first but this will be due to the fact she didn't lose any the first week. Who advised the top up so early? The feeding between midnight and five is really good as this is when the hormones responsible for milk production are highest so she's putting her order in for the next day. Some babies can be very sleepy initially and the advice is to strip them off to wake them. You can do this, have a day in bed feeding her. For what it's worth the first time I used a pump I got 10ml and did have a slight panic that I wasn't producing enough. I now use the pump fairly regularly to build a freezer supply and can get 4oz very quickly. It just took my body time to get used to the pump. I'd honestly ditch your pump for now, they aren't needed initially. Sorry if this was a little long/bad grammar etc, I'm up feeding DC3. She lost more than the 10% and slow to gain it back at first but the midwifes were so supportive and said it didn't matter as she was having lots of wet nappies and poos. She has some lovely leg rolls now. Another thing is jaundice can cause sleepy ness so maybe sit by the window etc with her.

Everything @davies308 has said is spot on. If I were you I would stop the top ups because it won't be helping your supply. Just get comfy and keep putting your baby to the breast. Falling asleep is normal and so are cluster feeding sessions. Up to 10% weight loss is expected.

The advice is not to express in the first 4-6 weeks as it messes with supply. Also as pp said, who told you to top up so early? As your milk was coming in it was the most essential time to keep feeding your baby to establish the supply. Don't fret over the ml or oz, or doesn't work that way with breastfeeding.

Sounds like you're doing really well so just keep going with it.

So she was above birthweight at 12 days? That's absolutely normal and wonderful! A baby should normally return to birthweight by 10-14 days. I'm totally baffled as to why your HV has suggested formula in that situation

The feeding also sounds absolutely normal to me. It sounds like she is cluster feeding a lot in the evening? Again that is totally normal behaviour and a good thing, she is getting lots of fattier milk while your breasts are emptier, and telling your body to make more milk.

I would also suggest seeing a lactation consultant/breastfeeding counsellor for some reassurance and just focus on putting baby to the breast as much as possible. It sounds like you're doing great.

Try having a read of these resources- they are really helpful. www.laleche.org.uk/get-support/#bfinfo
I’d be very wary of ignoring the hv advice re top up feeds. It’s really important that new babies put on weight and she presumably is well qualified and experienced and has reason to suggest it. However it sounds like the situation has improved, so it may not be necessary any more - check first though x

@squeakyclean13 as much as we would love to think HV are experienced in breast feeding advice the reality is that they really aren't. Sad but true.

It's a lactation consultant or breastfeeding specialist that has the qualifications and knowledge. There really aren't enough of these around.

10-20 minutes is a good amount of time to be feeding

Many babies cry if put down in a cot when they're in the 4th trimester

This sounds like cluster feeding which is very common in the evening and is increasing your supply

Please leave the fenugreek alone, there is no evidence that it increases milk supply and in some cases it can decrease it.

What you need is time skin to skin with your baby. It is too early to decide baby isn't gaining enough

Agree with PP that you need to seek more qualified BF support.

The best solution is to feed almost continuously to build your supply and ensure your baby is getting hind milk.
New babies can feed almost all the time until the supply is flowing well.
Formula and expressing makes this more difficult.
It is poor practice to test weight breast fed babies.
Babies tend to lose weight initially and regain by about the two week period. Yours sounds normal but you sound poorly advised.

It can help to use a warm flannel to soften the breast before feeding. It can also help to make sure baby patches on to the side of a breast where there is lumpiness from a blocked duct to prevent mastitis.

It might be worth seeing if there is an NCT breastfeeding counsellor locally to you or a specialist breastfeeding midwife at the hospital you delivered at. Health Visitor may not be an expert on feeding techniques.

Hind milk vs fore milk isn't really a distinction- the composition changes throughout a feed