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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

6 day old baby won't drink for more than 10 mins at a feed

27 replies

laksa · 04/10/2007 09:25

Hi,

My baby is 6 days old and she just won't drink from my breast for more than 10 mins the night before last she was latching on every 1 1/2 hours through the night for just 5 mins. The midwife came the next day and said I was feeding her too much and to just space them out more and she would soon drink for longer. So last night she was 3/4 hours in between feeds but is still only latching on for 10 mins and then nothing I do can induce her to take more. I've tried changing her nappy in between and putting her back on, I've tried keeping her cold so she doesn't drop off to sleep, I burp her and then put her back on but she refuses to drink any more...will my milk dry up at this rate and will she start to lose too much weight?? Please could someone give me some advice as I am so down about it. Apparently their is nothing wrong with my latch as the midwife said it was fine.

OP posts:

livvylouis · 04/10/2007 10:46

My DS was the same for the first few weeks, he would only ever want to feed for 5-10 mins and then want more soon after. I think this is perfectly normal, your baby is feeding frequently to build up your milk supply to meet her needs. The more you feed your baby the more milk you will produce so as long as you feed your baby whenever she wants, your milk will not dry up! It may be that she is having a growth spurt at the moment which is why she is feeding so often but as she gets older her feeding pattern will settle down and it will become easier .

livvylouis · 04/10/2007 10:51

PS, my DS is 11 weeks now and still only feeds for about 10 mins at a time but is puttig on weight and doing great.

phdlife · 04/10/2007 10:52

laksa, PLEASE don't worry about this!

my baby did the same and he turned out HUUUUGE.

I also had a stupid, stupid midwife tell me that I had to "make" him feed for longer and gave me a bunch of tricks to try, just as yours has done. It was extremely stressful for us both as he just didn't want to - and your dd may be the same if you have a fast, or rich, flow. In fact if you look down this topic you will see a few days ago Tutter started a thread to find out just how common these 5-10minute feeding babies are!

Nor will your milk dry up - the more your baby feeds the more you will have - you watch in a couple of days your breasts will be ENORMOUS.

Don't worry, you are doing fine. It is hard at first and it will take you both a couple of weeks to perfect the art of bfing, but it sounds to me like you are already well on the way.

Relaaaaax, honestly, it's okay. Your dd will tell you what she needs, not what some midwife says she needs.

phdlife · 04/10/2007 10:54

loook, here we are talking about our fast-feeding babies!

Just make sure you get as much rest as you can. My ds would not feed lying down in bed, in the early days, but if you can learn that you'll feel a lot better for it.

I'm sure others will be along shortly to give you more reassurance.

phdlife · 04/10/2007 10:56

I forgot to say, my ds fed every 1.5-2hrs for MONTHS. If he was even half an hour late I got a soggy shirt!

Piffle · 04/10/2007 10:56

sounds like you have a good supply
none of mine have ever fed for long...

alarkaspree · 04/10/2007 10:58

My ds always fed very quickly too, my dd was very quick for about the first couple of weeks and then started taking 45 minutes or an hour for each feed. They are all different.

Please try not to worry about how long she is feeding for, if she is feeding efficiently for 10 minutes she is probably having enough in that time. If her nappies are wet and she seems reasonably content then I'm sure she is fine.

neolara · 04/10/2007 11:05

Both of my two were exactly the same. With baby number one, I thought it must be something about her, but when baby number two fed in exactly the same way I figured I just had a super quick let down and they got their fill quickly. Unfortunately, it did mean they tended to eat more frequently than most other babies but there seemed to be absolutely bugger all I could do about it. And as for waking them up when they'd nodded off at the breast ...... completely impossible. I really wouldn't worry about it quick feeds. Some babies (and possibly some boobs) just seems to work this way. In a few weeks it will all be different anyway. They change so quickly.

Oh, and congratulations on your DD!

tiktok · 04/10/2007 14:10

laksa, your baby's feeding pattern is totally normal, nothing wrong with it at all.

I don't know what your midwife is talking about, I really don't.

3-4 hourly is a long time between feeds for a 6 day old, and most will feed more often than that....sounds like your dd's needs at the moment are for frequent feeds each lasting something like 10 mins and that is fine.

By now, your dd will be producing several soft yellow poos a day and that is a good sign she is getting what she needs

Original poster

laksa · 04/10/2007 14:45

thanks guys, I am just so new to this and none of my friends have babies so I have nobody to ask for advice. Does this mean I should try to stretch her to 2 hourly if she feeds every hour though, the midwife said she was snacking when she just had 5 mins every hour and this would make her colicky? Is every 2 hours in the day ok? and go 3 hours at night? I have no idea whether she is hungry or just wants comfort half the time

Wish babies came with a manual!

OP posts:

ChubbyScotsBurd · 04/10/2007 15:48

laksha, I may well be corrected on this by someone much more knowledgeable than myself, but I wouldn't try to time the feeds at all - if she looks hungry and she wants to latch on then just let her feed - forget the clock. The colicky thing I think would be a reference to her getting too much foremilk but from what I understand it's only really an issue if you swap sides frequently, and even then I have doubts about how significant the whole foremilk/hindmilk thing is in most cases. To be honest I think more of an issue is keeping YOU comfortable at this stage so just keep her on one side until it's uncomfy then swap her over to give your poor nips a rest. At that stage my baby was doing exactly the same thing - always on the boob, feeding frequently but for short periods. He's now 10 weeks and only in the last couple of weeks he's really started to space out his feeds and take longer over each one.

Well done you though, it sounds like you've made a great start!

kayjayel · 04/10/2007 15:56

Hi laksa,

would have written same post myself 2 years ago if I had been able to type! Worried tons about everything, and in then end he turned out fine, always fed quickly - at 5 mths would only be max 5 mins, but then could go 4-5 hrs between feeds, even on such a short feed (and not weaned). My boy never made any sense according to the manuals or various health professionals, but I've always found at least one other MNetter whose baby did the same and thrived. Oh, and he didn't get colic from short, frequent feeds. Oh, and can I be extremely at the going 3 hrs between feeds at night? Didn't manage that til about 5 months.

Sounds like you're doing great and well done on BF!

tiktok · 04/10/2007 16:16

Throw away the clock and watch your baby instead of watching the time, laksa!

Your midwife sounds very underinformed.

Just follow your baby's lead

phdlife · 04/10/2007 16:50

nah, laksa - your MW is telling you old fairy tales - let your dd feed as and when; all the advice I saw said that these days "colic" is not thought to be related to digestion, more to the baby's growing consciousness.

Biffo · 04/10/2007 17:07

Laksa, my dd has always been an extremely fast feeder; i used to worry when people told me of hour long feeds etc but now she is 6 and a half months and has been on the 91st % weight wise since she was about a month old (she was average when she was born)! Some babies are just more efficient (and maybe greedy!) than others and like other mums have said your baby will tell you soon enough if hungry. Sounds like you are doing a fab job, don't be down!xx

Original poster

laksa · 05/10/2007 12:14

thankyou, its difficult to stop clock watching but I will try. I guess I just wanted to get it right, but there doesn't seem to be a definitive right way to feed a baby. I will try to relax and go with the flow a bit more. It's nice to know that so many babies have thrived on small times on the breast, you just don't hear about them in the manuals!

OP posts:

princessmel · 05/10/2007 12:21

My dd was like this after a while. 11 mins every time. But when she was a few months old her feeds were no longer than 3 mins. I was worried but my hv (who was very good)said that she'd just been to a bf meeting/conference thing and they'd told her that its fine for a baby to feed that quickly. I must have had powerful milk!!

She put on weight and was fine so it was all ok in the end.

princessmel · 05/10/2007 12:22

By powerful I mean fast flowing.

BandofMutantMonsters · 05/10/2007 12:27

Some good advice on here, Tiktok def knows what she's talking about.

Feed her when she wants to be fed. There is no way of knowing how much she is getting each time, 10 mins on each is quite a lot considering a ff baby can wolf a bottle in 15 mins or less.

Rach35 · 05/10/2007 12:37

my DD was just the same in the first couple of weeks and now takes about 15-20mins for a feed. (she is 4wks now) Don't worry - feed when LO is hungry and enjoy the time to gaze at your gorgeous LO when bf....... I expressed for a bottle for the first time so DH can do the last feed at night and was gobsmacked at how quickly my DD snaffled 3oz....... They can get a lot down in a matter of minutes and remember they have tiny tummies. Congrats on DD though - have fun!

Biffo · 05/10/2007 12:57

Tiktok always knows what she's talking about in my experience!

tiktok · 05/10/2007 13:12

laksa, there is a right way to feed a new baby - it's just that it doesn't involve clocks and watches

A healthy, term baby needs, emotionally and physiologically and nutritionally, to be close to the breast and to have 'access' to it without restrictions, so the mum needs to be responsive to feeding 'cues' in order that this access actually happen.

Learning the skills associated with this - the attachment and how best to make it comfortable and effective for both mum and baby - don't always happen without a bit of patience and effort; cultural expectations can intefere with this learning; birth experiences ditto.

Biffo · 05/10/2007 13:56

Told you (wink)!

tiktok · 05/10/2007 14:56

Original poster

laksa · 06/10/2007 14:29

bandofmutant, she isn't getting 10mins on each side per feed, she is only getting 10mins on one boob and then going 2/3 hours till next feed.

In the last couple of days she has been going 4 hours over night without waking and my boobs are starting to feel less engorged, is this a bad sign. I have yet to have her weighed again so don't know if she has lost weight or not?

Oh well, guess I had better wait and see what the Hv says when she is weighed on monday.

thanks again for the reassurance.

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