Breastfeeding time

[beth821]

My 4 week old baby takes over an hour at each feed. The HV told me this is too long and should not be more than 40 minutes in total. Could you let me know your experiences please?

Feed on demand - means feed when they want, however long they want. Your HV is talking nonsense. Has she even heard of cluster feeding?

Hmm I think an hour at every feed is a lot - my 6 week old will cluster feed where we just switch back and forth for a couple of hours but her average feed time is more like 10-15 mins. But maybe it’s just your baby’s preference (all 3 of mine have had different feeding patterns/styles).

How is feeding going otherwise? Have you spoken to a qualified lactation consultant? I’ve found MW/HV advice on BF to be a bit hit and miss…

Are they actually feeding for that long though or is it just for comfort? Not that there is anything wrong in that! Mine fed for as long as they wanted. That's what feeding in demand is.

I don't think it's comfort feeding, maybe a small portion of it but not the majority. Its not painful but I wonder about my latch or tongue tie making it take so long or if its normal. He cluster feeds too so it's not that but it's usually 30 mins each side.

If you’re happy and not in pain, and he’s happy and gaining weight as he should etc, then I’d leave it. What does the HV actually suggest, stopping the feeds early? That seems like madness. Or did she just say it was too long and leave it at that.

Health Visitors don’t half talk nonsense! My baby would feed for 10 mins frequently; a friend’s fed for an hour or more, infrequently. Babies are chaos demons: just go with it, but adjust your latch, use Lansinoh, and check for tongue tie as well.

And make sure you have a sports water bottle, charged phone, telly remote, and lots of snacks nearby. Then enjoy leisurely feeds where all you can do, alas, is watch TV and eat Dairy Milk like it’s your job.

Thank you everyone. She is referring me for tongue tie but I think it's a long wait and it's spun me into a panic and I'm not even sure why as it's not painful.

My DD was the same. Sometimes even longer! My HV just said she was a slow feeder but otherwise no problems, she was getting what she needed!

Nah, sounds normal as long as you are not in pain and you're seeing plenty of wet and dirty nappies and weight gain. My first could easily feed for over an hour. He was an absolute chunk and I think just genuinely enjoyed the cuddles! My second was crazy efficient and used to feed in 10 minutes- I actually thought something was wrong with him at first but everything else was fine and even he wasn't small (50th centile compared to ds1 on the 91st!). Don't worry - there's plenty of misinformation and bad advice about. I recommend the kellymom website as a reliable source of info.

My eldest was clamped to me for hours and hours- maybe it was comfort but no one could tell me for sure, and I didn’t want to go down the dummy route personally

It means ideally you should get the latch checked by someone experienced, not just referred to a clinic that is weeks away.

It can be normal for some babies but it's definitely longer than average. So worth having a check in case there's anything affecting the latch and the transfer rate.

Do you have locally any support groups, a la leche league branch, NCT, or an IBCLC? (The latter sometimes work in private practice so cost money, the rest are usually free). You might have to Google each of the things to see if anything comes up.

My baby girl is the same and often feeds for an hour or so. She's been this way since she was born and is 5 weeks old now, I think it's just her pattern. I feed on demand and a 20 minute feed is the shortest one she's ever had 😂 she also usually cluster feeds from around 4pm till 9:30-10pm. Hope this helps xx

DS would feed for ages too. He was quite the chunk and on 91st centile. I found it tough and draining as lots of NCT friends were just doing 10/15 mins on one side whereas I was doing both sides every feed. It didn't feel like there was time for much respite in between. It is normal. There is no right or wrong with feeding them this little. Take your lead from baby.

My little one would feed for over an hour, turns out he had tongue tie and now only feeds for 10-20 mins max! Hopefully you get some answers soon, but I do think it can be normal too!

It is within the realms of normal I think. Is LO gaining weight and is having enough wet abs dirty nappies? Is LO actively swallowing as well? You can try to encourage them with some breast compressions.

Is there a BFing Support Group near to you? They should be able to check the latch and give you some support.

My baby would doze off during each feed and so they would all be about an hour. So the proper sucking would stop and start.

During the fourth trimester most babies nurse for food, pain relief, comfort etc and want to be on the boob all day!

To be honest, I would take anything a health visitor says about breastfeeding with a pinch of salt. Any brea queries I would run past the free NCT breastfeeding helpline or La Leche League or Kelly Mom website. HV are so hit and miss with their knowledge.

Some health visitors are seriously misinformed about breastfeeding. Sadly, yours sounds like one of those.

At 4 weeks old my DS would also feed for an hour, or on and off pretty much all evening.

Now at 4 months a feed only lasts for 10 minutes max.

Feed on demand, you’re doing a great job!

I was told not to let ds2 feed for more than 45 minutes at a time in the early days. He had a tongue tie that I was waiting to get snipped. I ignored the midwives advice and did what felt natural (let him feed as much and as often as he liked). He was over his birth weight by 6 days which I doubt would have happened if I'd restricted his feeding.
After his tongue tie was snipped his feeds reduced to between 5-15 minutes a feed. HV told me 5 minutes wasn't enough a couple of weeks later Again I ignored, by 3 months he had rolls of chubby baby fat.
Hes 11 months now and still only has 5 minute feeds.
If you want proper breastfeeding advice then I'd recommend speaking to a lactation consultant.