5 month DD won't breastfeed

[LulaTallulah]

Major problem, my DD (5 months) won't BF for more than 3-4 minutes. Up until now I have never had a problem. I BF my 2 years old for a year and although she was difficult she was nothing compared to number 2. Am getting v. stressed out, her weight gain isn't what it should be and although HV has suggested weaning (which I started at the weekend) it's not going to solve the milk problem - can anyone help????? I would have thought if she was hungry she would feed, am I wrong?

Is she being easily distracted? I had a similar phase where my DS would only be fed in a dark quiet room.

Is she just a fast feeder? DS only fed fora few minutes at a time, but he also fed every 2 hours or so. Have you spoken to a bf counseller?

Weaning won't help at all - you'll fill her up on less calorific food.

What's her weight gain like? Lots of babies start to plateau about this age, utterly normally.

Yes I agree, weaning isn't the answer. Her weight gain isn't following those bloody curves in her red book, it has increased since three weeks ago (from 13 lb 8oz to 14lb 3oz) but not hugely. She is easliy distracted and a darkened room helps, but with a toddler, it's so difficult (I end up losing my temper with DD number 1, and then feel terrible!) I am trying to feed 5 times a day (7am, 11am, 2pm , 5pm and bedtime) but not sure how much she is getting. I suppose she could be a fast feeder, but how do you know (if weight gain is an indicator, I'd say no)? She wakes once in the night (was sleeping through till recently).

Curves in red book don't mean much though.

(They're not based on ff babies, before anyone says it, but on a mix of babies fed all sorts of ways).

Can you bfeed her more often? Are you making her wait till those times? Would she feed more at other times?

LulaTallulah - she doesn't really feed that ofetn then if you are aiming for 5 times a day. I would not worry about speed of feeds - I would just offer more TBH. I wouldn't wean but make sure that you are not too busy to miss feeding cues. Some babies make signs but we miss them. Definitely offer breastfeeds in between 'meal times'

Maybe if I aimed for 4 feeds she might feed for longer? She seems perfectly happy...maybe I am worrying needlessly?

Sorry, what I meant is that you may be better to feed more often than 5 times. 4 does not sound often enough to me

My second was a fast feeder out of necessity. If she has a few minutes is that just one side? Do you then offer her the second boob - if not then I would suggest doing that at each feed to and like the others say maybe feed her more often. I still fed on demand up to about 12 months when DD2 was with me - now the demand is her shouting 'booby' in public and me saying 'no way'!!

Thanks everyone. Will defo try other boob when she loses interest in the 1st! Will also stick to 5 feeds or thereabouts rather than decreasing!

How's it going Lula? Is she feeding like a demon yet???