she wont stay on breast for more than 10 minutes!

[vannah]

Hello everyone,
despite the advice by midwives for me to feed for 30 minutes, the most I can manage is about 10. I have tried tickling, taking her clothes off, doing a nappy change, but generally she is knocked out after a 10 minute feed, then wants more about 2 hours sometimes 3

she is 2 weeks old...
Anything else I can do to increase the feeding time other than the above and talking to her???
thankyou

babies can't tell time.

if she is weeing & pooing frequently, generally content after a feed, then feeding every 2 - 3 hrs sounds absolutely normal. is she alert for any period of time between feeds during the day?

relax & enjoy your Christmas with your baby.

switch breasts after 10 mins or whenever she falls asleep.
also breast compressions to get the fatty milk out and this also 'forces' some more milk into her and shocks/wakes her up

kiskidee- she's 2 weeks old- she should be feeding longer than 10 mins every 2-3hrs otherwise sh won't put on weight which is what has happened to me

you can also try what pixiefish says, to cover all your bases. google: dr jack newman, breast compression to see how it is done.

I think it depends on the baby and the mum's letdown/milk supply, pixiefish. Hence the questions about wees, poos and alertness.

I do understand where you are coming from, though.

I used to scratch behind their ears, can you make your rooms cooler so if dc is naked she will be to cold to nod off into a deep sleep.

here is a page which may be useful to refer back to over the holidays.

how big was your baby at birth and how much weight have they gained? My babies feed quickly and efficiently at this age but were very big birthweight babies.

I would still say that a newborn needs more than 10 minutes. As they get older they get more efficient at getting the milk but in the beginning like this they need the time

yes mine were very unusual and they very definately gained weight rapidly, reagained plus some more in less than a week. I did allsorts to wake them during the day from sleeping - cold water trickled on them the works.

Pixie, you're not correct, sorry.

The clock is the worst guide to the amount of milk a baby takes.

If vannah's baby is fine - plenty of poos every day, lots of wee, thriving, gaingin weight - then it is fine to be on for 10 minutes or even less.

The midwives telling you it has to be 30 minutes are wrong, vannah. Your guide to length of time is your baby's behaviour.

Breast compression is useful for babies who need to be on for longer - it's not necessary for babies who are doing well.

10 min feeds are on the normal spectrum for a baby of any age - but everything else has to be ok, of course. I'd expect a baby to be feeding v. often as well - 2 hourly day and night is fine.

Sounds perfectly normal - exactly the same happened with my DD, now 11months. 12 mins MAX and every 2-3hrs when that little. I was paranoid at the time but it was fine - she was putting on weight so obvously getting enough. Don't worry! I'm grateful that she was so quick, looking back - can't imagine feeding for 30mins plus.
Every babe/boob different! Totally agree with tiktok - as long as all signs good, don't worry x

oooh i have question about this. my friends ds is that age too and only stays on for 5-8 mins. is this ok for a baby that young?

DD1 was like this even from the off 10 minutes max never had to offer her the other boob, my boob got drained though and she put on weight. I actually had to remember to feed her as she rarely cried for food. Today she is a very skinny 3 1/2 year old very picky and never eats much.

Now DD2 would happily have stayed stuck to me 24/7 what a shock she was I used to feed her for hours at night at that age. She probably eats double what DD1 does now and is solid compared to her.

So I agree different babies different ways of BFing.

My DD (now 8 1/2 months) has only ever fed for between 5-15 mins and only ever from one boob. She was a fairly low birthweight (6lbs) but put on 11oz in the first 2 weeks feeding this way (I dont think she lost anything at all post birth which I think is unusual). That just seemed to be enough. And now she has been on solids for 2 1/2 months she eats anything and everything. So best of luck and as long as your DD's wet and dirty nappies are regular and she is gaining weight I am sure everything will be fine. Enjoy Xmas with your new babe!

brilliant advice everyone. Very reassuring. THANKYOU!!

Yes, she is gaining weight well, didnt have the 'dip' in weight on day 6 - had actually gained.

Plenty of wet nappies and poo everyday.
Is still jaundiced at 2 weeks, will have blood test if not clear by 3 weeks...

Was worried about getting her to feed more due to jaundice and ..not sure if my theory is correct here: but keeping my supply of milk up. Isnt 10 minutes a waste of unused milk in the breast (I REALLY find it hard to express - whichever method)

kiskidee thanks for the link.

By the way, looked up breast compression, and without knowing it am already doing it. I hold my breast in that way as I find it also helps keep the latch in tact.

many thanks all

V - I don't know much about jaundice, but as for the milk supply thing - your wonderful body will make as much milk as dd wants, and adjust this if dd is taking more/less as growth spurts occur, so you shouldn't need to express if she's having her milk as regularly as you say.
I imagine if you express then your body will get used to making more milk than dd needs and will she then miss out on the rich hind milk? Just a thought. What does everyone else think?

great news. you don't have to express at this stage your body fine tunes itself to make as much milk as your baby needs. it will just be another job that you can do without at this stage.

don't worry about the foremilk/hindmilk thing. it is frequently misinterpreted by people who don't know enough about it and who then give out poor advice on feeding based on their assumptions.

Don't know what I'm doing on a bf thread when my bf days are long gone, but anyway...

Think yourself lucky Vannah, that your baby feeds so efficiently. My second dd fed in just 5 mins or so, whereas with dd1 I often had to sit there for an hour or so - what a waste of time.

You're doing everything right. Don't worry. Have a lovely Christmas.

I'm no expert but my ds had very bad jaundice and this made him v. sleepy and thus he wouldn't feed for very long before falling asleep. He got quite poorly and we had to go into hospital for treatment etc. - he's fine now.

Sounds like your baby is OK as is putting on weight, but if losing/not gaining, is sleepy and doesn't have periods of alertness, then pls speak to your mw/hv for advice, as this could be related to the jaundice.

Tips on keeping baby awake: strip to just vest so is bit cold (bless!), blow gently on their face during feeding; tickle feet, change nappy half-way through.

As I say, it sounds like your little one is fine, as feeding regularly, alert etc. but I just thought I'd share my experience here just in case!

BTW, bf jaundice is very, very common and not something to worry about (and hope I've not caused any worry - not my intention!), and the jaundice can also take months to disappear completely - my ds had the full screen at 3 wks and got discharged last week, even tho he's still a bit jaundiced.

My daughter never ever fed for longer than ten minutes in fourteen months of breastfeeding. As everyone says, if weight, poos, wees etc are fine, stop worrying. My HVs told me to make my daughter feed for longer but I have no idea how they expected me to achieve this. The way breastfeeding works is to feed on demand not when you fancy it! Also, some babies are just very efficient feeders - if you have one of these, just be thankful!