Long feeds but still hungry

[Natpat81]

Sorry for the long post but I am struggling.

My baby is 4 weeks old. I am breastfeeding and her feeds are fairly long, between 30min and 1 hour. She has about 8-10 feeds a day (although this count is a bit sketchy as if she has 30 min on one boob then I try to settle her and give up after 15 min and she has 30 min on the second boob does this count as one feed or two? She definitely has at least 8 feeds a day).

However 2 weeks ago she started showing hunger signs (licking lips, searching for nipple) all the time. I can feed her for an hour, she’ll fall off the boob and snooze for 5 mins then wake up screaming and wanting more. We’ve tried comforting her in the normal ways but the only thing that stops her screaming is to feed her again, or if we are lucky enough to get her to sleep. (And during the day she will only sleep on us/in sling).
Basically whenever she is awake she is crying and making hunger signs.

As far as I can tell she is feeding the majority of the time she is latched on, I can see her neck swallowing so she is actually feeding as opposed to just comforting herself. When she’s been on ages and seems sleepy I try to pull away but she keeps sucking. And if I do an hour feed then another 15 mins later I don’t notice any difference in sucking (ie she still appears just as hungry even though she’s just fed).

We’ve tried passing her to my partner so she doesn’t smell milk but she just screams and tries to eat him.

I am aware of cluster feeding and growth spurts but didn’t think these should last 2 weeks.

Ive had midwives check my latch and feeding position and they say they are fine.

Baby was weighed at 3 weeks and she was 1oz over birth weight so discharged and assumed to be feeding ok. (Although this sounds a bit on the light side to me given she only lost 6% of her birth weight).

Until recently I was just about coping as she was sleeping ok at night time. Now she wakes up more and takes longer to settle (or not at all) so I don’t even get a break at night time.

Surely it’s not normal for a baby to want to feed all the time for 2 weeks?

And is it normal that whenever the baby is awake she is crying? (We get about 30mins golden hour in the morning when she is awake but not crying, still showing feeding cues though).

Many thanks for any help/similar experiences/stories of improvements!

if she has 30 min on one boob then I try to settle her and give up after 15 min and she has 30 min on the second boob does this count as one feed or two? She definitely has at least 8 feeds a day).

I'd say this counts as one feed. Are you offering both boobs at each feed @Natpat81? Mine would do both and then sometimes go back to the first of they were still hungry.

Have you read What to expect on the early weeks on Kellymom?

And are you going to a BFing Support Group?

As a starting point one feed is both breasts so automatically swop rather than try to settle. It’s more likely to be three sides ( ie going back to the first) than just one but babies nod off so slow down and look like they have finished when they haven’t.

growth spurts happen and days when they just want to feed feed feed. It will settle down. You can’t over feed with bf so you don’t need to worry about days when babies are boosting your supply and feeding more - I just about got used to it, then enjoyed it (you can watch a good series) and then suddenly feeds were short and my Netflix window had shrunk.

breastfeeding groups are great to see what counts as normal

4 weeks is a tough time. They’re waking up a bit, realising you are their absolute favourite place in the world and breastfeeding is very soothing for them. Dd was constantly bf, in fact I barely had my boobs away (my family for quite used to it when they were visiting!)

I found with Dd she really calmed down around 6-8 weeks, and would go for longer stretches in between (with random days of cluster feeds every so often).

Have you got a breastfeeding support group near you? I really enjoyed mine and it was a really useful and supportive place.

Babies definitely feed all the time in those first few months. If she's putting weight on well you could try a dummy? It's given me a little bit of time when I've needed it and allowed my husband to do a bit of settling if I've needed a break.

Hello all

Thanks for your replies, really helpful and much appreciated. I hadn’t thought about doing 3 breasts in one feed. I have found the breast feeding support groups in my area so planning on going to one.

An update since I posted baby is now in hospital with an infection so currently just trying to make sure she is feeding at all. However they weighed her when we arrived and she had lost 3oz in one week (not obviously infection related as until we brought her in with a temp she was feeding as much as normal). One of the midwives has showed me how to listen for the swallowing of milk as she said if I was feeding her for that long and she still lost weight she was probably suckling instead of swallowing milk for some of the time. She also suggested to supplement the breast with any milk I’ve expressed (albeit only a small amount).

Hopefully we will be out soon and now I feel like I have more tips to feed her better so thanks againo

MWs are marvellous but it is an absolute lottery on whether they provide really good BF support and have the knowledge. I've been a peer supporter for over 10 years and I've seen so many women let down by MWs who have not had in depth training.

Please find a local support group - preferably IBCLC led - and get your latch checked by a specialist supporter. My (experience based) feeling from everything you have said is that there is a latch issue.

While you are in hospital, ask for a member of the infant feeding team to support you too. And they should be providing you with a decent pump.

Hope your little one is well soon. As a basic summary of getting more weight gain going:

more feeds (non are too small or two close)
more per feed
breast compressions

make sure the latch is deep so no endless trying to look! Babies nipples/ shoulders should both be against your body (often the top should moves away and too part of the chest starts to gape away from the body)

Make sure there is a good gap between the baby’s chin and chest - neck should be stretched up as baby can’t feed well with chin down.

keep the start point nose to nipple and as you pull the body really close the chin will touch your breast and that triggers the gape which will open and shut getting bigger as the neck stretches up more and more.

the more it feels worrying the more we look down, let the body pull away and hold the head … non of these instinctive things are helpful!

Thanks so much!

We are now home from the hospital and she was weighed before leaving and has put on weight which is good news. I’ve been trying to follow the tips so must be doing something a bit better. I also have an appt with the Infant Feeding team next week

Hope all goes well