" weeks old and BF, some questions.

[JordTyler]

Quick back ground- My partner is lot older than me, has a daughter of nearly 20. I'm only 24. She has had little boy a fortnight ago, and wants to continue feeding him herself. He is a big boy, 8.2 born, weighed thu had put on 11oz in a week so she is doing so well.
We are v good friends and i'm am doing an on call type thing for her as she lives 100 miles away. She has had some questions for me that i wasn't 100% on so here they are.

He is cluster feeding till about midnight most nights, last night he slept then till 7.30, is this ok.

She also expressed 3.5 oz straight after his feed this morning as she wants to have a couple of hours away as it is her b-day in a week. How much is she best leaving for him, would this amount be ok because obviously she would want to feed him once she got back to preserve supply, but needs to know that in event of hunger he would be satisfied enough till her return.

My own BF story went very wrong and i have had to stop so i am doing my best to help her, and she really is great at it(not jealous! at all) Any tips or truths people would like her to know would also be a great help. How to get through first growth spurt, public feeding, or coping when her partner needs sleep(drives for work) and its a bad night. Thanks for reading. x

That should be 2 weeks old.! Doh

cluster feeding sounds completely normal and as long as he is gaining weight well, then there is no need to wake him through the night to feed. As long as he is getting at least 6-10 feeds a day and plenty of wet and dirty nappies then its fine.

How long will she be going out for? I would probably advise her to try him with a bottle of expressed milk in the evening one day this week to see how much he takes - as all babies differ in the amount they drink. She can gauge it on that then. If she expresses like this for a few mornings then she can always keep it in the freezer until it is needed, so it won't be wasted anyway. I would think that at such a young age he might need 2 3.5oz feeds in about 3 hrs, especially if he cluster feeds in the evenings - so I would probably leave 3 to be on the safe side.

growth spurts are fun! Just tell her to sit on the sofa and get whoever she can to fetch her what she needs! It can be hard work and tiring, but well worth it.

Feeding in public gets easier, the more it's done - If she is self conscious, tell her to get a belly band (a bit like a boob tube but can be worn under the breasts around the tummy for when lifting tops up to feed - so that none of the baby belly is showing - or it can be worn like a boob tube under tops that can be pulled down or under buttoned tops - so you would pull the boob tube up over the breast and the top down below the breast to feed) this way there is always less flesh on show.

Feeding while lying down can help if its a bad night, because baby can feed and be happy and mum can rest whilst feeding - dad will be oblivious to it! lol

For more advice kellymom.com has plenty on bfing

Finally, I would tell her what a great job she is doing and to keep it up!