Quick overnight feeds in newborn

[Lizum]

Hi. Baby's 5 days old (I think, I'm losing track already!) and my milk has come through. He feeds roughly every 3 to 3 1/2 hours but during the day it lasts 30 -45 mins, which I'm happy with, but at night it lasts only 10 -15 mins. Is this OK?

I'm a little concerned because the first couple of days it was difficult to get him to feed frequently ( 4 or 5 feeds over 24 hr) and day 2 was a bit traumatic after trying to force feed him. This was resolved by expressing and giving him the EBM then topping up with formula to 30 ml every 3 hours. The next day with a stand-in midwife's help he started feeding fine.

I don't want to raise this with my normal midwife as I think part of the trauma was caused by trying to get him to latch on her way and me getting confused about if he was or not. I still can't see the difference between how he was latched on before and after the problems.

i shouldnt worry. he is probably very effieceint at night time. dont worry about the actual time he is feeding. My ds only EVER fed for a max of 4-5 minutes at anytime from birth yet he was putting on approx 1lb a week for a long time. he was just very very efficent at getting what he needed in the shortest time possible. if baby is content between feeds and not asking for more then you are doing it right and he has had enough.
Good luck

General rule of thumb, as long as a breastfed baby is producing lots of wet and dirty nappies, is alert and gaining weight they are feeding well. (Although remember some babies can lose some weight initially and then put it back on)

To make sure you have a good latch always check his bottom lip is curled under and that most of your areola is in his mouth. If not break the suction with you little finger and start again. I don't think there is a right or wrong amount of time a bf baby should feed for, My dd as a newborn fed for about 30 mins sometimes taking an hour as would stop and start and feed 2 hourly. My ds fed for about 10 mins every 4 hours. I don't think theres probably anything wrong with him feeding less at night if he's healthy and alert with lots of dirty nappies.

Dirty nappies don't seem to be a problem - I had to change him before and after feed a couple of times!

Lizum - babies change from feed to feed and from day to day and from day to night and back again Feeds of the length you describe are all on the normal spectrum.

It would be a good idea to have him weighed now, so you can check you have turned the corner from the first tricky days.

His nappies should be soft, yellow poo today, with a 'production' of them at least 2-3 times a day from now on.

Think about complaining about whoever encouraged the force-feeding, won't you?

The force feeding does sound a bit worrying.. my dd didn't feed for the first 24 hours, there's no problem with a baby not feeding atall for the first 24 hrs. Turns out she was full of mucus, which is quite common, once she brought that up she fed well. Thankgod i didn't listen to the mw that was trying to make me give her a ff in the night after only several hours.. some mw's haven't got a clue.

My ds was sometimes going over 5 hrs initially, he is a very efficient feeder he took what he needed.

Latest news: He was bringing up milk after every feed through the night and up to late afternoon. Now he's wanting to feed every hour (but not bringing anything up)! He also won't settle in his cot like he did yesterday or even settle in our arms. Any ideas - do I let him feed or not? I'm going with feeding at the moment but I'm not sure how I'll get through the night. Perhaps tomorrow will be better...

On a slightly different note: why is there such inconsistency amongst the professionals on breastfeeding? It's stressful enough having a baby!

Liz - all this is normal in a 6 day old baby. Holding him close is a normal response from you, too, and think about it: less than a week ago he was inside you, and never apart from you! It takes most babies time to adjust to life on the outside and a patient, gentle acceptance of his needs, which is what you are offering, is the way to go

If feeding him keeps him happy, then this is what you do. Many, many babies of this age need to feed a lot, or at least have the breast at hand even when not actively suckling.

This can be hard at night, but it is usually temporary, and co-sleeping, following the safety rules for this, makes life easier.

Unfortunately we can't co-sleep as my husband's a smoker - although vastly cut down. Everything was so nice yesterday - Feeding every 3 hours then sleeping fine in his cot. Guess everyday day is different. Currently he's trying to suckle on my OH nose! I better feed him...