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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Been bf for 12wks but am a little confused

12 replies

tegan · 18/02/2009 12:39

I feed ds one side then change nappy and feed the other side every 2 hours and up oce in the night. Today hv said to try feeding on one side change nappy and continue to feed the same side, then change side for the next feed. Has anyone done this. Does it work or is hv talking shit. She seems to think ds will gon longer between feeds and sleep through???

We will see

OP posts:

aitchb · 18/02/2009 12:43

is some sense in it, as will get more hindmilk that way- fore and hind milk are mixed togethre, but get more concentrated in hind towrds end of feed- As for this helping with sleeping- not always. Try it?! If not, is a great book called how to teach yor child to sleep, by the millpond sleep clinic. Good luck x

ShowOfHands · 18/02/2009 12:43

I can't comment on going longer between feeds and sleeping through as they are holy grails that never bothered me. DD still fed 2 hourly at 7 months and it suited me just fine. She slept through at 10 months but still wakes for a feed now sometimes at 21 months.

I never, ever swapped sides mid feed. Can't tell you why but I didn't. I just assumed that if there wasn't enough milk in the one, dd would unlatch and protest. She never did. And feeding on one side only each time kept her on the 99th centile or higher so she wasn't missing out I presume.

Original poster

tegan · 18/02/2009 12:45

I have no problem with weight, i can cope with getting up once in the night and i actually enjoy feeding 2 hourly, but hv seemed quite persistant that i should be doing this

OP posts:

twocutedarlings · 18/02/2009 12:46

HV is talking sense like aitch says he the get more hind milk, this is how i fed both my girls DD1 was an excellent sleeper and DD2 was......well a totally differant story!!

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 18/02/2009 12:46

I always used to go back to the side I had already fed from if DS was hungry again within half an hour. This was so that he would get more of the hindmilk which is richer, rather than 2 lots of foremilk. If he was still hungry after that then I would offer the 2nd side. Now he's older he often has both sides at each feed, although I make sure he's emptied the first side really well before I swap him over.

ShowOfHands · 18/02/2009 12:49

I only mentioned weight as a passing comment on why I was never worried about offering only one side.

If you're happy, there's no 'should' about it. What you should be doing is what you and your baby want. I liked to demand feed so if dd demanded it then I fed her and as you can see, I never swapped sides and dd still fed 2 hourly for months and didn't sleep through at all until 10 months.

Perhaps the hv thought you wanted advice and she plucked some out of her head for you. You don't have to follow it. Personally I wouldn't want to go 2 hours without a drink so if my baby wants the same then fine.

And sleep's developmental largely. You can encourage but they sleep through when they're able and I find it's rarely linked to food or schedules.

Original poster

tegan · 18/02/2009 12:49

I think i will give it a go and see what happens. I fed him on one side this morning and he has been asleep for nearly 3 hours

OP posts:

twocutedarlings · 18/02/2009 12:49

2 hourly feeds are perfectly normal for lots of babies, DD1 fed 2 hourly until she was 10mths.

Oh and FWIW a friends FF baby also fed 2 hourly until she was about 7mths.

theyoungvisiter · 18/02/2009 12:51

I'm not an expert but if your baby is only up once in the night then I'd say the 2 hourly thing is more likely to be habit/temperament than to do with your milk as he clearly CAN go longer, he just chooses not to.

Some babies are just snackier than others IM limited E - DS1 only ever fed one sided (I offered the other but he never took it) and never went more than 2 hours, DS2 on the other hand (same boobs, same technique) again only accepts 1 side but will go 3-4 hours between feeds.

I have also heard that only offering one side can impact on supply for some women, so if you do take her advice you might want to keep an eye out for this.

weebump · 18/02/2009 12:54

I don't get it myself. I fed just like you did - swapping sides after nappy change. I think only getting up to feed just once at night is blummin brilliant. Also, in my own experience, having got into the habit of feeding this way I often found that if I only fed from one boob the other one would be KILLING me by the next feed. It's like both of my boobs had grown accustomed to emptying at each feed. So to a certain extent your baby is used to feeding every 2 hours, and your boobs are used to feeding every 2 hours.

So by all means try it, but I don't see any harm in continuing as you are. Changing could be a tad uncomfortable.

BTW I am no expert, I've just breast fed one little one.

Original poster

tegan · 18/02/2009 18:41

Well i have been doing as instructed and ds has been going 3 hourly, lets see what tonight brings

OP posts:

tiktok · 18/02/2009 20:48

This is a bit strange - you have found a way of feeding that you and your baby are comfortable with and the HV tells you to do something else?

aitchb - you are wrong, sorry. Feeding one sided will only ensure the baby gets more 'hindmilk' if there is a serious over-production problem. Net result of deliberately one sided feeding is less volume of milk , to the detritment, usually, of milk supply.

Lots of misunderstanding on this thread about hindmilk/foremilk - read up about it on www.kellymom.com

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