one week old baby only feeding for short periods

[francesrivis]

Hi, my dd2 is a week old and for the past three or four days has only fed for 5-10 minutes at a time. Lots of books (and midwives) say she should be staying on longer than this to get the hind milk - how true is this? And how on earth can I get her to feed longer? It's not that she's sleepy - she is alert when she comes off the breast, and refuses it when it is offered again. I am making sure I feed her at least every 3 hours during the day (although sometimes it is more often than this). Any advice gratefully received.

Also, is there any truth in the idea that particular foods make babies windy? She has periods of seeming very uncomfortable, I presume due to wind or tummy ache, and I have been given a bewildering list of foods that I should avoid - is it worth trying this? TIA

Some babies get very good at breast feeding very quickly.

DD3 used to feed for just minutes and i was worried but she continued to gain weight and my health visitor said that she was obviously just very apt at getting the milk to flow quickly.

Don't know about the foods that make babies windy as i ate everything I fancied throughout all 5 of my pregnancies and while breastfeeding.

frances, it can be perfectly ok for a newborn (or a baby of any age) to be on the breast for 5-10 mins. They can get a perfectly satisfying and nourishing feed - which does not depend on time spent on the breast. Anyone who suggests this is simply not understanding how foremilk/hindmilk work - take a look at www.kellymom.com for a good explanation. Midwives saying this should be re-trained

Your baby will get bf off to the best start if she's held close to you, feeds from both sides most feeding sessions,and is responded to as soon as she shows feeding cues. This is likely to be rather more often than three hourly, as you have seen! She does not need to be 'made' to feed longer if feeding is going well - by now she should produce several yellow poos every day and have stopped losing weight.

Windy foods - mostly myth. No need to avoid anything unless you are sure it has caused a reaction

Your feeding sounds great to me - as Hussy says if shes is putting on weight and weeing and pooing and is alert then you've nothing to worry about. My ds fed like that as well - it turned out I just have a very fast letdown.

The fore/hind milk thing you can ignore in my view - its just not that relevant.

At this stage she will need to be feeding regularly in the night as well as in the day to keep your supply up.

I didnt think there was any truth in the foods thing but with my dd (who was very windy and sicky) a few foods seemed to help and hinder and so I avoided foods like lentils and beans and peas.

Some babies are very windy whatever you do though so I would just make sure you wind her between each breast and during the feed if she starts to squirm or pull off - bf babies can be very windy - ignore any HV who says otherwise.

Congratulations

curse tiktoks fast and accurate typing...

All sounds fantastic

In terms of wind, the only thing we have ever identified as a problem is spinach. I think it's pretty common for babies to be windy when they are so young, we found that DS wouldn't bring his up so we would help it come out the other end by gently bringing his knees up to his tummy a bit at each nappy change. He soon worked out how to fart for himself though

Thanks, this is really reassuring. Tiktok - I am only feeding on one side at a time at the moment - should I offer the second breast as soon as she comes off the first?

frances - yes, it's a good idea to routinely offer the second side when she seems to have had what she wants from the first. She may or may not take it.

Has someone told you only to feed on one side???

Three guesses - the midwives!! So is it really OK for her to 'snack' little and often, which is what she has been doing this afternoon, or will this make the wind/tummyache worse?

Hi frances, my dd1 and to a lesser extent my dd2 did just this. There was some fuss from the hv and I was super worried about it. I actually managed to do an experiment - I weighed dd1, then I put dd1 on the breast. She fed for three minutes. She was three ounces heavier! This is forbidden in all hv circles but after that I didn't worry. Some babies are super fast feeders, and some womens' breasts have a really strong let down reflex. Combine the two and 3 mins can do the trick! 5 or 10 minutes is ages in this kind of situation!

I really hope this might help - your tot is taking what she needs I reckon - offer the other side. If it's a no then she's full up, especially if she's no longer rooting and is alert. I hope your worry subsides a little!

I worried loads about this with my ds - got completely paranoid that he wasn't getting the hind milk.
He was actually just very good at it!
If your dd seems satisfied and is putting on weight then I'd try not to worry.
I'm now pregnant and hoping that dc2 is as efficient!