Any advice for spacing feeds out??

[KSW]

My ds is 5 weeks old and has for the last 4 days only gone about 1.5 hours between feeds. He is not feeding for very long - may be 10 mins each time and coming off by himself and not interested in any more.... Any hints at how to spread out the feeds????Will it just happen naturally? Should I let him cry more between feeds?? I know he can last longer as my dh does a bottle in the night and he drinks 4 oz and then can last 3ish hours....

I know you are supposed to feed on demand but I am struggling a bit with the frequency of these feeds as my other ds is quite demanding too!!!

Thanks for the advice...
Kx

Appreciate any advice - if I need to ditch the bottle then I will, but do need to get a bit of sleep as I can't drive safely with so little sleep when I get such a short gap between feeds....
Kx

As it has only been a few days I wonder if he is heading for a growth spurt.
All these frequent feeds are priming your boobs ready for the extra demand.

I would also be careful about skipping feeds in the night as those feeds are very important for maintaining your milk supply.
If you are really keen to get a stretch of sleep I think you would be better doing this in the evening rather than in the middle of the night so that you protect your supply.

Good luck!

I'm sure you've already done this, but have you tried a thorough burping when he starts coming off? DS was terrible for this on/off business, and once when I was walking around with him thinking burping was all done, he brought up a resounding burp and tucked in again, so wind can lurk long after you think it must have come up - and it's a myth that BF babies don't need burping.

Hope things improve soon

When I was breastfeeding I was told by a breastfeeding counsellor to offer the breast every 1.5 to 2 hours after the beginning of his last feed. She said if he didn't seem interested then it didn't matter and to try again later then after that feed offer the breast again 1.5 to 2 hours later. She said that was the best way to keep up supply. So basically there's nothing wrong with feeding every 1.5 hours. Eventually he will go longer. When DH gives him a bottle is it formula milk? That isn't digested as easily as breast milk which is why he tends to fill them up for a bit longer.

She also told me to make sure DS had definitely finished feeding. She said when his sucking slowed down to unlatch him and then latch him on the other breast. She said to keep doing this back and forth until he couldn't be encouraged to drink anymore. Babies of this age often become tired or fed up of feeding when the flow becomes slow so you have to help them along a bit.

Just wanted to say well done KSW, it is exhausting in this early stage when they feed so regularly. You are doing fabulously to persist and should be very proud of yourself.

DC2 and DC3 were each a bit prem, and were going less an hour between the start of one feed and the start of the next up until about 6 weeks... so I remember how it feels.

I found (but I know this is a very personal decision) co-sleeping really heped, as I could get back off to sleep so much quicker than if I got up and moved around to go and feed them.

You've had some good advice already but I just wanted to tell you how well you're doing (I know it might not feel like it now.)