feeding little & often - advice please

[bethdivine]

Hi,
DD is 4wks old. She snack feeds all morning, on and off every half hour or so, for 5 mins at a time, sometimes a bit longer.

I don't know if she's an efficient feeder and getting what she needs in these feeds, or if the snacking means she's just getting a lot of foremilk and not really getting to the hind milk, explaining why she keeps going back on. If she wants to go back on within 30m then I tend to put her on the same side, a gap any longer and I then swap sides (she's currently only taking one side per feed). She will zonk out after lunch for a couple of hours so tends to have a better feed in the afternoon, but the pattern continues in the evening as well.

I know they can cluster feed to stock up, but I really don't feel like she's getting a proper feed when she does this. My boobs don't feel empty, but don't feel overly full either. It's only when she has a long nap that they might start leaking.

DS was always on for at least half an hour, so it's hard to know if this is normal for her or if she's not getting enough to fill her. - She's a big baby - 9lb 9oz at birth.
Any advice most welcome, do I carry on as I'm doing or is there anything I can do to help her have a better feed, and does anybody know if I'm doing the right thing not swaping sides if she goes back on quickly? TIA.
p.s. dont' know if it makes any difference, but nappies normal yellow & mustardy and frequent enough.

beth - it's a real shame when people think the baby may not be getting 'the hindmilk' because it is a misunderstanding of the whole knowledge about foremilk/hindmilk.

Your baby sounds fine; your breasts sound fine; your feeding sounds fine. I am assuming her weight and health are normal, too.

The fat in breastmilk varies with the degree of emptiness of the breast - breasts which are massively full have milk which is proportionately lower in far; breasts which are less full have milk which is proportionately higher in fat. In the vast majority of cases it doesn't matter - the baby sorts it out, as long as he/she is enabled/allowed to feed according to needs

There is nothing wrong with snacking.

Your decision about whether to use the second side or not makes sense, too. But in fact this is not crucial in most people's breastfeeding, especially with bf that is clearly going well.

Hope this helps. A call to any of the bf helplines would give you a chance to talk about this more

thanks tiktok, I think it's just that as a second timer, I feel such a novice and I KNOW that each baby is unique in their feeding, but it makes you doubt your own knowledge at times when they are such different feeders. really appreciate the reply, yes weight gain has been good, just lost 2oz first week, then 6oz on following week. Feeling much better now, thank you