im worried because my 4 month old has started to feed for only 5 minutes

[loganberry12]

my baby is breast fed and 4 months old. for the lasdt week or so she has started to feed for only about 5 minutes at a time then cry and refuse if i try to put her back to the breast. She doesnt seem hungry but im worried she's not getting enough. She use to feed for at least 20 minutes prior to this??

My first used to feed for 1/2 hr but this went down to 1o mins at about 3 months. Its poss she has wind as she may have become more efficient at feeding and so milk is coming faster. Try changing nappy after she comes off and then trying her on again - if it is wind it'll be up by then. Otherwise as long as she's comtented and still gaining weight as normal she may just be finished. Have you tried the other side?, or is the first side still pretty full?

the problem is because she fed well before usually both sides at each feed i have loads of milk when she's finished. ive tried winding and its not that. she has a short feed then about 15 minutes later another short feed, she'll do this for about an hour.so it seems like im continually feeding her for an hour like when she was tiny

Could she just be losing interest as has become more alert and aware of what is going on around her? I think it was about this age I had to hAve period of feeding dd in quiet spot with no distraction as there was leas chance of her losing interest. It did pass after a week o so.

It could be a growth spurt, or cold coming? they find it difficult to feed.

I vaguely remember my first doing something like this, but it passed after a couple of weeks (no longer) and she happily fed till 13 months alonngside solids after a bit.

Ps one way you can estimate how much shes getting is to use a breast pump to see roughly how much comes off in that time?

Cluster feeding?

I think that's what it's called. She's trying to stimulate your milk suply in readiness for a growth-spurt.

My DS2 is 16 weeks and, with a nasty cold and a few growth spurts, he's been like this. It doesn't help that his older siblings are on hand to entertain him mid-feed! Life is becoming too exciting for long feeds I think.

However, if I catch him when he is a bit sleepy he does better. When he is very fussy I try changing the scene and distracting him until he's calmer and more ready to settle to a feed. And he does seem to be coming out of it slowly.

That said my DD was like this and was the same when FF and weaning and the same now (aged 4). She's a grazer; little and often.

I think it is quite common, my DD2 is 20 weeks and for the last 3 wks she has been doing exactly the same. I find that feeding her in a sling while walking around does help. As long as she is putting on weight I would not worry, maybe you could try and offer the breast more often if you are still concerned.

my goodness I just came on to write this very thread!!! I have been in tears over this this morning because she just isn't feeding well. The problem I have is that she isn't gaining weight at all and is under the care of a paediatrician who keeps telling me how serious her lack of weight is so I can't just relax and go with the flow very well.

anyway, this has cheered me up to know she is not alone in this new feeding pattern, good to know it is kind of normal.

How old is your baby, willowstar? Ours wasn't gaining weight quickly (dropped from 97th to below 2nd centile) and we saw a gastric paed. Between 4 and 5 months, she has started gaining better and eventually started following a curve (about 4th centile). I was like you and unable to relax about feeding, but just wanted to let you know that it all sorted itself out.

Hello Belindarose, my little girl is 16 weeks...good to know your baby has started to even out...we are not worried at all but the paediatricians seem to be...we just see a small but perfect little person who is developing well...I am calm about everything until I have to go to the hospital every two weeks to see the consultant and have her weighted and be told again how I should be giving her forumula!

anyway, sorry to hijack thread, but just so you know my daughter has been feeding 5-12 minute feeds all day today and seems perfectly normal on it. Who knows why ey?

At 4 months there is a huge growth spurt ( and it also tends to coincide with a lot of well meaning people telling you your milk obviously is not enough for baby anymore, so start baby on rice cereal - ignore these people , we even had a box bought for us, never got used!!) so she may well be gearing up for this, and feeding little and often to build up your supply, and will soon settle down, this can last from a couple of days to a week or so.

Also, babies do get more efficient at feeding, neither of mine were long feeders, maybe 15-20 minutes, but by this age some feeds were only 3-5 minutes.

Just keep an eye on output, wet and dirty nappies, if output is good, then input is good.