not breast feeding for long enough?! sleeps always?

[missytequila]

My baby is 8 days old, feeding every 3 hours, plenty of nappies,etc and midwife did say she gained weight...
however, she will only feed for 10-15min max.

Then she falls asleep. Sometimes I can get her to go back on for another 8 min.. but then she just sleeps again.

Is this enough milk? Most people have told me their babies fed for 30 min.

Also she barely stays awake during day or night. Loves sleeping. I am worried.... any advice much appreciated.

Hi missytequlia, my baby is now 6 weeks old. He was slow to start feeding and as a result of jaundice was very sleepy all the time and we had to wake him to feed him and try to keep him awake to feed him. When we got to 10/15 minutes feeding time we would be happy enough. He still averages 10/15 minutes per feed now and he has been gaining weight nicely. I would not worry so much about the feeding time if he is gaining weight and has lots of dirty nappies - I too was freaked out when I kept reading about newborns feeding for 20-45 minutes in the books - I think that it might just depend on how efficient your baby is and how quickly the milk comes. You might want to check the sleepiness out with your midwife/hv as it could be that she is jaundiced?

Congrats on your new baby missyt

Watch your baby, not the clock! She sounds like she's doing really well, so just watch your baby for signs of hunger and go with your instinct.

Look up kellymom for great advice or ring one of the breastfeeding helplines if you're worried.

Good luck

you might have a quick letdown. ds was the same. i rememeber lifting his arm up like a lever to get him to carry on sucking but after about 20/30 minutes, he'd be virtually comatose so i'd leave him alone! he was just very efficient. as long as she is gaining weight and pooing weeing etc, she'll be fine! ds can now feed in 5 minutes. i just have a fast let down and he has to gulp it down.

hth

My dc 1 and 3 were 'snackers/ grazers'. Dc2 wasvery efficient and done in 4 mins (honest!) Same mum, same boobs but different baby. Sounds like you're doing a great job already with your baby.

thanks for the support. i feel better knowing I am not the only one.

yes she seems to go at it vigorously for the ten minutes, barely pausing and then just passing out.

like you guys said she has the nappies and weight gain so I guess she is just like this.

have a midwife visit today, will see if she thinks baby is ok

"yes she seems to go at it vigorously for the ten minutes, barely pausing and then just passing out."

sounds familiar