7-week-old breast feeding every two hours...

[Ellieo]

Is this normal? My health visitor told me to stretch it to at least 3 hours between feeds to stop him snacking and make him sleep longer at night. The trouble is by the time it gets to two hours since his last feed he's practically chewing his own arm off and starts howling the place down. What can I do to make him go longer between feeds? (He tends to go for about 3 hours between feeds at night, but I'd like him to go for longer). Also, when he feeds, he only feeds for about 10 minutes then gets extremely agitated and won't latch on again. He's gaining weight steadily, so I'm not too worried about that, but I would like to make him go for longer and eat more at each feed. Any tips?

My dd fed every two hours for months, so in my experience it's normal and there's not much you can do to stop it apart from feed him. Sorry, that's probably not what you wanted to hear, but that's how it was for me.

My son was feeding very frequently at this age - 2 hours would have been a relief

Sorry, again it is probably not what you wanted to hear but remember how tiny their tummies are at this age - about the size of their fist. They need to feed little and often, and it's good for both of you (think of all those great hormones you are getting every time he feeds). If you space out feeds for longer your period will come back quicker as well.

Hope you both manage to get into a routine that suits you. Don't worry that your son is not normal, I think the ones who do go for hours between feeds at this age are the unusual ones!

snacking?? in my experience and from what I remember 7 weeks is growth spurt time. Every two hours/three hours at night is pretty normal. In fact if you can start getting a "bedtime" routine then the more milk you can get into him during the day, the more likely he is to sleep at night.

Normal IME, and indeed, excellent, esp the three hourly feeds at night. He's only very, very tiny and ever so new. I think he's doing very well. 10 minute feeds also excellent IMO - obviously efficient. Don't force him to stay on as he is clearly doing fine. Things change all the time with babies and what's he's doing this week will be completely different next week.

Yes,sorry but your HV is talking nonsense. B/milk is so perfect and easily digested that this, along with the fact that their stomachs are the size of walnuts when born, means they need frequent feeding.

Formula forms a hard to digest curd in the stomach that is harder to digest,hence the myth that it 'satisfies' babies.
Hmmm,stuffs more like.

You are obviously doing a superb job and are actually prectically over the hardest part. Stay with it,it will get easier.

Message withdrawn

Ellieo, I think nearly all breastfeeders are a little over optimistic in estimating how long a baby can go between feeds.

One of the things that has always stayed with me was my mw's reaction when i expressed my hope that a very young dd would go for four hours between feeds.

'Do you go 4 hours without even a drink let alone some food??'

Factor in the emotional needs of a baby for physical contact and it all seems much more logical.

ellieo
totally normal to feeds every 2hrs
and then one day they might go four then it'll revert back to 2 hourly.
at this stage , as the others say, dont expect him to go longer between feeds, my ds didnt settle until about 4/5mths in to a even pattern.

and btw, bottle feed baies can be the exact same

my eyes were opened when my bil and wife came to stay with us with their 8wk old baby bottle feed, and my baby was 5mths. up and down the stairs all night feeding him and he only took small amts at a time but everey time he cried they feed him, so dont think the grass is greener on the other side

keep up your escellant work and relax into babys "demanding"routine!

All mine fed every 2 hours to 6 months.....

My dd was the same. Still is, she feeds like a gannet.

totally normal....ds2 was like this.....now 23 weeks and feeds around 3.5 to 4 hours.....

just go with it - babies have tiny tummies and cant take much or hang onto it for long
good luck

My DS was feeding every hour at that age and I could only use one breast! It wont last forever, it feels like they are permanently attatched to your boob but it is totally normal for a baby to feed so often. It only takes 90mins to digest breast milk!I envy you for having such an efficient feeder , 10 mins is great. My DS could be feeding for an hour at 7 weeks. I think u and DS are doing brilliantly The first 3 months I found the worst but it goes soooo quickly and by 4 months DS was an expert! Now 8 months and still going strong! I dont think you should try to space out feeds, just let nature take its course

What was the reason for this icklelulu,if it's not too personal a question?

My 17 week old dd is feeding every 2 hours during the day. Sometimes it'll be every 1 1/2 but then she may also go 4 hours too. So, no planning for me. I think they feed more in the heat. That said, she goes 10/11 hours at night without a feed so I think she's making up for it during the day.

I read this as 7 year old bfing every 2 hours and thought it was Moondog arsing about... ho hum, yet another example of bollocks HV advice on BFing.

Another idea for a Mumsnet book? Collection of bad advice from HV's about breastfeeding? Where exactly do they get these ideas from? Surely they don't get told them during their training? Ellieo, it sounds so normal, really, don't worry and don't listen to your HV, she'll sabotage your milk supply with her silly advice. I second what Hermy says, when I bottle-fed DD, it took just as long as it did to bf and she wanted it just as frequently (there was me thinking it would be every 4 hours and so at least there were some advantages).

Me??? Arse about??
Why would you say such a thing!!

nyehehehehehehe... dunno, it just a seemed a bit quiet tonight!

I think they're all watching BB.
Gaaaaah,stuck in Turkey and MN letting me down.
May have to watch a Turkish movie circa 1971....

Hmmm. Doesn't sound like a good option. Hope you've got plenty of books there!

Thousands.Dh groans every time Istuff more in the suitcases.
I will prsent them to the local uni's English faculty when I leave. Wonder if anyone will read Phil Bennett's autobiograpy,'Charlotte's Web' and 'Working Class Wives (The classic of women's lives in the 1930s)?

Like the sound of both of them!

my dd is 6 weeks. she too is an efficient snacker - has 5 or 10 minutes every 1.5-2 hours. she does do a 4-5 hour stretch at night, which i can't quite believe, but am certainly not complaining about. she had her 6 week check today, & has put on 4lbs since birth (her birth weight was 6lbs11oz) - i must be doing something right! just carry on doing what you're doing ellieo & tell the health visitor to bugger off!

reading this after my post earlier on i am reassured that i am not alone in being surprised at just how frequently a newborn feeds. i said to my dp it's no wonder the MW's don't tell you about this aspect of b/feeding or even less people would be doing it.

at no point did anyone tell me that this could be a possibility. i think the thing that has really disappointed me is how insistent the medical profession are that we breast feed and how totally inadequate they are at giving us the support we need to do it. for example, in hospital i was only shown one way of holding my baby to feed, which i found wasn't working..........as soon as i was shown a different way my ds latched on much better, and it was less painful.

if i'm totally honest i wouldn't have started b/feeding if i'd known how hard it was going to be, it really is going to take a lot for me to see it through...