Breastfed baby never wants to finish a feed?

[SundayGirlB]

Hello hoping for a bit of advice on my breastfed baby. He's 7 weeks old and never seems to want to finish a feed! Even though he's stopped swallowing and seems to just be sucking for comfort he cries when I take him off. I could be there for hours but usually pull him off after 45 minutes to an hour when I feel that my breasts are empty. He is gaining weight but I still worry that he's not getting enough because I'm pulling him off before he has finished.

He won't take a bottle or dummy so boobs are what he uses for comfort. He had tonguetie so he is a slow feeder but he is gaining weight so I don't think it's that.

Anyone else had this?

Oh and we had the tongue tie division

Sounds like he just likes it and is wanting more! My 2 were both like this. Keep offering feeds and don't feel bad if you do need to finish them early as it can't be helped you're human and not just a feeding machine. You're doing great and as long as you offer regularly and feed on demand that's more important than him deciding he's had enough of suckling every time. If you can feed and still look after yourself you're more likely to be happy to carry on your breastfeeding in the future and feel good about it. He's gaining weight so you're doing well. You can always see if he wants to latch on again when you've had a few minutes to have a wee/ put the kettle on. Sometimes it works well to just plan to be breastfeeding for ages and put a box set on and make sure you've got snacks and water within reach before settling in on the sofa. You're doing great it's hard work and you deserve to feel proud and take a break as and when you need to. Also eat and drink more than you usually would while you keep building up your supply. He's putting the order in with your body to make more milk whenever he's suckling loads like this so you might find he settles down again when your supply catches up and it will get easier again.

Is he falling asleep on there? Mine does that and I just leave her to it and take the opportunity for a sit down and to browse Mumsnet. He might be crying because his lovely boob nap was interrupted. I'm not one to dole out the horrible "just enjoy the cuddles" advice but if you're happy on the sofa and have enough snacks and water and entertainment, I'd enjoy the rest you're getting while he does his thing.

(If he's gaining weight and filling nappies you're making enough milk!)

Are you swapping sides every time he slows down?

This is normal I’m afraid, I think your little one is probably having a growth spurt and will require more milk, so the more he feeds the more milk you make. As long as baby is gaining weight and you are not sore I would just go with it.

Oh yes and babies feed more in hot weather as like us they need to drink more. It’s hard isn’t it, I have been there!

Babies cluster feed to stimulate milk supply. In the early weeks my DC often fed for 3-4 hours at a time. Also they find it comforting to suck and will cry in the same way they would if you took a dummy away.

It's either a growth spurt, or he's using you as a pacifier. Both my kids were exclusively breastfed and I didn't want to introduce dummies (because I lose small stuff all the time and didn't want to deal with the panic of not being able to find one at 2am) and they were the same. So you'll either find that he's suddenly outgrown everything in a few days, or he just loves your smell and your warmth and wants to be in your comforting embrace ALL THE TIME, MUMMY'S SANITY BE DAMNED.

Keep up the good work OP. Lots of excellent advice up thread, it won't be for ever. Keep up your own fluid intake to make sure your supply is optimal in this weather.

Hi all lots of great advice thank you so much very reassuring! I think he must be going through a growth spurt at the moment because he's quite grumpy but is also probably just a bit of a boob monster.

I try to keep him on the boob for as long as I can before swapping because I want him to get the hindmilk but he ends up getting really frustrated so I do sort of swap between.

Keeping them on one breast to get hindmilk is a bit of a myth, it isn't necessary - I wouldn't try to keep him on one side if it frustrates him.

Block feeding (keeping a baby on one side) is actually used to reduce supply, whereas switch feeding between sides can increase supply.

Let him feed on one side until he slows down or stops swallowing and then swap sides. You can swap back again once he's finished side 2. More sides per feed will increase feed volume, and he will be more satisfied.

It is totally normal and it's totally ok to take him off when needed. I use to just sit there for hours with my first but with my second (4 weeks old) I just can't as I have the 3 year old to look after. He's still growing and mainly happy....

One thing the constant feeding and sucking meant for us was one sign of a a cows milk protein allergy. That was alongside trapped wind, reflux etc though..... Once I cut dairy out last time it got loads better. I'm on day 6 of cutting it out this time....