Breastfeeding small amounts frequently?

[Nellie2710]

My baby Alice is just over 2 weeks old. I'm breastfeeding and it seems to have been going well so far. She's gone from 3.2kg to 3.6kg since she was born. I've had the latch checked and have been told it looks good. Although she does sometimes still hurt quite a bit when she latches it generally gets better within 30 seconds.

Since Sunday she's been feeding very frequently but for short amounts of time. So every 30 minutes and only latching for 5-15 minutes in one feed. I offer the other breast but she's not interested. This is also happening at night and completely tiring me out as I'm not getting any sleep in between feeds.

Is this normal? I'm worried she's not getting enough of the good milk that comes near the end of a feed? Is there anything I can do to encourage her to feed for longer?

I should also say she fights to latch a lot. Like she head bobs around my breast and I really have to help her find the nipple sometimes, which doesn't help her latch properly at times!

It sounds like cluster feeding. It's very normal, although it can be hard work on you. She's still learning, and she's also teaching your body how to produce the amount of milk she needs from you. If her colour is normal and she's producing good amounts of wet and dirty nappies, I would settle in and just go with it. Remember that breast fed babies still need winding, and try and use lansinoh on your nipples to stop them getting too sore.

Of course if you have any concerns speak to your midwife or health visitor.

Congratulations on your new baby!

she may be cluster feeding but she may also not be feeding quite as effectively as she needs to. Highly recommend looking for a specialist breastfeeding support group in your area and going to see them. I'm sure your HV/MW are great but often if a baby is gaining weight the attitude can be that they're feeding well regardless. It could be that a couple of tweaks to your latch could let her get a bit more milk per feed.

Ask on local mum's groups on FB, or have a look on the ABM website - they show local support groups on there. Many groups are free and you just drop in. (I've been a peer supporter for many years now, so seen lots in your situation).

www.babydoc.com.au/faq/colic-bore-your-baby-to-sleep/

Just read this from another post hopefully something helpful in there for you

Thank you all for your replies :)

I think you're all right about the cluster feeding and that seems to make most sense. I think there is a group near me that meet on Fridays to support breastfeeding so I'll see if I can make it to that. I do try and wind her after each feed but she doesn't ever seem to have any wind! And I've got the Lansinoh which is amazing, makes such a difference!

Thank you for the link to that article, I shared it with my husband and was very interesting!

Highly recommend this book to have on hand in your BF journey - Clare Byam Cook saved me when I was struggling to feed my eldest.

www.amazon.co.uk/What-Expect-When-Youre-Breastfeeding/dp/0091906962

Do not let anyone tell you that breastfeeding is easy if you’re doing it correctly - even if you’re doing it correctly it is exhausting/draining/constant and occasionally painful. If there’s a problem it might be very painful - but that does not mean you are doing it wrong! It means there’s a problem - and therefore very likely, a solution that can be found.

Other mothers who have BF children before you are excellent sources of advice, as are bf groups etc as it means you can draw on multiple experiences to figure out what’s what.

Veru good luck - and congratulations on your little one’s arrival and on persevering with this. It’s wonderful but it is hard work x

Thank you @samqueens I can't lie, there have been countless times where I've considered exclusively pumping or switching to formula but I just can't give up the closeness it gives us so I want to continue for as long as possible! Thank you for the book recommendation, I will have a look into this :)

la Leche league are an incredible source of info and reassurance- they have a helpline too which is brilliant. I’d say it takes 6-8 weeks for bf to get established and challenges in that time are totally normal . There’s a growth spurt around 2-3 weeks when babies feed all day and night long, which I remember well, and during these growth spurts feeding patterns change. It all gets so much easier after a couple of months though, although I know how hard it is at first.