Baby breastfeeding for 7 hours, help!

[Panda8]

Hey there, I have a 2 week old baby who I'm breastfeeding and she is taking sometimes 7 to 9 hours to feed. She falls asleep at my breast and I wake her up then she feeds again. It's exhausting me. Any guidance? NHS says that 45 minutes is a long feed. I'm at my wits end!

[Twistie]

How long is she feeding for before falling asleep? Do you mean you are actually sitting for 7 hours with her? If so this is absolutely not right. She is likely comfort sucking and not actually feeding a lot of this time.

If I noticed DS starting to fall asleep during a feed I was told to gently tickle him under the chin,feet etc, to try and keep him sufficiently alert to finish a feed. Wind then put down to sleep (or cuddle, whichever you wish to do).

[Pineapplewaves]

Is your baby feeding the whole time or just suckling for comfort? Why do you wake her up?

Both my babies were the same, that's all a newborn wants to do - feed and sleep snuggled up to Mum. After feeding have you tried putting baby in a sling? This way baby gets to stay attached to you (and they sleep very well in a sling) and you can get on with things you want to do. Have you tried putting baby in a pram and going out for a walk after feeding, mine used to fall asleep in the pram and stay asleep for a couple of hours after.

[DelphiniumBlue]

Those first weeks are tough.
Had days when I was feeding 12 hours a day, not every day, but some days I couldn’t do anything else. They suck a lot for comfort and to stimulate supply. If you can move her off the breast and maybe into someone else’s arms for a bit once she’s stopped/fallen asleep you’ll maybe get time for something else.
Setvyourself up with drinks and snacks and the tv remote and don’t even try to do anything else until you’ve got feeding established. Breastfeeding is not like bottle feeding, you just have to run with it. It’s all consuming to start with, just make sure you are eating and drinking enough.
Congratulations, and enjoy this time with your baby.

[Ecnerual]

Is baby gaining weight? And having plenty of wet and dirty nappies? Do they seem satisfied after feeds? If yes to all these then it probably is for comfort, which is completely normal for a newborn albeit exhausting for you. If they've just started feeding for this long it could be related to an upcoming growth spurt (there is one about 2 weeks).

I second the suggestion of a stretchy wrap to keep them close but make it a bit easier on you and if you have a partner they could also wear baby. A sling library will be able to help you with one if there's one near to you.

[yikesanotherbooboo]

This stage is awful but will pass. It is quite normal and not a sign that you are doing anything wrong. Each week will get better and soon you will find that all the investment you have put into breast feeding is paying off.

[KateIsJustGrowingOutHerHair]

Try a dummy

[Panda8]

Thank you everyone, these are great ideas. Yeah she sucks for about 5/10 minutes then falls asleep.

[6strings1song]

Sounds like cluster feeding. If she is feeding, mini nap and then feeding again then it can go on for hours and hours until they conk out exhausted. I think my record was 3pm until midnight on a bad day. I often found it started at about 7pm and could go on until midnight or 1am. It does end I promise. My DS loved a cluster feed, but he didn't do it after about 8 weeks old.

I have come to the conclusion it has an element of being a weird behaviourial thing and not just "upping milk supply". I had a good supply, but in later weeks the clustering was worse when DS was overtired or overstimulated. I found putting him in the sling helped to soothe him to sleep and got him out of the cluster/overtired cycle.

I recommend setting yourself up in a dimly lit room, as comfortable as you can make it. Watch endless episodes of your favourite easy watching TV series and just ride it out as best you can. When you think little one has actually fallen into their proper sleep for the night, give it 20 minutes before transferring them to cot. I found if DS woke before 20 minutes, then the cluster wasn't over.

I still feel irrationally angry/resentful about cluster feeding as no one... literally no one tells you about it! I did antenatal classes (NHS and private) and it was never mentioned when breastfeeding was discussed. I found out through googling at 1am and finding various MN threads about it.

Remember you are doing a great job and just do what you need to do to help you through this stage.

[DinnaeFashYersel]

I introduced a dummy because of this and it made an immediate difference.

Baby isn't feeding - baby is sucking for comfort.

[maslinpan]

My health visitor advised watching to see if the baby's ears are moving if you are not sure if they are still feeding. If not, gently put your finger tip in their mouth and remove your nipple.