Getting 3 1/2 mth old to nurse longer

[newmommykns]

How do I get my 3 1/2 mth old to nurse longer? If I feed him right after he wakes up from a nap he'll only eat 3-5 mins and I know this isn't enough because if I put him to bed without a feed again he only sleeps for 1 hr. So in order to get him to take a decent nap I've started the dreaded feeding to sleep prop again. I want to get him on a 3.5-4 EASY but not sure how to get him to take a good feed when he first wakes up from naps. Even on the few occasions he's slept through the night in the morning he would still only eat for 5 mins max! Thanks!

[deckchariot]

Is he wetting plenty of diapers?  Or is there another reason (other than short naps) that causes you to think he's not getting enough in 5 min?  The 1 hr waking could be just a sleep issue and not a feeding issue.  He may be a very efficient eater - especially  if after sleeping a long stretch at night he'll still only eat for 5 min.  Also, some ebf bubs don't make it to a 4 hr EASY until they start solids.  BM is digested much more quickly than formula is.  With feeding to sleep, you're establishing a prop that will cause him to wake short from naps (and start waking at night) because he "needs" the boob to sleep.  So that's probably not the route you want to go if you want him to eat more at a time, as then he may start snacking because he knows he can get it whenever he wants it (and he'll want it when it's time to sleep - I've sooooooo btdt with dd2!)

[newmommykns]

He has plenty of wet diapers and he has always been a efficient eater nursing only 10-15 mins at a time. I guess my main reason for thinking he's not getting enough out of the 5 mins is when I feed him to sleep ( then he usually nurses 15-20mins) he sleeps 1.5-2 hr naps during the day. I've tried extending naps when he hasn't been feed to sleep with pacifers, ssh pat, wake to sleep and the only way he naps is with a longer feed.

[Tay]

How long is he lasting between feeds? Maybe you could you post your routine for us to have a look and see if anything jumps out.
I'm wondering if he's becoming a bit of a snacker - since you're worried he didn't feed enough you then do a top up only an hour or so later, could that be it?
xx

[newmommykns]

I'm pretty sure he is a snacker! I don't have him on an EASY routine yet, at the moment its more AES routine.
Wake-up between 8am-9:30am (depends when his NF is)
E-snack of 3-5 mins
A- 1-1:15mins
E- 10-20mins
S- 1.5-2.5hrs
Usually has 2 good naps a day, and sometimes will have a catnap in the evening but not always. If he has slept 2.5hrs I usually feed him when he gets up because otherwise its been too long between feeds for him. At the moment he's going 3-3.5 hrs, but I think he could go 4 if I could get him to eat a full feed.
Bathtime is 7 or 7:30pm (depending if he catnapped or not)
Asleep by 8:30-9pm.
Hope this makes sense, kind of all over the place! I know he needs to be on a good routine, I've just let him develop bad habits. I have a 2 yr old as well and finding the solid 2 wks I need has been a challenge. Thanks again!

[Tay]

That's it! He won't nurse for longer because he's get satisfied with the 5min as his 'proper' feed is before nap.
Does he feed to sleep for his naps or is it just a matter of feeding before nap?
If he's not feeding to sleep it might be 'slightly' easier. What I would do is start to feed 5 or 10min earlier, give a bit of A time between the feed and nap. Then just slowly start to increase the A time between feed and nap (iykwim, does that make sense?).
If he is feeding to sleep tbh I would first try to break that habit before doing anything else.
What do you think?

[newmommykns]

Sometimes he feeds to sleep and then the next time he eats and falls alseep on me after eating. So what is the best way to break the habit of eating to sleep? Just feeding him when he gets up, then doing PU/PD when its naptime?

[deckchariot]

that's what we did when we had to break the feed to sleep habit - I stopped it cold turkey, fed her when she woke from naps and then when it was naptime, did pu/pd.  It's not pleasant, but it only took us a couple days before she was eating better when she woke from naps.

[Tay]

and if you're worried he hasn't fed enough at wake up feed, you can do a top up, but make sure you have A times before putting him down for his nap, even if it's just 5 min.

[newmommykns]

Okay thanks for the help! Starting EASY tomorrow!