How long do your feedings take?

[dallinsmommy]

I'm a first time mom and need some advice. My little guy is ten weeks old and only eats for about 6-8 minutes on one breast in a feeding. His day feedings are three hours apart and he usually wakes twice between his dream feed and morning.

Is there some way to encourage him to eat more in each feeding? and if so, will this help with his night feeding? I try to offer the other breast, or even do compressions with the breast he's eating on (it always still has milk), but he just plays latch on/latch off games.

Is this pretty common or is he not getting enough to eat in six minutes? Any advice would be great . . . I'm so new at all of this and want breastfeeding to be successful. I kind of miss our thirty minute sessions like the first week; it's like he doesn't have time to 'cuddle' anymore and he's still so young!

[annamum]

Hi,

He is doing what most babies at his age do. He became an efficient eater and that's it. It is common that moms get confused why their little ones suddenly go from 45 minutes to 8 minutes at the breast within a week or two. My dd started nursing for only 5 minutes at around 7-8 weeks. I was watching the clock, it was never more than 5 minutes. So, yes, your son is OK.

Just to make sure that he is getting enough, check if he has enough wet and dirty diapers (norm is 6-7 wet per day and 2-3 dirty per day). However, it is also OK for breastfed infants not to have bowel movements for up to 10 days.
Is he gaining weight over a period of time (1 ounce per day till 2 months and 0.5 ounce per day till 6 months is a norm)?

From what you are saying I assume he is doing well, because he eats every 3 hours and seems happy with that. The breast compression was something I wanted to suggest you but you are already doing that.

2 wakings a night is also normal at this age and even later, too. Each baby is unique and has his needs, some sleep through the night right away and some not before 1 year (mine was such).

Good luck!

[Katet]

my #2 is almost 11 weeks & like your lo is a fast eater (my first took 45mins+ up until 3 months) & it confused me at first when you read books about how long they should be on the breast.
There is one thing I found that as they get faster it is harder to tell if they are "snacking" or not.
Even though it is not unusual for bf babies to need to feed twice in the night, it is also a more common for babies that snack to want to wake up more as they don't feed well, esp if they are fast feeders. My ds #2 (he is a very big boy) only wakes 1-2 times between 7pm & 7am & on the nights he wakes 2x I can predict it as he fed poorly during the day... to achieve this I went against BW wisdom & stretched out his feeds in the day to 3.5 or even 4 hours as I realised he had started "snacking" when he was hungry after 2.5 hours one time & he'd never been like that before. So if you find you are always offering him the breast at 3 hours without any sign he is hungry I wouldconsider trying to stretch out his feeds to 3.5 hours for a few days to see what happens... it has worked for both my ds & it was something I was told about by a mothercraft nurse when I was doing 4 feeds night for ds #1 at 3 months & he was 8kg, so it was pretty obvious he didn't need the feeds, but acted hungry & wouldn't settle without a feed

[dallinsmommy]

Thanks for your advice; it really helps to know that it's normal for him to eat so quickly. I guess he's just pretty down to business.

Kate, I was going to ask you-how did you stretch your feedings out to 3.5-4 hours. Did your baby cry and protest? I'm doing good to go for 3 hours now; if he had his way he'd be eating every hour and a half it seems like. In the morning and evenings he cluster feeds every 1 1/2 hours-2 hours, during the afternoon he'll go 3 hours; but would usually prefer to eat sooner. He is a big boy (12 lbs.) and possibly is 'snacking,' how can I get him to take a full meal and be content with that for the full time period? Or is it just something he'll 'get used to.' If I let him cry/fuss a little one day and stretch it out; will he start eating more and get on that schedule? I don't want to try it until I get some advice; I feel bad having him cry for food . . .

Thanks so much for your help; you ladies are wonderful!

[Katet]

dallinsmommy... Liam sort  of did it on his own due to us being out & about with activities for his big brother, he didn't demand a feed or would sleep when he was due on a 3 hour EASY, so it just sort of worked out that it happened.
But with my  first, which was where I discovered about big babies & snacking, I had to let him whinge it out for a while... I would do things to distract him, walk around outside etc or give him a paci to extend him out, I really can't remember how long it took, it took place around 4 months for him & I just made sure I never fed in less than 3 hours & mostly 3.5-4 until he got there. It is also important for the sleeps to be good, I know there was a stage where I did EASASE, so there was a gap for activity, but no feed between 2 45min naps... I occasionally still do that with Liam, as I know he doesn't wake from a 45min nap due to hunger.