will not eat after 10 min - but still hungry...

[iris&ron]

Hello,

We have a question that is related to feeding. Our Daphne is 6 weeks
old, and at the beginning we were on EASY of 3.5 hours, and things
were going well - she was napping nicely and eating well. Then, she apparently needed less time on the breast, and I realized it too late - and tried feeding her when she didn't want to... now she starts crying if I try to feed her after she finished eating for 10 min. and rested a bit. So
she eats only 10 min, and then, after playing a bit, when she looks
tired and I put her to nap, she cries and wants to eat. Then, she wakes up after about half an hour or an hour, and wants to eat. We don't want
to lose the EASY routine we have (and feed her again after playing)
 - so we don't really know what to do.
Any ideas?

Thanks!
Iris and Ron

[annamum]

Hi,

First of all, Daphne may be going through a growth spurt right now, so she may need to eat more frequently. Growth spurts usually happen at around 6 weeks, then 12 weeks and 6 months. At that time baby needs to eat more often to increase your milk supply. So it is very important to let her nurse as often as she wants during this time, it usually takes 24 hours up to a week.

Then, as you already noticed, she became very efficient at feeding and no longer needs to spend more than 10 minutes at the breast to get the milk she used to get in say 25 minutes, this is very normal for her age. Trouble is that in a case of growh spurt, babies need to eat more often, not longer. If she is refusing to eat after a little play, you can feed her before a nap but don't allow her to fall asleep on the breast. In fact, many moms tried EAEASY where they would feed again before nap but made sure the baby didn't associate feed with sleep. You can do this by changing her diaper after a nursing. That way she will not wake up early from her nap. But generally, I think it is quite a chance that it is a growth spurt and trying to keep any schedule now is going to be impossible. It will pass soon and then you will be able to continue as it was before.

BTW, she is precious  .

[alison reed]

Hi
With your baby only be 6 weeks old I would say to get rind of the easy routine as your baby will want to feen on demand. This also helps to get bf esstablished.  The only reason why I am saying this is because both me and one of my friends both have a 9 month old baby but mind is 2 weeks old than hers and she used this EASY routine and is now having to bottle feed her baby formula But I feed on demand and I am still bf strongly. It has also been proven that mothers who bf on demand do bf longer than those who do not as when your baby is starting to wean on to solids they demand less milk so you leak and produce less milk.  Those mother who demand feed can continue produce milk for when there baby demands it and a rate that they can continue bf, unlike the mothers who bf to a routine.

I believe that the only routine you need with a bay less than 5 months is a sleep routine. Once they are 6 months or when you start weaning then you can bring in a feeding routine as then by the time they are one years old they know that they have a feeding routine and a sleep routine and life is easier for you all around.

But you know what is best for your baby.  This EASY routine is not used by main mothers in the uk it is mainly the mothers who have a career and who do not want to give up their job for the first 6 months who use this.  But I am a full time mum but I am also my husbands personal accountant and bookkeeper for his business and I am in the process of starting my own business in blankets for babies that are crocheted and cardes for new babies, birthdays, weddings, anniversies and other taerly special occasions.

[sfmama]

First of all, congratultions on your baby and welcome to the BW board -- I have found it a great place to spend time and gt info.

Second, as you have already noticed, there are competing opinions on what you should do as people subscribe to the philosophies they feel comfortable with. As confusing as this my be, I found it best to pick a method that makes sense to me and stick with it. I really like the BW and generally use it and it is working well for me. Whenever there are issues, usually the pass within days. Also, it is important to understand what the logic behibd the specific recommendations is and adapt your actions according to this logic, so do not apply "the rules" blindly.

Lastly, on your specific question, few things come to mind -- all from experience:
-- growth spurt -- simply feed whenever baby is hungry, it will pass soon
-- low milk supply -- you may think baby is eating, when in fact, she is only sucking but no milk is coming out. That happened to me once or twice. the remedy: back to basics for you: rest, drink water, eat well, relax; feed often to stimulate milk production
-- easy cycle -- my son had 2.5 hour cycle at that time. Even now, at almost 4 months, he is on 3-hour cycle. you may need to adjust. 
BTW, he is on EASY from day one and still nursing beautifully and exclusively:)

hope this helps,
aneta

[mommycarrie]

10 minutes is normal for some babies as they are really good at getting that milk out.  My DS is still doing that.

If you aren't keeping her awake for more than 45-60 minutes, I would doubt that she is hungry and that she just needs to expell her sucking energy.  You may or may not want to use a pacifier to help out with this.  If you choose to use one, I would recommend that you don't let her fall asleep with it as you could be heading for more problems later on if you want to take it away.  They soon find a finger or fist and suck fiercly on them most of the time.

I think 3.5 hour EASY might possibly be too much for her to handle yet.  You might be better suited to a 3 hour routine until she is more predictable.  (just my opinion)

Good luck,
Carrie

[iris&ron]

Thank you very much for your help! we have tried several
things, and we think she may be having gas pain... so i'm trying
to eliminate things from my diet. But your answers put us in
perspective, so we are not so stressed if things are going
differently every day.
Iris