Really long break between breasts

[CharlotteandCharlie]

Hello!

Dd no. 2 is 9 days old and from the beginning seems to take a really long break between sides.  She wakes pretty regulary between 3/4 hours to eat.  I feed one side and she pulls off or I take her off after 15 to 20 mins.  Sometimes we both fall asleep sometimes I pay attention to swallowing sometimes I zone out.  I know not helpful to this post hey. 

I will try for a burp and change her bum to wake her up but she seems to take a good 20+ minutes before wanting to eat again.  In the middle of the night this is torture.  In the day time it just makes things that much longer.

Will she gradually speed up as she gets older and more efficient or is that something I can do to make her more interested in finishing her "meal".

Charlotte

[Samuel's mum]

Yes, she will get more efficient. Can't say when though!

A couple of things - reaching the hindmilk i.e finishing the feed is absolutely key. So I would be very wary of removing her from the breast because you've reached a certain time. It can take babies at that age significantly longer to reach all the hindmilk than 20 minutes. Don't judge by the clock but by her behaviour i.e. her swallowing should have stopped. It's really best to let her finish the feed herself.

Using breast compression is a good way to make sure a very young baby finishes a feed properly and gets to that vital hindmilk. There's some instructions here:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=88759.0
You may find if you use breast compression at night particularly you should eliminate that 2nd feed 20 minutes later.

As Campbell has had some jaundice she's particularly likely to be sleepy during a feed and this is something you'll be likely to wrestle with so breast compression is really useful in her case. It's also really important in jaundice to feed frequently to flush out the bilirubin so it's good to offer again as you are doing and don't worry too much about intervals at the moment. You don't really want her to go longer than 4 hours.

HTH

[RachelC]

She's so little yet too and it does sound like you are listening to her cues.  She will "pep" up soon enough and eat more efficient and probably not want to last as long between feeds 

[daybyday]

Hey Charlotte...My charlie did that too! So silly how similar...During the first 3 months I'd say....Eat for 40 mins...20 mins later be rooting for the other side....

marie

[CharlotteandCharlie]

Thank you ladies.  Marie, we need an acronym for something so we can just say we are samies everytime it happens.   

Samuel's mum you have excellent points about the jaundice.  I can see a change in her already between alert times.  She did seem ecessivily sleepy a few days ago.  She's a newborn so she sleeps alot but the amount she slept was ALOT. 

I have to admit that especially during the nite I am a clock watcher.  Bad I know.  I wanted to ask you about the compression (I will read article tonight) as well as the fullness of my breasts... They are very very very full and large STILL.  With dd no. 1 I was a large producer and often found myself swollen and full (a bit sore but I think that's normal?)  I am definitely swollen and sore every three hours.  Could she only NEED to eat from one side at this point?  Thing is the few times I didn't sit and wait for her to want the other side she woke within 1.5 hours to eat again.  Honestly I haven't had the nerve to try again to see if they were just isolated. 

With dd no. 1 I one side fed for the most part but with dd no. 2 I decided I would use both because of how full I was feeling so many days after my milk came in.  VERY SORE and cranky!!!

[daisymelan]

A bit sore is definately normal especially in the beginning when your supply is trying to work itself out. 

Double side or single side feeding is a personal choice.  For ds1 I double side fed for the first bit and then after reading BW I switched to single around 3 or 4 months. 

As for ds2, to be honest, I pretty much just single side fed from the get go.  I am overproducing this time around as opposed to last time.  I'm finding now that we're over 3 months, he's needing both sides.

So I guess the short of it is that she may be filled after only one breast.  I would suggest leaving her on until she breaks the latch or indicates she's finished (can't hear her swallowing any milk).  If you want to do single side and your other breast is sore, pump just enough off to relieve the soreness. 

Hope that helps. 

[RachelC]

I agree with Jodie about single vs double side.  I would give the single side a try again and see if that satisfies her longer now that she's a bit more alert for those feeds.

[Samuel's mum]

They are very very very full and large STILL.  With dd no. 1 I was a large producer and often found myself swollen and full (a bit sore but I think that's normal?)  I am definitely swollen and sore every three hours.  Could she only NEED to eat from one side at this point?  Thing is the few times I didn't sit and wait for her to want the other side she woke within 1.5 hours to eat again.  Honestly I haven't had the nerve to try again to see if they were just isolated.

It's not unusual to still feel engorgement at this point. It will get better.

Single and double sided feeding is a very personal preference. Tracy felt single-sided feeding was an important tool in making sure you get that hindmilk finished. And if you sense you have a tendency to clock-watching that might be useful.
However others feel double-sided feeding is really important to get your supply up and running and rule out any snacking. The La leche league suggest double-sided if you can.

I agree it's a personal preference. As I say the crucial thing is that you don't switch sides before the time she's finished the hindmilk. Ideally when she's come off herself. If you do come off too soon to swap sides you risk developing a foremilk imbalance where the breasts literally stop producing as much hindmilk and hindmilk=fats/weight gain/longer intervals. Not good. Another thing is that too much foremilk can mean more gas as foremilk contains the majority of the lactose which causes the gas.
If you do double sided feeding and you feel she may not quite finish the second breast - that's why that one goes first next time as Stacy says.

You may not need to do the compression if she's more awake now. It is a hassle so life is easier if you don't need to use it.

Keep up the good work mama.

[CharlotteandCharlie]

Update.

Thanks ladies.  I have started one side feeding again, compressions AND letting her finish or not fall asleep (using compressions).  This all seems to be working great.  Thank you.  My breasts seems to have settled down a bit which is nice.  She still likes to take breaks here and there and if I let her get a few good sucks then decide the latch isn't sufficient it takes her a while again to want to ravage me.  That can be frustrating when you have to try several times to get her mouth wide open but she's lots interest.  This only happens (feel pain) on the one nipple.  The other we are champs at.  Weird?

This too will pass as we work together I hope.

You ladies are a wealth of information and support.  Thank you!

p.s. Stacy I don't usually nurse laying down just because she is soooo tiny and skinny bones.  She is a bit difficult to manuver being so skinny and floppy.  Once she puts some meat on I will try again as I loved doing it, mostly in the a.m., with Charlie.

Thanks again.

[Samuel's mum]

Really normal to have one nipple/side that does different things from the other. We're so used to our boobs that we don't realise but infact they are usually a very different shape and point in all sorts of directions.
It sounds like you are doing so well. yay.