Forum home Babies Breast & bottle feeding

How long should a 6week old baby feed for?

Hi Ladies,



I really need some more advice on breastfeeding.



My little boy is now 6 weeks old.





In his 1st week he lost 16% of his bith weight and was admitted to hospital where they bottle fed his expressed milk and formula. When we got him home he'd refused to latch on so I stared to use the shields and expressing bottles for the night.



I have finally got him to latch on after weeks of try Yay!!! However I'm now confused as he feeds on my boobs for upto 1hour and a half or more but then is still not full.



Is this normal? should I just persevere? So confused!



Its been such a battle to get here and now I feel like giving up!

:cry:



Please could someone help?!



Replies

  • Feeding for an hour and a half is too long. We had exactly the same, right down to the hospitalisation. My lactation consultant recommended a maximum of 20 min on 1 boob before switching to the next, and then switching back if he's still hungry. X
  • I have the same, but than with a 2 week old baby. Slightly different cause she stayed within her 10% birthweight, but lost some again after gaining, so we have our problems as well. Midwife recommended to change my diet and to eat more and more often. This seems to help, within a day or two she was more settled after feeds, sleeping better and is now on the breast for about 25 to 30 min. In the evening slightly longer, during the day slightly shorter.



    It might be that you are not eating enough and your milk just doesn't have the required calories to fill him up so staying hungry? Are you eating enough? Is he settled after a feed or does he stay unsettled for quite some time? Does he still get milk after an hour and a half or is he just sucking without getting any milk out? (I can see she still gets milk out at the end of a feed cause there is always some milk coming out of her mouth at the end of a feed) Have you had him weight recently and is he gaining weight nicely now?
  • Hi Breighlin,



    I'll try eating more... To be honest ive just been having my normal meals....



    there is usually a small trickle.... so ive had to give him a couple of oz of formula which gets me down. Ifeel like failure that my milk doesnt fill him up
  • to be honest, at 6weeks a baby should feed for as long and as often as he wants! your milk works on supply and demand, so the more baby feeds, the more you make. each time you supplement with formula, you are depriving your booobs of the chance to make more milk in accordance to what your child needs.



    you will be encouraged to supplement, but trust your body, it is all your baby needs!



    has baby been checked for tongue tie, as this would explain your latch issue and why he is feeding for so long, as this would prevent him from efficiently feeding so it takes longer to get what he needs.



    and my baby lost 15% of his body weight from birth to 5days (8lbs 0 to 6lbs 13) he did not latch on and feed until he was over 60hours old, i fed him expressed colostrum through a syringe every 3 hours, often only getting 0.5ml at a time. after a breakdown in hospital and realising he was tongue tied we tried nipple shields and he latched immediately. we continued to use these until he got the tie snipped at 2weeks, it immediately fixed the latch issue and we are still happily feeding at 11weeks
  • Hi Cyliestitch,



    He latches on well now without the shields and he's able to stick his tongue... Can tongue tied babies still do that? ... My midwife watched him latch on in his 1st week and said he latches on well... (Went downhill after that)... I've even had a breast feeding support worker come out... But neither one checked to see if he was tongue tied... Is there anyway I can check?



    I'm trying to express when I give him a bottle of formula so my breast still produce the milk... I have noticed a difference in the consistancy of the milk...



    I'm away at the moment so will get him weighed as soon as I get back.



  • Hi febbabyuk,



    Tongue tied babies can still latch on, my son certainly did, but it can be harder for them to get the milk and more painful for you.



    To check for a Tongue tie, wait til he's crying or lifts up his Tongue. If there's a band of tissue connecting his tongue to the bottom of his mouth then it's a Tongue tie. Xx
  • there are a few different types of tongue tie, the most obvious one is the one most often diagnosed, but there are other types.



    and the latch may be good, but he may not actually be drinking much milk.

    try having a look at the analytical armadillos blog post about it, realy good reading

    http://www.analyticalarmadillo.co.uk/2010/09/effective-breastfeeding-its-not-all.html
Sign In or Register to comment.

Featured Discussions