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Feeding all the time

My little man is coming up 6 weeks and he is still feeding constantly. In the day he wants to feed every 1-2 hours. If he's awake he wants food! It's not the growth spurt as he's always fed like this. Just wondering if anyone else had this and does it get easier and when. 3 hours between feeds would be wonderful! He will go for one 4 hour period at night but feeds on and off for the rest of the night.



Really struggling at the moment as i have a very active toddler who is getting fed up of mummy constantly feeding and not being able to do much with him. It makes life very difficult getting out and about with him. x

Replies

  • Oh meant to say he'll spend 20 mins - 1.5 hours on each feed, depending if he takes one or both breasts.
  • Hello fellow DIM mummy! I know you remember my dd being like this too and I finally figured out it was because she was an inefficient breast feeder and so I started out by expressing after BFing and feeding her the extra milk and now because that was an even longer process than BFing frequently I've gone to almost exclusively pumping, which takes me about 20-30 mins depending on how long I leave the pump on for and I pump about 7 times a day - I try 8 but it usually doesn't happen then I give dd 3oz at each feed which she gobbles up! She just wasn't getting enough directly from me and so I now know she is feeding and she will go 3-4 hrs without being hungry now. Maybe it's worth a go for you to see if he will get more in one sitting by you expressing??? The only issue I'm going to have soon, when my parents leave and go home is that I will have noone to watch her if she's awake while pumping as with all my get-up on my (o)(o)'s I can't pick her up!



    They do say though at 6 weeks they are supposed to become more efficient at feeding :roll:
  • Thanks BoB. I'm going to start offering expressed milk soon, so will be very interested to see how much I get and how settled he is after a feed. Have to say tho, I expressed quite a bit last time and hated it so not keen to go down that route again. I think you're doing brilliantly tho as I found expressing hard work and took me ages to get much!



    Just really hoping he goes for longer between feeds as his stomach gets bigger! I definitely cannot carry on like this! image My toddler is starting to play up to get my attention. I feel so guilty that I can't spend much time with him. x
  • My daughter fed like this too and everyone kept saying "hang in there til 6 weeks and you will turn a corner" I remember saying to my HV at 8 weeks I felt like I had crashed on the bend, change came for me at 9 weeks. We had all sorts of feeding issues and she was on ebm top ups 45ml by syringe after every feed for the first 5 weeks, it will hell tbh, it took an hour and a half to get food into her and wehad to wake her an hour and a half later to start the next feed. that said I am still bf-ing at 7 months, it does improve,I can't imagine how you must be feeling with a tot as well!
  • Every 2 hours at 6 weeks is normal! They only have very tiny tummies so need to feed frequently to keep it topped up. You are producing enough don't worry.



    If you are worried she might not be AB efficient feeder, get checked by an ibclc breaftfeeding consultant, check latch, positioning, milk transfer and Tongue tie, all types.



    It does get easier, honest!! Utmost takes a little bit of time.



    Try investing in a sling so that baby is always close to you, and you could lerner to feed in the sling so you can still plsy with your older child
  • Check whether you're making enough milk, and if not, increase your milk supply. Lots of babies want to feed very frequently at one particular time of the day, generally the evening, and cry if you don't feed them. If he is healthy, thriving and gaining weight, he may simply have got into the habit of feeding frequently. If you are not happy to go along with this, you may be able gradually to lengthen the gaps between feeds by distracting him with various activities or by asking someone else to look after him when he might otherwise be likely to want a feed.



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