Let's Breastfeed

My baby is not feeding for long enough

Dear Geraldine,

I am worried that my son Joshua is not getting enough food. He will only feed for 3-5 minutes and then he pulls off and I can’t get him back on. My midwife thinks he is hungry and says he should be feeding for at least 45minutes but when I try to put him back on the breast, he becomes rigid and cries even more. Feeds are such a struggle, I just don’t know if it would be better for both of us if I just moved onto bottles.

Desperate in Barnes.

Kelly Watts

Hi there Kelly,

It is such a struggle when breastfeeding doesn’t just fall into place, but I think you may be reading the signs incorrectly.

Not all babies need to feed for 45 minutes as breast size changes from mom to mom and this impacts the length of feed.

The Let’s Get Some Sleep bonus which comes with every book goes into this in more detail. In fact, I really think that something other than hunger is making your baby cry, so I would recommend that you get yourself a copy of one of the eBooks and work through the Let’s Get Some Sleep bonus.

• Have a look at how much weight your baby is gaining
• Have a look at the colour of his poos
• Make sure you are winding him correctly
• Maybe express and offer a bottle of expressed breast milk once a day if you want

I think the reason your baby is crying so much is that he is getting everything he needs in these short feeds and then probably needs a little winding – rather than more food.

Make sure that you wind him properly after feeds and offer him an opportunity to have a nap. You will find the Expressing eBook really useful for timings and some form of structure to work to during the day, so I would suggest that you get yourself a copy of this.

I hope this helps but if you need some practical help, come and see me in my practice.

Kind regards,

Geraldine

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