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SpecialK 
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Joined: 29 August 2008
Location: New Zealand
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 Topic: BF question
Posted: 17 May 2009 at 9:27am |
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Hoping someone can help out!
I had my baby 3 weeks ago at 37 weeks, we had issues getting BF started as my milk took about 5 days to come in. Once it did come in, he took ages to feed, which midwives said was due to him being a bit early and not very strong.
Now he is feeding ok in terms of weight gain, BUT he takes a LONG time - he doesn't ever pull himself off the breast, and after going strong for about 5 mins starts to fall asleep. I don't let him go more 20 min each side, but it does become a bit of a battle keeping him awake. I'll stop and change his nappy, and then put him on again for 10 min... but even after that he can still be hungry, so gets the odd formula top up.
He takes the bottle fine, and gulps it down quickly!
So I am not sure what to do... how do I make sure he feeds effectively from the breast?
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Bizzy
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Posted: 17 May 2009 at 9:33am |
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some babies just do take longer. my first could take up to an hour or more for a feed... some things i found to keep him awake and actively feeding were stroking the palm of his hand - cause its directly linked to the suck reflex - stroking his cheeks, making sure he wasnt too hot, oh and the thing that really got him going was touching his nose...it was like his go buton.
why do you think he is still hungry tho? if it cause he seems to want to suck it could be a comfort thing, not necessarily hunger.
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lilfatty
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Posted: 17 May 2009 at 10:19am |
Issy used to take 30 minutes each side! I just figured that was her normal. I used to stroke her cheek, it seemed to make her suck in time.
Also i would blow gently on her face when she was falling asleep 
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Mummy to Issy (3) and Elias (18 months)
I did it .. 41 kgs gone! From flab to fab in under a year  LFs weight blog
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tishy
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Posted: 17 May 2009 at 10:33am |
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My twin DDs were born at 35 weeks. For the first 6 weeks the feeding routine was BF, nappy change, BF and EBM top up.
The EBM topup stopped at 6 weeks and the second BF stopped at 8 weeks.
They fell asleep on the boob at each 'round' as well.
For the first month they pretty much ate and slept with very minimal awake time.
In fact sometimes we had to use a wet cloth to wake them for their feeds
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rachelsea
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Posted: 17 May 2009 at 10:57am |
Hi SpecialK, I had my baby at 37weeks too, and she used to spend over an hour feeding sometimes, and only ever took one side at each feed. Now she can have a full feed in 20-30mins so it does get better
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whitewave
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Posted: 17 May 2009 at 11:46am |
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My boy was born at 36 weeks, and because he had jaundice for the first couple of weeks, he was a sleepy baby too. All the suggestions already given are good to try and keep him awake, also stroking his jaw and ear as well as his cheeks can also work. Also, he will take longer to feed, Campbell took 25 minutes on average each side to start with. Now he takes 10 mins each side!
It might pay to check he is swallowing though, if you think he's taking too long - if he's just comfort sucking, he won't be actively swallowing, so just watch his throat and listen for swallowing noises to check.
Good luck, hope he won't need formula top-ups for long.
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Mum2ET
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Posted: 17 May 2009 at 12:25pm |
ella used to take ages to feed as well- normally around 45 in total. I did the same as LF and used to stroke her cheek or under her chin if she looked like she was getting sleepy.
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SpecialK
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Posted: 17 May 2009 at 6:41pm |
Thanks girls, good to know other babies are doing the same! And that they do get faster
I did wonder about the comfort sucking, as sometimes he does just sit there and the milk pools in his mouth... when he is hungry he cries after a few minutes of stopping and tries to suck on anything around him, and really goes for it. I tried giving him my finger to suck, and he seems to get really upset by it when he is hungry...
He did, and still does a bit, have jaundice so that could be it as well.
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monikah
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Posted: 17 May 2009 at 9:11pm |
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this thread is awesome. my bubs wont stay awake for long enough too and its doing me head in. i dont have enough milk so midwife said he is just sucking but not getting anywhere so looses interest. now he is on formula top ups he is a wee it better as he is more awake but still a very long process. DH starts waking him 10 mins before his feed so he is awake as possible and that helps a little to keep him awake a bit longer instead of trying to feed him half asleep
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NovemberMum
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Posted: 17 May 2009 at 10:52pm |
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just remember this is all new to your baby as well :)
I have heard it can take around 6 weeks to get breastfeeding established I rang my MW around 2 weeks cause I was worried I didnt have enough milk as my daughter was constantly feeding almost every hour between 4pm and 9pm.
The more baby feeds off the breast the more milk you make and also it is easier to get milk out of a teat.
and they do get more efficient, Megan went fror 20-25 minutes per side down to eventually 2 minutes per side.
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BF question
