I think I have had a break through!!

I am trying not to get to excited but for the past few feeds they have been short (15mins at most) and Bella seems settled and satisfied after. I called Le Leche yesterday and told her my situation and she gave me some great advice about getting Bella to do more sucking with breast compression technique and combine it with spending more time just cuddling her in between. It seems that her comfort sucking was due to her wanting to be with me more and that was her way of doing it. We were in a cycle of her comfort sucking for long periods which would make me exhausted and just putting her under her gym or to bed. After reading the article below I feel like a mean bad mum

"Q 2. What about the babies who constantly demand breastfeeding?



A 2. Often there are babies who fake constant hunger. When put to the breast, they are playful or disinterested feeders. Such babies are actually demanding comfort sucking, not nutritive feeding. They probably have mothers who do not cuddle them between feeds and hold them only for the purpose of feeding. If the mother cuddles them between feeds they will stop pretending to be hungry just to feel warm and secure. Sometimes if the mother is stressed, tense or depressed the baby senses her anguish and wants to be constantly near her for reassurance. Such babies cry a lot and seem to be hungry. Further babies may be actually hungry when they have a growth spurt, that is, when they grow taller, fatter or longer. Their growth requires more milk so they go through a temporary phase of about 2 days approximately when they want frequent feeding. This steps up the milk supply in the breast. Once milk supply is increased, they go back to bigger gaps between feeds. At such times it is best for the mother to take 2 days off and go to bed with the baby and concentrate only on feeding for those 2 days. "

good for you luvvie. I hel;p run a BF support group and I always tell mums who are struggling that things become somewhat easier around the 4 to 6 week mark. You are doing a super job. Good on you for asking for help! You are not doing a bad job AT ALL. Breast feeding is something that both you and baby have to LEARN to do, same as learning hunger cues, sleep cues etc. Hugs to you!!

You are not a bad or mean mummy, you didn't know you asked for help and now you do know. That makes you a fantastic mummy.
Remember you are learning as well you can't be expected to automatically know everything, each baby is so different it takes a while for you both to learn and get into a groove, by 6 weeks you will be laughing trust me.

Hey Topsy, I am so glad that you are having a better day. I agree with nikkiwhyte some babies do just love to suck, but others do use it to get more in arms time as it seems your baby was doing. Do you have a sling you can use so that you can cuddle and do other things?