Hi Bees,
I need some insight. My 8 month-old has nursing sessions that last about 30 to 50 minutes every 3 hours. When I talk to other breastfeeding mothers with babies around my LO's age they seem to only nurse for 5 to 20 minutes. The few times that my LO does have short feedings I feel worried because my breasts still feel full. I don't know if he is nursing for comfort or if he just is a slow nurser. He usually falls asleep during each nursing session, so I don't know if that's why he's so slow. He currently weights 18lbs and 10 ounces. Does anyone have a LO similar to mine? Is this normal for some babies? Should I bring it up to LO's pediatrician? Any info anyone may have I would greatly appreciate. Thanks.
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@Mrs.Waffles: is he drinking the whole time or just nibbling and fallin asleep? The jack Newman videos that show the difference between the two really helped me understand when my LO is actively drinking vs comfort sucking. I find I have to do Brest compressions to keep her actively drinking and switching breasts helps keep her awake and drinking.
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@Banana330: A lot of the time I feel like he is just suckling and then he will go into actively drinking for a short time during the session. I will look up those videos. Thanks so much!!!
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@Mrs.Waffles: ny lo is 9 monthd and nurses arpund ten minutes max now unless he falls asleep and then he will try tp stay latched on. He will be asleep on the breast and then if i have a letdown he will wake to eat again. Could that be happening to your lo?
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@stargal: I think so, I was looking at the videos pp had reccomended. And I think he is just nibbling. It so hard cause everytime I nurse him he falls asleep right away.
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Really sounds like comfort-nursing given that he's falling asleep and isn't really underweight.
If you are uncomfortable with how long it takes, it might be worth putting him on an eat-play-sleep schedule and feed him upon waking instead of as he's fading to sleep.
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@mrsrugbee: I feel so dumb. LOL. I thought that was just how babies nursed until recently when I heard other mothers talking about it. It so uncomfortable for me because I spend a lot of my day just nursing him. I don't ever seem to have much time and I've tried giving him a bottle and he just refuses. I'll try the eat play sleep schedule. Thank you.
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@Mrs.Waffles: if it is a comfort thing, expect an uphill battle. It might be worth keeping a lovey or something on your chest while you nurse him to try to transfer his attachment from your boobs to the object before trying to get him to fall asleep without nursing cold-Turkey.
Does he ever fall asleep on his own? (Meaning no boob, car or stroller)
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@Mrs.Waffles: there's such a huge range of "normal" when it comes to bf'ing so if it isn't a problem for you then I wouldn't stress!
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My lo is a huge comfort nurser. And I'm okay with that! She nurses though two naps (which I hold her for and she nurses off and on). I also hold her for at least an hour before bed which she nurses off and on for.
So it's not that unheard of to take that long! If your lo wakes in the middle of the night does it still take that long? That's pretty much the only time my lo is a speedy nurser.
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@mrsrugbee: No, he never falls asleep on his own.
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@Peasinapod: luckily he does sleep through the night. It's just his feedings are so long, that it makes it hard to go places and visit with people. And because he is a little underweight sometimes I wonder if I have enough milk.
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My younger one has never nursed for less than 20 mins and usually it's about 40! He just likes to take his time. (FWIW my older one would nurse in 5 mins). I really think it's just a temperament thing. If you're ok with it I wouldn't worry.
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@Mrs.Waffles: my son is 8.5 mo. if he's just nursing to eat, it takes less than 20 min. but =T i do use it as my secret weapon to get him all sleepy. then i just pull him off after half an hour or so. definitely doing it longer than 20 min is just reflex or something, i think. not really feeding feeding. my son suckles in his sleep even after i take him off the boob.
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This was normal for me, and my daughter was smaller than that. I also have huge breasts that made plenty of milk, so that wasn't an issue. But at 8 months she was still nursing 6 hours a day or more. I'm about to have another, and I'm torn as to whether or not I think this is a problem. If my second baby wants to do the same, I might try some tricks to shorten things, but if they didn't work I'd probably just figure that it was how my boobs worked, and that it's fine.
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If he's doing it for comfort, do you think giving him a pacifier might work? Some babies just have more need to suck than others, in order to relax (my son included!)
What makes you think he is underweight? With all the suckling he does, and at this stage, I would guess you're producing more than enough milk.
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