Breast feeding

[JeSsIkA]

I am breastfeeding my son who is 3 weeks today.... thing is that he only very rearly goes for longer than 2.5hrs between feeds during the day.
and feeds are taking up to 1 hr at times, leaving me with not enough time during the day to spend with my 2.5yr old, who is becoming less and less patient..

so what i am interesed to know is.. how can i get him into a more regular sfeeding pattern, i really dont want to bottle feed him but at times i think it would just be so much eaiser..

anyone have any ideas??

[mummy sam]

have you thought about speaking to your health centre nurse? or the other thing you could do is see a lactation consultant. I never had the prob of long feeds, (from the start lochie was 20min) so i can't really help but i think that if you sorted out the feeding time that may help the time between feeds. And help you spend more time with your 2.5yo

sorry i'm no real help

[draught]

I had a similar situation with my DD2 - but within a few weeks her feeds took much less time - 20 minutes then down to 10 minutes by about 3 months - she got very efficient, very quickly (story of her life). What I found in the meantime was that I had my DD1 sit with me and do things while I was feeding DD2 - sometimes we watched DVD's together, sometimes we read books, sometimes we sang songs - so she didn't miss out too much on time with me. I know it is not easy - but if you can get through the next few weeks it will get better - promise!

[AM]

I really know how you feel, my little guy is one month old now, and feeds almost constantly, and I feel as though my 2 year old sometimes gets the short straw.
However, i am dedicated to demand feeding, as it is the best thing for baby's health and wellbeing, so i do a lot of sitting on the floor playing with ds1, and reading books to him while ds2 is feeding, and the other thing i recommend is a sling.
I feed in the sling, and it makes it a lot easier to keep up with ds1, as my hands are pretty much freed up, and we are mobile.
All the best, it is a hard time right now, but it really does get easier over time, at least that is what I keep telling myself! :)

[JanetF]

What Angie said :) The feeds will get shorter very soon and in the meantime maybe some special stuff which only happens for your older child during feeds? Special books, videos, or activities which are a real treat can help make those times easier on the older one. It will pass soon, really it will, and in the meantime you're doing the absolute best for your baby! :yelclap:

[lovemybub]

My DD is 15 weeks now, but I can remember how exhausted I felt in the beginning. I even started expressing milk so that I could occasionally get someone else to feed her if I was really tired. She would often take an hour or more to feed because she loved lying there and just comfort sucking inbetween little bouts of actual feeding.

Babies do need to feed regularly, particularly breastfed ones, as their tummies are small and the milk is digested quickly. Bottlefed babies don't often don't need to be fed as frequently, but that is because it takes their systems longer to break down formula milk and digest it. Breast milk really is best for your bubba, and if you can hang in there past those first few weeks when it feels like they're permanently attached to your breast, they will begin to space out their feeds more and become more efficient and regular.

I only have one child at the moment, but maybe you could try reading to your 2.5 year old while you are feeding, or playing some other game with them that you can do while you are breastfeeding. Or even talk to them about the feed. Make your 2.5 year old feel as though they are part of the feeding by talking about what you are doing etc.

Sorry I can't be more help, but your bub will settle into a routine over the next couple of weeks. Hang in there :)

[jarrahsmumma]

Great advice here, all sounds pretty normal ;) IMO, I would not speak to a MCHN, as they can give some really dodgy advice, that is often out of date. If you have a good one, great, but often they are not good with BF advice, and will push schedule feeds. (Not always, but some people succumb to poor advice as they think the nurse know best.. I would call ABA or see a LC)