Breasting feeding v hungry baby

[LMW19]

Hello, my baby is 3 weeks old + 4 days and he’s eats a lot every 2-3 hours and has about 6-7 oz (breast milk) at a time, is this a lot? I’m doing mixed breast/bottle feeding, I was mostly breastfeeding but because he’s so demanding and eating a lot I’ve had to introduce a bottle, I’m really struggling with breastfeeding, any tips?

[Cheekymonkey85]

Your baby is cluster feeding and going through a growth spurt hun, very normal. Exhausting but completely normal & as long as baby is producing plenty of wet nappies & gaining weight then there is absolutely no need to introduce a bottle. However, there is nothing wrong with adding a bottle in here & there, but do look into pace feeding. That does sound like an awful lot of milk in 1 go for such a young baby. Bottles are much easier & faster for babies to drink from so it can give the illusion that baby was really hungry when really they aren't.

Sorry there isn't much advice in there but I just wanted to reassure you that what you are experiencing is a normal part of early breastfeeding. I know it's overwhelming but it doesn't last forever. A good box set, drinks & snacks got me through those early days xx

[LMW19]

Thank you for your response. I don’t mind the long breastfeeding but he has suddenly gone very lazy with it (before the bottles), he will get a good latch then try and move his head to the end of my nipple so we are constantly stopping and starting which makes it all twice as long. The only way I can keep him on for a full feed is directing my nipple in his mouth and holding it there for the full feed as well as supporting him, which is hurting my back and it’s all just a bit uncomfortable 🙈

I also rang the health visitor and she advised me that I should introduce a bottle earlier rather then later, as I’ll be returning to studying after 4 months so won’t be around to breastfeed. She also said that I should let him drink as much as he like as he can’t over feed on breastmilk? Which I find hard to believe - however he is not being sick after feeds so he must not be over eating.

[Cheekymonkey85 in reply to LMW19]

You health visitor is confused, you can't over feed a baby fed direct from breast, but it's easy to over feed a bottle fed (formula or breastmilk) purely down to the amount of control baby has at the breast. Hence why pace feeding with a bottle is recommended so baby can still get the signal of being full rather than just guzzling until bottle is empty.

Do you have any support groups near by? I think that would be your best bet with advice. A good group will support you introducing the bottle as well as helping with your latch issues. Also if you use Facebook, join "uk breastfeeding support". The ladies on there are fab and I'm sure they will be able to offer much more than I can right now. It's very non judgmental with regards to bottle feeding & formula too x