long feeder and toddler

fairy1984

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hi,

with my daughter, when breastfeeding, she took up to an hour each time for a feed. I cant remember the rough feeding schedule but i think she fed around every 3 hours on a good day so this really took up alot of time which frustrated me. not because of the time taken but because i just didnt understand how she could take an hour to have her milk and then sometimes she'd want to go back on 30 mins later.

Was i doing something wrong? it really wore me down and i only ended up breastfeeding for about 8 weeks before feeling exhausted/emotional and like i couldnt cope any longer because i didnt feel like i was satisfying her.

i would love to breastfeed for longer with my next baby but with a toddler, i just cant imagine she will understand if i end up spending that long doing it (sure she'd be ok with 30 mins every 3 hours but for one hour every 3 hours or even more just would seem to her like i was giving baby all the attention and not her). i know that breastfeeding can be tiring and so i'm also worried about how i will keep my energy up for my toddler while breastfeeding the baby.

My thoughts are that if i deal with all my "worries" now then i've got a much greater chance of successfully breastfeeding my next baby.

any advice very welcome
 
The constant feeding it completely normal behaviour for young babies, growth spurts and cluster feeding is how they set your supply up. It normally ends around the 3 month mark.
Best way to handle this situation and a toddler is probably a sling. Other ladies have dealt with the issue more directly :)
 
I'd say just wait and see how your new baby is. My daughter was constantly attached for the first 3 months last time! However, this time my supply is much better and my let down stronger and quicker and my new LO only feeds about 10-15 minutes at a time, every 2-3 hours. My daughter has a snack or reads books, or sometimes watches cartoons while I feed DD2 - it has worked out fine for us and much much easier this go around. You might find the same!
 
thanks that is good to hear that it can be quicker with different babies.

i guess theres no way of knowing how my toddler will be with a new baby until he/she arrives so i cant worry too much about that but maybe have a few new books etc up my sleeve.
 

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