One month old snacking

[dimmu]

Hiya,
My lovely baby girl is just over four weeks old, doing very well and putting on weight like a trooper.
She's exclusively breastfed on demand.

Is there anything I could do to encourage her to feed a bit longer as at the moment she's really just snacking? She's only feeding for a few minutes at each feed, and then often wants a top up half an hour later. This of course makes things a bit tricky as I'm constantly glued to the sofa and I have a five year old at home who needs entertaining and of course lots of house work etc to do. During the night she feeds every two hours or so, again just for a few minutes before falling asleep. Last night I gave her some expressed milk before bed and she slept 3-4 hours in one go which was nice.

The snacking is also giving me occasional sore boobs as she very rarely drains the whole breast in one feed so I've been getting blocked milk ducts (or I assume that's what it is) maybe once or twice a week.

My older girl was very similar and was always snacking and napping rather than feeding and sleeping even when she was older so I'm worried this one will be the same.

So is there anything I can do at this stage to get her to feed a bit longer?
Also, will she be getting enough of the hindmilk if she only feeds for a few minutes or does it not matter?
Thanks!

 

[noon_child]

Hiya,
My lovely baby girl is just over four weeks old, doing very well and putting on weight like a trooper.
She's exclusively breastfed on demand.

Is there anything I could do to encourage her to feed a bit longer as at the moment she's really just snacking? She's only feeding for a few minutes at each feed, and then often wants a top up half an hour later. This of course makes things a bit tricky as I'm constantly glued to the sofa and I have a five year old at home who needs entertaining and of course lots of house work etc to do. During the night she feeds every two hours or so, again just for a few minutes before falling asleep. Last night I gave her some expressed milk before bed and she slept 3-4 hours in one go which was nice.

The snacking is also giving me occasional sore boobs as she very rarely drains the whole breast in one feed so I've been getting blocked milk ducts (or I assume that's what it is) maybe once or twice a week.

My older girl was very similar and was always snacking and napping rather than feeding and sleeping even when she was older so I'm worried this one will be the same.

So is there anything I can do at this stage to get her to feed a bit longer?

Her weight gain shows the snacking is working for her, but sounds like its not working for you.
Has she always been like this or has it suddenly started? Perhaps her newfound alertness means she's too interested in the world to concentrate on feeding. Feeding in a dark, quite place can help but this may not be possible with a 5yr old around!

Feeding, then sleeping, then feeding again, is very common in newborns. A hormone called CSK is produced by sucking and the presence of fat in the stomach and it is responsible for sending babies to sleep. HOWEVER it is processed out of the baby's body very quickly and so then they wake up. Newborns often sleep due to sucking rather than fat in the tummy, so wake again quickly needing more. As the stomach gets bigger, milk and therefore fat content in it keeps CSK high and so sleep goes on a bit longer.

Also, will she be getting enough of the hindmilk if she only feeds for a few minutes or does it not matter?
Thanks!

If she feeds frequently she'll be getting "hindmilk" but I don't like that word as it suggests the breasts make different types of milk - lets just call it fat rich milk (although human milk isn't that fatty really). She will take whatever she didn't have at the end of one feed at the beginning of the next feed.

 

[minties]

Wow, fanastic information noon_child! I have a two week old who often does the snack-sleep-wake-snack-sleep-wake thing.