Breastfeeding

Follow also for advice. My little one is 8 days and is struggling to gain weight. 1 midwife has said to me do 3 let downs on each breast but then another says feed until they stop for more than a minute or 2. But then to switch it the other breast is a challenge as when do you know when to switch 🤷🏽‍♀️

The first few days/weeks are a struggle! And honestly, you won’t probably ever know (which is so unhelpful I know!) My little girl was feeding for 45 mins and wanting feeding again 45 mins later in the first few days. They will eventually unlatch when they’re done, but they also use breastfeeding for comfort too so whilst baby may not always be feeding they’re comforting themselves. Just follow baby’s cues and as long as they’re having wet/dirty nappies and gaining weight okay then you’re doing great. (I don’t know if it’s much help, but I’ve only ever fed from one side at a time and alternate every feed, unsure if that’s ‘correct’ tho!!) I can’t help with the bassinet as I cosleep and don’t tend to put mine down very much in the day 🤣 soaking up all the baby snugs before she’s big and massive like her brother and doesn’t want them anymore haha!

My little one was the same feeding for on average 40 minutes at a time especially as my milk was coming in. The midwives coming round was weighing her which let me know she was gaining weight which reassured me. Keep letting them guide you on feeding, they will let go when they are full (we're now on 15 minute feeds on average it gets better) you're doing a great job! You know your baby best 🥰 I also put mine down in bassinet after 15 minutes of being asleep on me, did it really slowly leaving my hands on her for a while and then at night I put a top of mine flat for her to lay on that smelt of me

I would leave him until he unlatched/ is asleep. Have the same problem about putting mine down so following!

Same problem here. I give him a tickle behind the ear now and again and he will start sucking again. When he’s done he eventually unlatches but can be a while as definitely uses the breast for comfort!

My baby is now 14 days old and I'm breastfeeding. I find that it's best for me to just time it, i.e I'll do 15-20 minutes on each boob focusing on a good latch. I can tell when she is starting to slow down or just comfort feed as she isn't doing the 'suck suck swallow' (check the chin for this). If it's just cheeks moving then it's likely the latch isn't deep enough and she would hang around for ages in this position.. Once I've done my 15-20 minute on each boob, I settle her into bassinet or crib. Every few times she will stir again within 0-15 minutes and I'll either give her more boob or offer her pumped milk (up to 50ml straight from fridge). Generally when she is done she will fling her head back in ultimate relaxation . I can pick her arm up and it will flop down and I'll try the bassinet/crib again. This ensures my feeds are completed within the hour.

Mine stays on often and if I try to pull my boob away he sucks me back in. If it's been a fairly long time now I try to pop him off putting my little finger in his mouth, if he opens his mouth and starts searching again I'll put it back in but most the time he will stay asleep. He's 1 month old today and has only just started being ok in his next to me, I have to keep my hand on his belly and pat him for a while then before you know it he wants feeding again (he's EBF). We had to co-sleep for the first 4 weeks cause he just wouldn't settle and I wasn't getting any sleep. I was really against it before but in reality it was the only way we didn't lose our minds. If you've tried nearly everything and he won't settle I'd look into safeco-sleepigng so if you need to at least you're doing it as safely as you can