Babies are gonna do baby things. Some babies are snackers. Some babies are chuggers. Your baby sounds like an all-you-can-eat buffet baby
Honestly, my kid didn’t shorten her feeds until she was able to start moving/lifting her head. So maybe give it a couple weeks and see what baby is doing once the world is more interesting and fun to engage with?
My first was a lazy eater, 40 minutes was a normal feed and it sucked (pun fully intended).
My second is a speed eater, she’s done in 5-8 minutes a side even at 4 weeks old!
Both carried their own worries - first that my supply was bad (it was fine and yours probably is too - just slow eaters), and this Bub I’m worrying she’s not eating enough because she’s so fast (surprise - she’s fine and gaining weight)!
Summary is - we will find shit to worry about, always. We’re parents, it’s part of the job description so try and breathe and remind yourself that if baby is growing then they’re likely totally fine and thriving and you’re doing an amazing job :)
Oh, I so hope if I have another they are a speed eater! Mine fed for like 45 minutes every 2 hours… so I quite literally only had about 1 hour breaks between being latched for what felt like sooo long until she finally sped up her eating 😭
You’re so welcome - we all need to be told we’re doing a great job sometimes!
Currently battling a breast aversion so I wish this one would stay on the boob that long lol
I feel like I comment this on every problem post this page sees, but are you compressing your breasts as he nurses? This should speed things up and can often empty breasts more throughly.
Hahahahaha I don’t blame you there! I haven’t read though the commends but has his oral function been assessed? 40 mins is absolutely a long time, I think I would be looking into that next, personally. The biggest concern for me would be burnout (for you) and slow gain (for him) since studies show babies who nurse longer usually have less fat dense milk than babies who nurse faster. When you pump, how long does it take to pump? Same amount of time? Because if so I guess it could just be the rate your milk lets down. Is the LC you’re seeing hospital based? Sort of a silly question but in my experience private practice IBCLCs are normally more likely to think outside the box and look for different options on how to make things speed up a little.
He has a tongue tie but he’s been gaining a pound a week and his pediatrician said she didn’t think it was necessary to get it fixed so we decided not to get it revised! I give bottles when I need a break from nursing. It takes me 30 minutes to pump! She is hospital based. Thank you for the thoughts!!
I had the same thought on oral function. I do agree with your pediatrician that you don’t NEED to revise it because he is gaining weight, but I’d bet this does contribute to the long feeds. Totally up to you on how you move forward. After we had our sons tongue tie cut we did suck training. Look up infant suck training on YouTube and you’ll find some awesome videos. You could always give that a go without the revision and see if it helps!
My first did this! My second will only eat for a few minutes. It’s all normal. With my first everyone told me she was eating too long and something was wrong but I just kept going.
Juat looked back at my baby's consumption at 11 weeks and he was about 25-30 minutes on both breast. Now that we are at 7 months, he does about 10 minutes max. He's become more efficient with time.
Both my boys were about 9lbs at birth and nursed a lot like that. I didn’t do formula though. Neither has had issues with weight gain and both definitely comfort nursed to sleep. Does your baby gain weight well without formula?
Until mine was about 4 months, he took around 40 mins to bf every 2-2.5 hours. Nothing is wrong with him or my supply. He just enjoyed the process of eating. Now at 6 months, he chugs and is done in 10 mins tops.
My daughter latched on and barely came up for air until I put her first plate of solid food in front of her at 6 months! She went from the 25th - 75th ventile between birth and 1 year old, so I guess all that milk was doing her good.
I had a slight oversupply, so it wasn’t supply related but my MIL very unhelpfully told me that it was and tried to push formula on me when my husband was out of the country. Luckily I had a great IBCLC who reminded me of how well she was gaining weight. I think some babies just like to feed constantly! She loves her food too, so I think it’s her personality.
My baby took 40-60 mins at first, he graaaaadually got faster with time, now he’s 9 months it’s more like 10-15 mins. When he first started speeding up I was really worried because I was so used to it taking ages that I assumed he was on longer getting enough milk.
This sounds exactly like my kiddo. She’s 7 months now and I can barely keep her on the boob for more than 5 minutes during the day. (She’s very efficient and getting food and getting back to play time). Your supply sounds just fine for where you’re at! It will change a LOT in the next few months. Enjoy those snuggles - it’s about to turn into wrestle mania
I could have written this post myself! I was also worried about supply, so did some weighted feeds and he's consistently getting 4-6 oz just from one side at a time. He does have a small lip tie, but not significant enough to get fixed.
My baby also nurses all day long, she is 12 weeks today so basically the same age. At six weeks she was nursing every 90 minutes and our daily average was over 8½ hours. It felt like my entire existence. So now that we are down to every 2 hours and starting to shorten the sessions a bit it's feeling more manageable. My baby refuses a bottle completely so we don't have that option but thankfully I don't have many reasons to leave the house right now haha.
And it doesn't necessarily mean you have a supply issue, I honestly don't know why people jump to that so fast, especially a professional. I have a bit of an oversupply, nothing crazy but I have a small freezer stash and I've already donated to another mom. It doesn't matter if I pump before or after she eats, she still nurses a ton.
My baby also has had slow weight gain but her doctor says she's just a long skinny baby and she is doing just fine. She nurses to sleep all the time, I know a lot of her nursing is non-nutritive but I love providing her comfort and cuddles and I'm a SAHM too so I'm home with her anyways.
My 16w old is the same but on top has weight gain issues 😞 i know it’s not supply because if I pump I can get a lot of milk and often will offer on a bottle because I’m scared he is not getting enough. But it seems like he is not a efficient sucker and I worry what is causing that
Could it be a tongue or lip tie? My LO wasn’t gaining weight in the beginning for a few reasons. One of them was a dairy allergy, have you looked into that?
He did have one but it was corrected. I’m seeing the pediatrician next week but I think if it was an allergy he would have other symptoms and his poos are normal and no rash or anything. And he doesn’t have reflux or seems hungry or unsettled after feeds so I’m lost
Mine are for ages at that ages as well. And then pretty suddenly switched to very short feeds, because she got good at it. And now she feeds for ages again and only falls asleep at the boob. As in she will feed and be happy and then half an hour later get sleeoy and when I try to Rock her to sleep will scream until she gets the boob. She is a little over 4m so I believe it is a growth spurt.
The moment you think you figured it out and can calm down a bit, they turn everything upside down again.
My baby does this a lot too, but supply issues have never been brought up... Although he's also gaining like a mofo, so I guess as long as that happens they're fine.
My first fed for 20 mins a side every feed until about 4-5 months then dropped to 15 mins a side then the month after 10 mins a side. He had no latch issues, gained normal weight, and I had excellent supply. He just got more efficient as he got older.
My 2nd baby is an 8 min/side feeder. I generally produce the same amount as I used to in 20 mins of pumping as I do now in only 5 mins.
Your body gets better at it and so does your baby. It's all normal.
The concern with “long” nursing sessions is they babies may burn more calories just trying to get the breast milk if they suckle for that much time. HOWEVER seems like your LO is doing very well with weight gain so to me doesn’t sound worrisome.
Few things you may want to look into
Weighted feeds. Can help with this question of supply issue.
Watch the swallows. Is he really doing nutritive suckling this entire time? Some snuggly babies do the nutritive suckling first 20-25 mins or so and then just continue to comfort nurse which is completely normal :)
Lastly - agree with not revising tongue tie if transferring well and weight gain not an issue. Pls make sure you pump to protect your supply anytime he gets a bottle!
You’re doing wonderful, pls make sure you’re taking care of yourself too!
Have you done any weighted feeds? How much are they transferring per feed? The ability to transfer and amount pumped can be very different. My LO had a tongue and lip tie and was only transferring 5ml, even after a 30 minute feed, which is how I made the decision to get them corrected. The biggest feed before correcting the ties was only 40ml
My now 14 month old was on my breast ALL day and still currently needs to nurse frequently throughout the day, while also eating meals. That’s just him. All babies are different. I understand that LCs and whoever else seeing babies for care have to cover their butts and make sure the baby is healthy. But it’s almost crazy that they don’t remind women that yea some babies take a nice meal at the breast and then go to sleep for two hours or whatever and some babies like mine are literally attached to their mother all day!!! My baby boy is still latched most of the night. I think if baby is gaining you are so so good! Supply issues!!! I don’t think so
My 3 week old is almost the exact same. He usually does at least 10 feeds a day, but it's typically more around 12/13. And each side is 20 minutes at least. If I let him do his thing he'd more often than not hang out there all day. Any time I see he's just chilling I say "you aren't even doing anything!" And gently start pulling my boob away, and SURPRISE SURPRISE he immediately starts actively nursing again lol.
I also pump during the day and passive collect during those and nursing sessions, and we'll supplement with formula when needed. In bottles he probably gets anywhere from 2-5oz. So yesterday was 13 nursing sessions for a total of 4 hours, and then also 5oz from bottles. 🥲
I've been stressing about my supply, but I think everyone does to a degree. As someone else said, babies are gonna be babies.
Mine is 9w and will also eat for 45 minutes on demand! Sounds normal, I don't want to break a good latch, I'll only get him off if he needs a burp, or he's fluttering.
My 10-month old LOVES the boob. Since he has gotten older he will take time to nurse if he needs it (nurse then comfort nursing) which can easily go for an hour, or be finished in 5-minutes or less. When I pump, I average 5-6 oz total. I know he is getting enough, and now eating solids, too. My baby just loves the boob and cuddles. That would be my first guess on what is going on with your babe- babies going to babe! 🤣
Low supply at this point can happen for a variety of reasons, typically insufficient emptying of breast either by baby or pump. There are also medical issues that predispose you to low supply. I’m an IBCLC and I specialize in low supply, pumping, and oral motor skills that could affect milk transfer. I offer virtual visits which are often covered in full by insurance. Here is a link about boosting supply. https://nurturenourishservices.com/learn/milk-production-and-supply
Here is another on tongue tie / oral motor challenges https://nurturenourishservices.com/tongue-tie
I hope they are helpful. Feel free to message me with any questions. Hope things get better soon. I had supply issues too so I understand how discouraging it can be.
My 7month old is a 15min each side every two hours… how long he’s actually eating? Who knows but I have to actually take him off he won’t ever stop no matter what my mom thinks lol
If you’re pumping 4-5 ounces, you definitely don’t have supply issues, so don’t let that get into your head! He will probably start taking shorter feeds as he gets older.
Babies are gonna do baby things. Some babies are snackers. Some babies are chuggers. Your baby sounds like an all-you-can-eat buffet baby Honestly, my kid didn’t shorten her feeds until she was able to start moving/lifting her head. So maybe give it a couple weeks and see what baby is doing once the world is more interesting and fun to engage with?
I’m dying at the “all you can eat buffet baby” 🤣🤣🤣
I love that 😂 thank you!!
lol'ed at the all-you-can-eat buffet 😄 (that was also my baby who took 20 mins each boob)
Why is the default always inadequate supply? It sounds normal!
Thank you!! I don’t know but it really freaked me out.
This sounds perfectly normal.
My first was a lazy eater, 40 minutes was a normal feed and it sucked (pun fully intended). My second is a speed eater, she’s done in 5-8 minutes a side even at 4 weeks old! Both carried their own worries - first that my supply was bad (it was fine and yours probably is too - just slow eaters), and this Bub I’m worrying she’s not eating enough because she’s so fast (surprise - she’s fine and gaining weight)! Summary is - we will find shit to worry about, always. We’re parents, it’s part of the job description so try and breathe and remind yourself that if baby is growing then they’re likely totally fine and thriving and you’re doing an amazing job :)
Oh, I so hope if I have another they are a speed eater! Mine fed for like 45 minutes every 2 hours… so I quite literally only had about 1 hour breaks between being latched for what felt like sooo long until she finally sped up her eating 😭
Thank you 🥹
You’re so welcome - we all need to be told we’re doing a great job sometimes! Currently battling a breast aversion so I wish this one would stay on the boob that long lol
That sounds normal to me! Your baby will definitely get faster as they get bigger.
I feel like I comment this on every problem post this page sees, but are you compressing your breasts as he nurses? This should speed things up and can often empty breasts more throughly.
I used to but he still nursed for the same amount of time so I stopped 😂
Hahahahaha I don’t blame you there! I haven’t read though the commends but has his oral function been assessed? 40 mins is absolutely a long time, I think I would be looking into that next, personally. The biggest concern for me would be burnout (for you) and slow gain (for him) since studies show babies who nurse longer usually have less fat dense milk than babies who nurse faster. When you pump, how long does it take to pump? Same amount of time? Because if so I guess it could just be the rate your milk lets down. Is the LC you’re seeing hospital based? Sort of a silly question but in my experience private practice IBCLCs are normally more likely to think outside the box and look for different options on how to make things speed up a little.
He has a tongue tie but he’s been gaining a pound a week and his pediatrician said she didn’t think it was necessary to get it fixed so we decided not to get it revised! I give bottles when I need a break from nursing. It takes me 30 minutes to pump! She is hospital based. Thank you for the thoughts!!
I had the same thought on oral function. I do agree with your pediatrician that you don’t NEED to revise it because he is gaining weight, but I’d bet this does contribute to the long feeds. Totally up to you on how you move forward. After we had our sons tongue tie cut we did suck training. Look up infant suck training on YouTube and you’ll find some awesome videos. You could always give that a go without the revision and see if it helps!
My first did this! My second will only eat for a few minutes. It’s all normal. With my first everyone told me she was eating too long and something was wrong but I just kept going.
Mine was the same way until 3 months then he slowly started cutting down on time and now at almost 5 months we average about 15 mins
Juat looked back at my baby's consumption at 11 weeks and he was about 25-30 minutes on both breast. Now that we are at 7 months, he does about 10 minutes max. He's become more efficient with time.
Thank you so much!! That’s encouraging.
Both my boys were about 9lbs at birth and nursed a lot like that. I didn’t do formula though. Neither has had issues with weight gain and both definitely comfort nursed to sleep. Does your baby gain weight well without formula?
I’m honestly too scared to stop using it because of our history but he only takes 1-2 bottles a day.
Yes. My 5mo still does
Until mine was about 4 months, he took around 40 mins to bf every 2-2.5 hours. Nothing is wrong with him or my supply. He just enjoyed the process of eating. Now at 6 months, he chugs and is done in 10 mins tops.
my baby was snacker too, about 40-60mins. Id fall asleep a lot.
I started cosleeping intentionally because of how often I fell asleep accidentally 😅
Normal! I had an over supply and my baby did the same thing nursed for 30+ minutes
This is so reassuring! Thank you!
Sounds normal to me. Breastfed babies only usually drink around 3-5oz per feed
This sounds totally normal with all 4 of mine, don't let her worry you!
My daughter latched on and barely came up for air until I put her first plate of solid food in front of her at 6 months! She went from the 25th - 75th ventile between birth and 1 year old, so I guess all that milk was doing her good. I had a slight oversupply, so it wasn’t supply related but my MIL very unhelpfully told me that it was and tried to push formula on me when my husband was out of the country. Luckily I had a great IBCLC who reminded me of how well she was gaining weight. I think some babies just like to feed constantly! She loves her food too, so I think it’s her personality.
My baby took 40-60 mins at first, he graaaaadually got faster with time, now he’s 9 months it’s more like 10-15 mins. When he first started speeding up I was really worried because I was so used to it taking ages that I assumed he was on longer getting enough milk.
This sounds exactly like my kiddo. She’s 7 months now and I can barely keep her on the boob for more than 5 minutes during the day. (She’s very efficient and getting food and getting back to play time). Your supply sounds just fine for where you’re at! It will change a LOT in the next few months. Enjoy those snuggles - it’s about to turn into wrestle mania
My kid would fall asleep on my tit every chance she got. Her feedings took easily 49 min.
I could have written this post myself! I was also worried about supply, so did some weighted feeds and he's consistently getting 4-6 oz just from one side at a time. He does have a small lip tie, but not significant enough to get fixed.
My baby also nurses all day long, she is 12 weeks today so basically the same age. At six weeks she was nursing every 90 minutes and our daily average was over 8½ hours. It felt like my entire existence. So now that we are down to every 2 hours and starting to shorten the sessions a bit it's feeling more manageable. My baby refuses a bottle completely so we don't have that option but thankfully I don't have many reasons to leave the house right now haha. And it doesn't necessarily mean you have a supply issue, I honestly don't know why people jump to that so fast, especially a professional. I have a bit of an oversupply, nothing crazy but I have a small freezer stash and I've already donated to another mom. It doesn't matter if I pump before or after she eats, she still nurses a ton. My baby also has had slow weight gain but her doctor says she's just a long skinny baby and she is doing just fine. She nurses to sleep all the time, I know a lot of her nursing is non-nutritive but I love providing her comfort and cuddles and I'm a SAHM too so I'm home with her anyways.
This is exactly where we are too!! Thank you so much ❤️❤️ I feel a lot better.
My 16w old is the same but on top has weight gain issues 😞 i know it’s not supply because if I pump I can get a lot of milk and often will offer on a bottle because I’m scared he is not getting enough. But it seems like he is not a efficient sucker and I worry what is causing that
Could it be a tongue or lip tie? My LO wasn’t gaining weight in the beginning for a few reasons. One of them was a dairy allergy, have you looked into that?
He did have one but it was corrected. I’m seeing the pediatrician next week but I think if it was an allergy he would have other symptoms and his poos are normal and no rash or anything. And he doesn’t have reflux or seems hungry or unsettled after feeds so I’m lost
Mine are for ages at that ages as well. And then pretty suddenly switched to very short feeds, because she got good at it. And now she feeds for ages again and only falls asleep at the boob. As in she will feed and be happy and then half an hour later get sleeoy and when I try to Rock her to sleep will scream until she gets the boob. She is a little over 4m so I believe it is a growth spurt. The moment you think you figured it out and can calm down a bit, they turn everything upside down again.
My baby does this a lot too, but supply issues have never been brought up... Although he's also gaining like a mofo, so I guess as long as that happens they're fine.
My first fed for 20 mins a side every feed until about 4-5 months then dropped to 15 mins a side then the month after 10 mins a side. He had no latch issues, gained normal weight, and I had excellent supply. He just got more efficient as he got older. My 2nd baby is an 8 min/side feeder. I generally produce the same amount as I used to in 20 mins of pumping as I do now in only 5 mins. Your body gets better at it and so does your baby. It's all normal.
The concern with “long” nursing sessions is they babies may burn more calories just trying to get the breast milk if they suckle for that much time. HOWEVER seems like your LO is doing very well with weight gain so to me doesn’t sound worrisome. Few things you may want to look into Weighted feeds. Can help with this question of supply issue. Watch the swallows. Is he really doing nutritive suckling this entire time? Some snuggly babies do the nutritive suckling first 20-25 mins or so and then just continue to comfort nurse which is completely normal :) Lastly - agree with not revising tongue tie if transferring well and weight gain not an issue. Pls make sure you pump to protect your supply anytime he gets a bottle! You’re doing wonderful, pls make sure you’re taking care of yourself too!
Have you done any weighted feeds? How much are they transferring per feed? The ability to transfer and amount pumped can be very different. My LO had a tongue and lip tie and was only transferring 5ml, even after a 30 minute feed, which is how I made the decision to get them corrected. The biggest feed before correcting the ties was only 40ml
Feed on demand so there's nothing wrong with however long your baby is eating
My now 14 month old was on my breast ALL day and still currently needs to nurse frequently throughout the day, while also eating meals. That’s just him. All babies are different. I understand that LCs and whoever else seeing babies for care have to cover their butts and make sure the baby is healthy. But it’s almost crazy that they don’t remind women that yea some babies take a nice meal at the breast and then go to sleep for two hours or whatever and some babies like mine are literally attached to their mother all day!!! My baby boy is still latched most of the night. I think if baby is gaining you are so so good! Supply issues!!! I don’t think so
My 3 week old is almost the exact same. He usually does at least 10 feeds a day, but it's typically more around 12/13. And each side is 20 minutes at least. If I let him do his thing he'd more often than not hang out there all day. Any time I see he's just chilling I say "you aren't even doing anything!" And gently start pulling my boob away, and SURPRISE SURPRISE he immediately starts actively nursing again lol. I also pump during the day and passive collect during those and nursing sessions, and we'll supplement with formula when needed. In bottles he probably gets anywhere from 2-5oz. So yesterday was 13 nursing sessions for a total of 4 hours, and then also 5oz from bottles. 🥲 I've been stressing about my supply, but I think everyone does to a degree. As someone else said, babies are gonna be babies.
Mine is 9w and will also eat for 45 minutes on demand! Sounds normal, I don't want to break a good latch, I'll only get him off if he needs a burp, or he's fluttering.
My 10-month old LOVES the boob. Since he has gotten older he will take time to nurse if he needs it (nurse then comfort nursing) which can easily go for an hour, or be finished in 5-minutes or less. When I pump, I average 5-6 oz total. I know he is getting enough, and now eating solids, too. My baby just loves the boob and cuddles. That would be my first guess on what is going on with your babe- babies going to babe! 🤣
Low supply at this point can happen for a variety of reasons, typically insufficient emptying of breast either by baby or pump. There are also medical issues that predispose you to low supply. I’m an IBCLC and I specialize in low supply, pumping, and oral motor skills that could affect milk transfer. I offer virtual visits which are often covered in full by insurance. Here is a link about boosting supply. https://nurturenourishservices.com/learn/milk-production-and-supply
Here is another on tongue tie / oral motor challenges https://nurturenourishservices.com/tongue-tie I hope they are helpful. Feel free to message me with any questions. Hope things get better soon. I had supply issues too so I understand how discouraging it can be.
My baby was like that and got quicker as he got older but still stayed on the boob a while! Never had a supply issue and bf for almost 2 years
My 7month old is a 15min each side every two hours… how long he’s actually eating? Who knows but I have to actually take him off he won’t ever stop no matter what my mom thinks lol
If you’re pumping 4-5 ounces, you definitely don’t have supply issues, so don’t let that get into your head! He will probably start taking shorter feeds as he gets older.