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Only eating 5-6 minutes on each side?

TKx2TKx2
in Breastfeeding
The first few days DD was staying on each side for 12-15 minutes. Once my milk came in she dropped down to 5-6 minutes per side. She nurses every 3 hours during the day, then cluster feeds every hour from about 5-9. At night she's been going for a 3-4 hour stretch. Should I be concerned? I'm assuming she's getting enough because she's having plenty if wet diapers, pulls off herself, and isn't crying for more. Also, she's not emptying me on both sides. Should I pump when she's done? I had mastitis with DD1 and would like to avoid that at all costs. I also don't want my supply to dip since she's not eating that much. Thanks!
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Re: Only eating 5-6 minutes on each side?

  • Marion&KitMarion&Kit member

    How do you know she's not eating much? The best way to know if she's getting enough is from the wet diaper output, and that seems to be fine - so you may just have a very efficient eater.

    I wouldn't pump this early in the game - pumping signals your body to keep making all that milk, which could lead to oversupply issues. If you are engorged or uncomfortable, try pumping just enough to stay comfortable.

    Just keep monitoring those diapers - if there are no issues with that, your DD and supply should be great.

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  • farmerswife610farmerswife610
    LO's get more efficient with nursing all the time, so I wouldn't worry if she seems satisfied and is wetting and dirtying enough diapers.  I think lots of LO's cluster feed at night, like they're tanking up so they can sleep a little longer.  If she's going every three hours without fussing, that's great!  I had a window of time before my milk came in when I was all out of colostrum and LO was starving.  Trust me, if she's hungry, you will know!  Don't pump if she's not emptying you.  It takes your body a couple of weeks to figure out how much milk LO needs.  It will eventually regulate itself.  If you get to the point of mastitis though, definitely at least pump or hand express just until you are comfortable.
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  • TKx2TKx2
    imageMarion&Kit:

    How do you know she's not eating much? The best way to know if she's getting enough is from the wet diaper output, and that seems to be fine - so you may just have a very efficient eater.

    I wouldn't pump this early in the game - pumping signals your body to keep making all that milk, which could lead to oversupply issues. If you are engorged or uncomfortable, try pumping just enough to stay comfortable.

    Just keep monitoring those diapers - if there are no issues with that, your DD and supply should be great.

    I meant not much as in she isn't emptying me. My biggest concern there is mastitis. I do NOT want to deal with that again and when it happened with DD1 they said to make sure she emptied me to help prevent it happening again. I also want to start building a freezer stash.
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  • TKx2TKx2
    Ok, so here's my next question...when do I start pumping to start a stash? I never got to that point with DD1 because I had supply issues and then we had to stop BF'ing due to her reflux.
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  • shotzieshotzie member
    If she's not emptying the first side, don't switch her to the second side. Leave her on the first side until she's done with the feeding. Otherwise, she may get lots of foremilk and not very much hindmilk. That can lead to a gassy baby with frothy, green poop. Babies don't have to nurse from both sides each feeding. DD rarely takes both sides in one feeding.
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  • TiffJ21TiffJ21 member

    imageTKx2:
    Ok, so here's my next question...when do I start pumping to start a stash? I never got to that point with DD1 because I had supply issues and then we had to stop BF'ing due to her reflux.

    I wouldn't start pumping before 4 weeks. I started at 5 weeks along with breastfeeding to build a stash and that worked out really well.

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  • SuperGreenSuperGreen

    Ditto Marion, I would not start pumping yet.  I started pumping right when I got home from the hospital b/c I wanted a freezer stash too, and it led to oversupply issues (engorged all the time, forceful let down, etc...) which make BFing a lot harder than it needed to be.  Once I stopped pumping things got much better. Now at almost 6w I feel like BFing is well-established, and I am going to start pumping again.  But just once every day or two to build up a small stash since I SAH.

    Also ditto PP, if she's not emptying you then just offer one breast at each feeding until it's empty.  LO doesn't need to eat from both breasts at each feeding, it's more important that one breast get drained so you know LO is getting the nice, fatty hindmilk.  If the breast you didn't offer gets engorged, pump off or hand express just enough to be comfortable, no more.

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