Long Feeding Sessions

Lbarron915 · May 2014

Hi there, worried and emotional FTM here. I delivered my son 11 days ago, and I'm really concerned about how much he is eating (or not eating?)

I really want to EBF but I'm getting very discouraged. Both of my nipples are cracked and bleeding, despite using tons of lanolin, epsom salts, etc. I'm currently using a shield, and that helps some, but still very uncomfortable for me.

My son eats about every 3 hours, but each time he stays at my boob for an hour or more. He is not actively sucking the entire time, but if I try to take him off before that, he gets super fussy, and still acts hungry. I have no idea if he's eating enough or not. I've tried seeing a lactation consultant about it, and she was not helpful at all. She told me that he was just a sleepy baby, and to keep trying. The middle of the night feedings are the worst. He will "eat" for an hour, and then be up and screaming for a few hours after that.

I'm concerned that he is not getting enough to eat, and I don't know how to tell if he is or not besides pumping into a bottle and feeding him that way. But everything I've read says to hold off on the bottle until about a month to avoid nipple confusion.

Any help/advice would be very much appreciated. I've already had multiple meltdowns over this, and I don't know what else to do.

blue_elle · May 2014

The first little bit is just freaking hard. My LO also liked to stay at the boob a long time and it was exhausting. Is your baby falling asleep? If so, try undressing, cool cloth to the neck, tickle the feet. These things only worked marginally for us, but they can't hurt. And remind yourself often that it WILL get easier. Now our MOTN nursing session is 15-20 tops.

I also had terrible nipple damage and fell into pumping and supplementing thinking the break would help them heal. I only caused myself spooky issues and prolonged the pain. They didn't heal until I buckled down and just nursed nursed nursed. That was the only way LO's latch would improve and my nips would adjust. It sucked, but we got through it quickly.

As far as the crying, well sometimes it's JBBB - just babies being babies. If you haven't already, read Happiest Baby on the Block. Lots of great info on why babies fuss and how to sooth them.

KingsGirl4 · May 2014

I've always been told that you can know your baby is getting enough to eat by the amount of wet diapers. If he is have plenty of them, I think it's 8-12 a day, then be assured he is getting plenty of food. I agree, I would look into getting a different LC. She should be there to help and support you until things start working well, not give you a short answer and send you on your way.

My nipples never bled, but I did have a pretty good sized crack on one. It took close to two weeks to heal. The healing really picked up when I started expressing some milk and rubbing it on the nipple, allowing to air dry, and then putting the nipple balm on (I used Boob Ease) as often as I could.

I hope you find something that works well for you. Best wishes!

Lbarron915 · May 2014

Thank you for the advice, ladies! I'll try putting some milk on them to air dry and see if that helps. And yes- definitely looking into a new LC. She was not very informative.

I appreciate your feedback!

LaNorte · May 2014

I am having the exact same issue, LO eats for an hour and a half! I'm also using a shield, which apparently complicates things too (possibly affects supply?). But he has lots of diapers every day, poop looks normal, so I'm just going to ride it out for now and hope things improve.

mysticl · May 2014

KingsGirl4 said:

I've always been told that you can know your baby is getting enough to eat by the amount of wet diapers. If he is have plenty of them, I think it's 8-12 a day, then be assured he is getting plenty of food. I agree, I would look into getting a different LC. She should be there to help and support you until things start working well, not give you a short answer and send you on your way. My nipples never bled, but I did have a pretty good sized crack on one. It took close to two weeks to heal. The healing really picked up when I started expressing some milk and rubbing it on the nipple, allowing to air dry, and then putting the nipple balm on (I used Boob Ease) as often as I could. I hope you find something that works well for you. Best wishes!

We were told a minimum of 6. You can also try weighing him immediately before and after feeding. You just need a baby scale to do it.

eggmankate · May 2014

Can you try feeding LO more frequently? At that age my DD was eating every 2-2.5 hours during the day. I wonder if that would cut your nursing session times down. DD was a long nurser, too (and still is). She would eat for about 45 minutes and I received a lot of opinions that varied between it being too long to those saying that this was OK. DD is 5 months now and nurses every 3 hours for 20-25 minutes which I still think is a long time. If there is a lot of comfort nursing going on I think it would be good to give your nipples a break. Also, can you ask your OB or Midwife to prescribe you All-Purpose Nipple Ointment? This will help your nipples heal. My DD chewed one of my nipples raw at 2 weeks PP and it was termed "severe nipple trauma". It took 2 months to heal because it was partially due to poor latch on that side.

Just know that all of your feelings and thoughts are normal. I constantly worried that DD wasn't getting enough. It absolutely does get easier. I think I started getting the hang of BFing around 5 weeks. I still have my hiccups, but nothing like the challenge of adjusting to BFing during the first month of life. I found that visiting with an LC always made me feel better so maybe you should try to find a different LC as PPs suggested. Hang in there!

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