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Will only nurse 4-5 minutes a side

purplekudapurplekuda member
in Breastfeeding
my 3 and a half month old will only nurse a few minutes on one side before he screams and pulls off but will then do other side for same amount of time. He won't finish the breast and I'm worried he isn't getting enough. I have overactive letdown and get 3-5 ounces on average when pump. Mornings 8 ounces. He will nurse good in morning when he is very sleepy. He has had difficult time nursing from beginning. Wouldn't latch till he was 6 wks then I had oversupply and had that fixed. Any helpful tips?
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Re: Will only nurse 4-5 minutes a side

  • LunaBug924LunaBug924 member
    You can try breast compressions while he's nursing to try and stimulate a second letdown. It sounds like he might be getting mad at having to work so hard. Are you trying to do only one side per feeding? Maybe when he pulls off, you can stand up and bounce and burp him. Then sit and offer the same side again to encourage him to drain that breast. Otherwise, if he absolutely must have the other side, your body is getting the signal for how much milk to make. There's no set time for when the hindmilk starts, so he may just be really efficient.

    Like PP said, if he is gaining well and producing enough dirty and wet diapers, then he's probably getting enough.
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  • nunzchucksnunzchucks member
    DS (now almost 5 mo) was similar. Our nursing sessions were, and still are, 6-7 min. Like @DaisyBlinks‌ said, he is having wet diapers and gaining so I didn't worry. At 3.5 mo, DS was only eating on one side as well - also an oversupply survivor.
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  • purplekudapurplekuda member
    Thanks guys! @ Luna I'll try compressions. I would like him to finish breast as he often gets green diapers when I switch breasts. He readily goes to other breast so seems hungry still. I think he is mad that he has to work but don't know how else to get him to get over it.
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  • purplekudapurplekuda member
    I'll have to try that!
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