First Time Breastfeeding, Need Advice!!

I changed breasts, only because the other one got so full it was painful, but if your baby falls asleep, hey be glad, he will wake up when he is hungry and let you know at night. If he is sleeping at night I say let him. In the day time it may be different, but every two hours seems like you'd just get done and start again in my opinion. If he is gaining I wouldn't worry about the two hour bit.

I agree with the previous advice and recommend nursing from one breast until it is fully drained. The first milk that comes out is called foremilk and has less fat, then after a while the hind milk comes out and it is rich in fat. This fat is essential for babies and helps make them feel full. After burping, offer the second breast and if he is done then put him to sleep. I learned alot about breastfeeding from this website

http://www.kellymom.com/

It does get easier once they are closer to 3 months so hang in there :) My oldest daughter is 4 years old and my second daughter is 6 months old so I know how what you mean about being tired. If your two year old still naps, I suggest you nap when they both nap. Don't worry about housework or catching up on stuff. Sleep helps with your milk production.

Congrats!!!

I breastfed all three of my children and found that each one is different in their habits. The rule of thumb is 10-15 minutes off each breast per feeding. But that is a guideline only, so don't worry if that's not the way it is working for you. Feeding every 2-3 hours is very normal for breastfed babies because breastmilk is thinner so they do get hungry a little quicker. Sorry, it will likely be that way for many weeks yet! And yes it is exhausting when there are other children to care for but you can do it!

I recommend that, to give you a break, you pump some milk (best done after feeding, especially if he's eaten off of one breast more than the other) and this way your husband can feed him sometimes at night and you can get a little more sleep. I did that with my third daughter and it worked pretty well and wish I had known to do it with the other two!

My oldest was a "nibbler", meaning I was lucky if she would nurse 15 minutes in total! So she wound up eating (more like snacking) every 1 1/2 hours. Couldn't get that straightened out until she was 4-5 months old. My second daughter acted like she was starving and would suck me dry and be looking for more in 2 hours or less. And I was producing plenty of milk so that wasn't the issue! That was very stressful especially since her big sister needed my attention, too. My third was probably my most "regular" -- she kept pretty much to the average of 15 minutes per breast about every 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

L.,
I successfully BF both of my kids exclusively for the 1st 6 months, then continued with solids and nursing until 14 months. What worked for me and my babies was to feed for about 10 minutes on the first side, then burp them and "wake them up" before switching sides. Sometimes you really have to work to wake them up when they are really young. Once they latched onto the 2nd side, I would let them nurse for as long as they wanted or until they fell asleep. For the next nursing, I made sure to start on the breast that I finished with the last time to keep the demand on each breast about the same. Also, with my first baby, I worried a lot about burping her between breasts and I stressed out if she didn't burp, but I eventually figured out that she usually didn't need to burp. My lactation consultant and pediatrician said that a lot of BF babies don't need to burp because they do not ingest a lot of air during feedings like bottle fed babies do. This was a huge relief to me and once I stopped worrying about burping, feedings went faster. Of course I would burp her if I thought she needed it (like if she didn't nurse for very long or if she spit up). As for the nursing every 2-3 hours, that is very typical of a breast fed baby. My babies nursed at least every 1 1/2-3 hours around the clock for the first 2 months, then about every 2-3 hours during the day and one long stretch of about 6-7 hours at night from 2-6 months old. At 6 months, they nursed about every 3 hours during the day and slept about 8-9 hours at night without needing to nurse. Hang in there. Keep baby and diapers close to you at night to help make nighttime feedings go faster. I remember thinking that feeding sessions (which always included a diaper change or even 2 and sometimes a change of clothes!) seemed to take forever and that by the time it was over, it was practically time to start the next feeding. It will get better soon, though. Bless you!

Hi L.,

Congrats to you on your new baby boy and I think it's wonderful you're so commited to nursing your new baby. I'm still nursing my 12 mnth old and couldn't be happier with my decision to do so. When my baby was your babys age, I would only nurse on one side and then when he was ready to nurse again, I would use the other side. With him being so young, you most likely are still engorged or have a good milk supply so he's getting full from the one side just fine. I also heard it's best to nurse him as long as possible on one side before switching because the fatty milk (can't remember what it's called) comes out more after a few minutes of nursing and he needs that fatty part of your milk to help him grow.

It sounds like you're doing everything right! It will take a little while for him to space out his feedings so hang in there. I think for my son, it was around 3 mnths before he'd go longer than 2 hrs w/out nursing. It made going anywhere very difficult because I'm not a public nurser but I got through it fine and so will you. Keep up the good work and make sure to use lanolin if the nursing starts to get painful...it will help with the pain.
Take care and God Bless!

at night i never tried to get them to nurse off of both sides for this very reason, I nursed them on one side & that was usually enough & then I would hand express the other side into a bottle to relieve myself. unfortunately at this early age they are going to nurse often & it takes longer to nurse than to feed from a bottle, usually, so it will seem like you are constantly nursing the first month or two but after that it gets better.

Every baby is different, so there's no right answer to your question. My experience with my older son was that he was what they called a "gourmet" nurser and would nurse similar to your son. He also favored one side and I just went with that flow. I do think that each side may flow differently, as my younger son preferred the opposite side and he was what they called a "guzzler". It is extremely important to nurse frequently (with nightimes being a MUST until that milk supply is well establish) in the early days as that is KEY to building a good milk supply and to ensure the baby gets some good growth early on. Also, you don't mention how much your son weighed at birth. My older son was a small, early, ICU baby, so I did have extreme difficulties nursing him, but persevered and it was very difficult as he ALWAYS needed to nurse frequently and he was as I said a slow nurser - he always had to nurse at least 20 if not 30 minutes each side, in particular his favored side. My younger son was so much easier and initially (for the first 2 months) I did make sure to nurse every 2-3 hours during the day to build up that milk supply. I also would not let him go longer than 4 hours at nite until 2 mos. At two months, if the baby has gained well, life will be great as you can relax and let them nurse purely on demand. But, for smaller babies, you may need to be aggressive for a couple more months. But, yes, it really does get easier. In my experience the first 6-8 weeks are "make or break" if you will. Just beware that as I recall there is a growth spurt around 4 weeks, so if he does seem to slow down over the next week and half, don't be surprised if he needs to nurse more frequently at around 4- 5 weeks. With my first son, the only way I could avoid total exhaustion was to bring the baby to bed with me after the first night time nursing. I also had my husband be the one to get up and bring the baby to me then. I would go to bed around 9 pm and then typically the baby joined me at midnite or so. The reason this was so effective is that sleep before midnite is of the highest quality - that's when you replenish your hormones. I know it's difficult with another child in the house, but you also need to try to nap during the day at least once when the baby naps. Forget about the housework/laundry - enlist help for that and focus on that baby and your two old. These days are so very precious and short. Good luck and do hang in there. The benefits of breastfeeding both physically and emotionally for the baby AND you are tremendous. This is the only parenting decision that 16+ years later, I have NO doubt at all was absolutely right.