Help!! Question About Abnormally Long Breastfeeding Sessions

My 7 month old did that when she was a newborn. I gave her a pacifier, and that helped, she just wanted to suck. She still takes it when she is sleepy but not hungry. She's the only one of my three kids who would take a pacifier.

If she's just started doing it, she might be going through a groth spert (sp). My son does that when he hits one. It's like I never have enough for him, and he wants to stay attached all day long. Hang in there...She's putting more demand on you, and you produce more.

My son did this. I asked his pedi and we determined he was just playing and not really eating the whole time. That moms breast will sometimes become like a paci to them and used for soothing and not eating. I had to just release him and give him a paci if he pithced to much of a fit.

Try to listen for her actually swallowing your milk. If she is actually eating you should be able to hear the swallow, if she if pacifying you will not. She may also be going through a growth spurt and she may want to nurse more in order to increase your milk supply.
Hang in there, it is definitely worth it! Best wishes!

I think it is likely for comfort, but it also could be that she's what the lactation consultant called my first son "A gourmet" and she may be just eating very, very slowly. You could try unlatching her - you just insert your finger to break the suction. And, then if she's really hungry you may just need to feed more frequently. But, I do remember the days of my son nursing 45 minutes and then 15 minutes after he was done, he was ready to nurse again. This problem should also resolve over time, as she is very young. She could also be going through a growth spurt, so that might be way she'd added additional long nursing sessions. I got ALOT of reading done when my son was that age.

It may mean that she's not getting enough in the mikk. Consider eating more nutritious (not empty calories) food, and drink more water to produce more milk. This is not the time to diet! Keep taking your prenatal vitamins too.

Both of my children frequently had long nursing sessions. I wouldn't be alarmed! Chances are, she's going through a growth spurt and she'll go back to her normal nursing session lengths soon. Good luck and hang in there!! :D

Make sure that she is in fact eating. She may be pacifying herself. My oldest son would do that and I just thought that was normal! If I had of known that he was actually just pacifying himself I could have taught him how to use a pacifier. Instead I didn't figure this out until he was much older and by this time he was not going to use a pacifier. After about twenty to thirty minuets see if you can slip in a pacifier and see what happens.

H. M.

Maybe she's just having a growth spurt and needs that extra hind milk.

The other possibility is that you are having another let-down or two while she is on and she is just waiting for the next one, which is not as good because you don't want her to be 'snacking' all day.

But, it's probably the growth spurt. If you are concerned I would talk to a lactation consultant, or you might find some answers in the book "On Becoming Babywise". It helped me a lot when I was breastfeeding my triplets.

My daughter did the same thing! Her doctor said to unlatch her after 25 minutes on each breast. She continued to eat that way until she was weaned. Every feeding took 50 minutes with me having to unlatch her each time. If you do this, please make sure she is gaining weight. I didn't have any trouble producing milk and she was eating plenty in that amount of time. If you are having trouble producing milk, you don't want her to have issues because she isn't getting enough to eat in that amount of time. Good luck!

Don't get discouraged! My daughter went through a time period where almost every nursing session was one hour. I remember that at that time she was nursing 7 to 8 times a day, so yes I was nursing for 7-8 hours a day. It lasted quite a while becuase I started Tivo-ing shows to watch while I was sitting there, making all my phone calls, etc. and one day it just started to shorten again and I thought, wait you can't be done I'm still watching this show, or all my phone calls aren't made. We just adjusted and went with the flow and I ended up nursing her for 15 months so hang in there maybe she's just hungry!

The baby is having her one month growth spurt most likely and you should not worry. This is normal behavior and if you need rest, take her to bed with you.

I am a grandmother of 10, mom to 3 daughters, retired birth and postpartum doula. Do you have a good bfeeding book to keep on hand.

My guess is that she is just exercising her ability to keep sucking longer than what is necessary for her nutrition needs just because she likes to suck and be snuggled up to you. So how much do you want to allow that? Sometimes moms don't mind it taking a long time because they recognize it as a bonding time and are not unhappy about being the baby's "pacifier." You can read on the subject but I think it is pretty clear in what you read that she isn't really getting milk after the first 8-10 minutes or so on each side...that being true, you might just decide how much time you are willing to devote to the process beyond that and just end the sessions when you have reached that limit. If she is hungry much earlier than you think she should be, then you might decide that your milk supply hasn't kept up with her need but otherwise pumping extra to build your supply isn't helping her with her need to suck and be close. In fact, her sucking longer should itself stimulate more milk production...better than the pump for sure. And if more milk is what she needs, assume that her long sucking has stimulated more milk production and she still isn't satisfied (not because she isn't full but because she wants to suck).

It's perfectly normal. My little boy who is now 10 months old, used to take up to an hour or an hour and a half each time he fed till he was about 2 1/2 months old, then he gradually began to feed for less and less time. Now he feeds for about 10 mins and is done.
Sometimes babies like to be soothed by the sucking, so maybe try giving her a pacifier or your little finger to suck on after about half an hour of feeding and see if she's satisfied with that.
Other than that, just hang in there, it will get better and the time of feedings will reduce soon.

My now 20 month old nursed for what seemed like abnormally long intervals between 1-6 months. My Mom said that she nursed her kids for hours at a time, also. As he got older it took less time. I just stuck with it even though it was inconvenient. When I went back to work, fortuneately, I was able to pump. My husband fed him my breast milk and he took the bottle just fine. I would come home and nurse like crazy on evenings and weekends. Looking back maybe I should have tried other things to soothe his crying instead of autmotically putting him to the breast because he was a heavy baby. He is a normal weight now for his height. Breastfed babies are usually heavier than their formula fed counterparts, anyway. He still nurses at night. You can contact the La Leche League for great breastfeeding help and/or attend a meeting in your area. I wish you well!

like the others have said either your baby isn't getting enough milk, or she is using you for a pacifier. Breastfeeding to baby is for both food and comfort. My twins and oldest daughter do/did the same thing. You can tell when they are eating and when they are not.

Hi W.,
I have a 6mo son and noticed the same thing when he was around 2mo. From what I read and was told by numerous people, this is totally normal. You can check to see if she is actively sucking milk by watching her chin. If it is moving up and down rhythmically and she seems to be opening her mouth wide then she is actually getting milk. Chances are, however, that much like my son, she is simply comforted by being so close. Asher would be "nibbling" or just lightly sucking. Because I could determine it to be non-nutritive and not aiding in increasing my supply, I made the choice to remove him and give him a pacifier if he was upset. Usually he just fell right asleep. I hope this helps, I know it's hard to feel like you're breastfeeding all day long, but stick it out! At 6m he only eats for 10min every 4 hours, so it's much more doable!

I have 4 children of which our youngest is 9 months old. All of our kids took at least 30 minutes to a hour per feeding session. It wasn't abnormal for our babies to take as long as you are. All of our kids are healthy and did great with breastfeeding. It seemed that it took all that time for my milk to drop enough but it all worked out. Just keep it up...it's definately worth it. Breastfeeding is time consuming but the bond and health benefits is definately worth every minute.

You may have become her Pacifier...breastfeeding is soothing her.

Try pumping your milk and feed her with a bottle after the 45 min is up. If she is still hungry she will drink if not then you know the reason why she is still latched to you.

As much as it might be sweet I know it is hard to function with a child attached to your breast. You may want to try after her 45 min of feeding is up giving her a Pacifier.

I was my DD Paci and let me just say it was not fun when my breast was the only way to calm her down. When your in a store and she is screaming and doesnt take to a paci and will only calm down with my breast it is very inconvient!!!

My husband had a hard time calming her down when I worked part time when she was three months old. She even tried latching on to him!!! LOL...After that he never held her with out his T-Shirt on! :-) I got the biggest laugh out of that!

Good luck!

Maybe it is a growth spurt. If so, it should slow down in a few days. Either way, I doubt it means she's not getting enough milk. She should still be having 6-8 wet (pee) diapers a day. If so, she is getting PLENTY of milk. And yes what she is doing is completely normal.

I am a member of a nursing support group. Maybe you could come to a meeting and get some answers for your concerns? You will, without a doubt, meet a great group of mommies and their babies. It is a free and led by a professional lactation consultant. It is called For Babies Sake and we meet every Tuesday night at 7pm at the South Arlington Church of Christ at 830 Eden Rd. 76001. There is also a Yahoo group, by the same name, conneted to this group for online support. Maybe I'll see you there some time?

Also, www.kellymom.com is a great website to go to for bf info.

Good luck and keep up the good work Mama! Before you know it you and your little one will be old breastfeeding pros.

It sounds like your baby is using you as a pacifier. You should be able to tell the difference between suckling to eat and suckling as a soothing thing. You could pull her off and give her a pacifier once you notice this. Good luck!

Is it possible that she's getting the milk she needs and then just sucking for the sake of sucking? Have you tried a pacifier? Is she gaining weight? It really could just be that she's comforted while nursing long after she's drained the breast.

She is making you a human pacifier! My first did the same thing! I finally bought him a pacifier after I SWORE that my children would NOT have pacifiers! Good luck!

Sounds like she is using you for a pacfyer. If she is gaining good , sounds like she is getting enough milk, otherwise if she still wants to nurse and crys like she is hungry, i'd say maybe you don't have enough milk and need to suppliment. For some reason sometimes we just don't have enough.

Hi there - good for you breast feeding! I did both my babies and they are so healthy because of it.
Try the book "Baby Wise". I did not use on my first but on 2nd and it was so..much..better. It helps put baby and mom on schedule and baby to sleep through the night.
Baby is still so small - are you feeding every two three hours? She may still be hungry and also have the desire to suckle.
You are not a pacifier - don't let her suckle for over an hour or you will get so sore. Does not improve your milk supply but actually lessens the quality of your milk. You need the down time to replenish vitamins.
If you are unsure of the quantity of milk - you could always pump then feed her temporarily from a bottle to ensure she is getting enough.
Otherwise, I am thinking she is just wanting to suckle - what better place to be than cuddled next to mom? and she may need more feeding times during the day.
Good luck to you both.
PS: Have you tried Baby Signs? My one month old would put his little fist up in the bassinet to ask to be lifted. It was so cool to see!

My second child nursed that long EVERY feeding. I would check with the pediatrician to be sure.

I would speak to a lactation consultant. Our doctor's had us go there after each child was born. After so long your breasts are simply empty and then she is just sucking for the sake of sucking. Trust me, I have been there. Even if she is trying to build up your supply it still shouldn't be that long. I had to just simply say "it's all gone" detach my child and go on with our day. Neither would take a paci either but surprisingly both were fine, as I was more worried about it then they were. I jsut made sure that I still held them for awhile so that they could still get that cuddle time and that seemed to be enough. Hope that helps!