my newborn is a breastfeeding snacker - normal?

[KLM99]

My 1 week old is a snacker - he'll eat for a few minutes and then pull off and rest and then come back and eat some more, etc. etc. Basically, I just sit with my boobs out all day and hold him and let him take little nips whenever he wants. Is this just how newborns eat (I can't remember!)? Will it mess with my supply?

[AFWife]

Pretty sure it will build your supply because your body thinks "baby needs food all the time"

Yes, it's normal. DS was like that. MIL used to comment on it and tell me I had to wake him up and make him eat. (Even after a month he would nurse for 10mins, sleep for 20, nurse for 15, sleep for 15, etc...) Being born and nursing are tiring things! As long as his latch is good and he's actually getting milk (not sucking wrong and wasting energy) trust his body!

Congrats on the new little one!!!!!

[calgal1111]

yes congrats! I have a snacker too always was and probably always will be she will be 2 next month and she has never nursed for more than 20 min ever! And when she was tiny I would have been lucky to get 15. Good luck and I hope this helps.

[Carlito's_wife]

How interesting!!! I have a 4 day old who is "snacking" and I have 3 other children that I BF and they never did that.

This is really bad news for me because I have always had problems with waaaaaay too much milk. My engorgment does not last a week or two, it lasts the duration of my BFing. With DD1 I was literally engorged a year. I have never been able to keep my supply under control. This snacking thing has me terrified!

[pastrygirl]

My LC told me that snacking might decrease my supply, because my boob never gets emptied. On the one hand, it makes sense, that if I don't empty out, my body will think I'm making too much. On the other hand, if my baby is always sucking, more milk will come.

I haven't noticed any supply issues yet (my baby is 6 weeks old). My older son was a snacker and I never had supply issues with him, either. So far my supply is really good, better than it was with my older son. I do want to say that in my case, his inability to eat full meals was a sign of tongue tie, which I had clipped two weeks ago.

[Shanelovr]

ds is 4mo now, he's our first and he was an avid snacker . our bf relationship is great. it took him a little while to learn to eat more at a time, but personally i never had any problems at all, including supply. in fact i think i produced extra because he seemed to always be hungry...