Marathon nursing sessions?

[november]

Within the last day or day and a half (just as I thought we had things figured out and were going smoothly..) my LO (one week, one day old) has been taking FOREVER to feed. Minimum of 45 minutes, usually over an hour, and sometimes over an hour and a half. She *was* nursing for about 30-40 minutes each feeding at one breast, and then about 2-3 hours later, we would do the same on the opposite side.

What the heck am I doing wrong? I can switch sides about 45 minutes to an hour in and she'll still keep going. At one point, it lasted for almost two stinking hours.

She's not actively *eating* the whole time, I don't think, because I can intermittently hear her swallowing/sucking and then she slows down for a bit and kind of suckles and then starts swallowing/sucking again.

I'm fairly sure it's not "normal" for her to be nursing this long each time. Last night was awful--I couldn't sleep at all because all she wanted to do was eat, eat, eat with no break in between. I tried side-laying to nurse and it works great until I fall asleep and she unlatches and wakes up fussy and wanting to eat again.

We struggled big time the first few days because she wasn't getting enough (or any?) hind milk so I don't want to put her on one breast for a short time and switch her over right away because that's where our problems all began.

I don't even know if what I'm asking makes sense. Anyone know what I'm suddenly doing wrong that she is nursing for such long stretches all of a sudden?

[sosurreal09]

its perfectly fine thats what babies do. some babies literally eat for 45 mins just let her eat. the worst thing to do is to try to fix it. she also is trying to establish your milk supply so even if she is just suckling or "using you as a paci" it is stimulating your breasts and building your supply. she knows what she is doing and you need to trust her. the first month is just a struggle hun but it will pass. when i first had my daughter she ate 45 mins every hour and ahlf for the first three weeks! now she eats every three hours but i cluster feed her (every 2) in the evening so she wont wake up so much. shes 2 months now btw.
for the hindmilk issue. try just feeding her on one breast period. if she will eat on one side for 30mins she will get more hindmilk and possibly feed less frequently. i did this for about a month in the beginning then began to switch sides after that. even if she still eats as frequently she is still getting more hindmilk this way. good luck and hang in there!

[PatioGardener]

Growth spurt? As the PP said, she's increasing your supply. I bet it settles again in a day or 2. Is baby having 6 heavy wet diapers a day? 3-4 poops?

Congrats, Mama! Hang in there!

[LorenaAZ]

Sounds normal to me. My daughter just turned 10 months and still feeds through the night (we co-sleep). She lived in a sling for the first 3-4 months outside the womb.....nursing constantly. What might help you is to get rid of the idea of schedules or how much babies 'should' eat/nurse. Every baby is different, don't let some guidelines determine whether you are doing something wrong or not. If baby is healthy, has good output, then try not to worry.

[november]

Thanks ladies. I swear, everything I read pre-baby goes right out the window once your LO is here and everything is so new/overwhelming. I should have known this was okay, I was just getting concerned that for some reason I was suddenly not producing enough milk which is why she all of a sudden needed to stay on the breast for SO long.

She is definitely still having wet and poopy diapers. I need to start counting how many, but I know it's quite a few. There have been two or three poops today and at least two or three wet ones, so I know she's getting enough--I guess I just needed the reassurance.

DH finally got her to fall asleep while I took a quick shower and she's been out for about an hour and it's amazing how much more human you feel when you can just get a few minutes to yourself. Never thought I'd ENJOY loading/unloading the dishwasher, but hey...it's a change of pace and I'm not stuck on the couch, lol!

[Rose-Roget]

DS was always like this. Very slow eater (then and now!). I hope it's a growth spurt.

[Birdie B.]

I just wanted to chime in and say that was my experience with my newborn, too. She took forever to nurse! But she got more and more efficient as she grew, and by 4-5 months she took ~20 minutes to nurse, and now she rarely nurses for for than 10 min. It won't be like this forever!