5 week old nurses 1 oz in 15-20 minutes

[mamawanabe]

My baby nurses all the time so I rented a precision baby scale, and he is taking in 1 oz in 15-20 minutes, which means i'd have to nurse him 8 hours to get him his 24 oz (he's almost 10lbs). We nurse 6-7 hours a day in some long (1 1/2-3 hour) and some short frequent sessions, and he is growing and doing well. But having to nurse twice as much as he should means he has less time to explore the world and learn.

lactation consultant told me his latch looks good. he does spend some time suckling/ sleeping rather than sucking, but he gets so frustrated if pull him off for it. i pretty much have to compress my breast to get him on and keep him on, so breast compression won't help. the consultant said he should be more efficient at this point and maybe if i up my supply - which is fine but not overabundant - that would help.

other ideas? how abnormal is this?

[PatioGardener]

honestly it sounds pretty normal to me.

has he been checked for tongue-tie?

nak

[Hannah32]

OP, you have my sympathies. I have a baby the same age and he's a real cluster feeder. To be honest, it makes me not really enjoy bf that much. I hear they outgrow it eventually. I look forward to that day. I don't count feedings, because how does one count a cluster feed?

I weighed my baby as a bf support group. In about an hour or so, he took in about 2-3 oz. So it sounds normal, as babies usually nurse most enthusiastically when they first latch, or at least mine does.

[octobermom]

Sounds pretty normal to me. I had a slow nurser she was much smaller at 5 weeks shes was only around 6lbs but she'd nurse literly all day long the trade off I had was shes slept 5 hours at night right from the start but nursed pretty much every waking moment.. Shes 4.5 months now we get in around 6 good full nursing and it takes her around 30-45 mintues for a complete secession and another half dozen or so " 5-15 minute quickies".

Deanna

[julieinva]

If he is growing and gaining weight, i wouldn't worry about it at all! As he gets older he will become more efficient. Just use it as an excuse to relax and rest up. If you can nurse lying down, you can catch up on your sleep! A year from now he will be walking around and those newborn days will be a distant memory.

At five weeks old you (and daddy!) are the only world he needs to explore!

Julie

[boobs4milk]

no two feeds are the same, either. if he's peeing and pooping and gaining weight, then he should be fine.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/enough-milk.html

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/m...tml#calculator

http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=...tion&Itemid=17

also, some babies born at bigger sizes gain slower and get a bit leaner on bmilk. kellymom says avg intake is 19-30 oz.