4 month old still nursing 20x a day!

[MSWmama]

nak (you'll see why below!)

Ladies I need some advice / suggestions. My 4-month-old son still nurses every 1-2 hours around the clock! His weight gain is good but his sleep is terrible (rarely more than 1 hour in his crib, 2 hours if we're bedsharing). I really enjoy nursing him but I'd like a break every once in awhile and I think wanting 2-hour stretches between feedings isn't too much to ask.

Some info:

- I work very part-time (a few days a month) and when I'm gone he takes a bottle of breastmilk every 2 hours (usually around 15oz in a 9-hr period). 

- His latch seems weird to me. His lower lip has that fish thing going on, but his upper lip is turned in. It doesn't hurt me, not sure if it has anything to do with the frequency or not...

- We had an oversupply / overactive letdown issue st first, that I corrected with block feeding (2 hour bloks), Now we usually do one side per feed. 

- I try to get him to take as much as possible at each feed, offer the other side, etc, but when he's done he's done. Even when he does take both sides he's back on the boob an hour later anyway. 

- His sucking pattern seems weird. Like, "suck suck suck swallow" instead of the deep sucks / swallows I was expecting. He's my first so maybe that's normal?

- He does take a pacifier and I do offer that + cuddles if we just nursed. I also try to distract him with playing games, singing, having DH take him, etc. I can get maybe 15 more minutes that way. 

I guess I'm worried that maybe my milk isn't fatty enough or he's not sucking effectively? His weight gain is fantastic, but I'm getting burned out from having him on me constantly. Any ideas? Please don't just tell me to wear him in a sling and be happy to nurse him all day, That's what we do now, but I just need some "space" from the constant nursing and bedsharing, kwim? 

Thanks in advance!

[StoriesInTheSoil]

There is a growth spurt at about 4 months that could cause the very frequent nursing. How are things going now?

The pacifier is likely causing the pursed upper lip.

[MSWmama]

Thanks for the response! I would think growth spurt, but he's rarely gone more than 2 hours since he was born. When he's in a growth spurt, he nurses more like every 45 minutes. I feel like people think I'm exaggerating, but I can count on one hand the number if times he's gone more than 2 hours between feeds. Usually it's every hour. It seems like at 4 months old he should be able to last 2 hours somewhat regularly.

Do you think the pacifier / pursed lip is causing the frequent nursing somehow? I'd take it away, but it's the only thing that gives my poor nipples a break!

Thanks again for the response. I really don't know what to do. I wish I was one of those women who can nurse every hour for months and months, but I'm not... I really thought by now he'd be spacing out the feedings more.

[LadyCatherine185]

my DS1 was the same way for the first year or so.. nothing wrong, some babies just like to nurse a lot. once he got a little older thoughb (5-ish months) hed go longer when out in public bc he was distracted