Breastfeeding During a Growth Spurt

It is normal, especially for such a young infant. You can try giving her the paci for comfort if she' not swallowing anymore and seems satisfied with her meal.

Hour long feeding are not uncommon for newborns. Mine sometimes went for longer than an hour and till does (she is 6 weeks and is a lazy eater for sure) Be very careful with formula supplements. It likely is a growth spurt. Which makes it all the more critical that your body be signaled it needs to up it milk production. I would recommend you pump after these feedings when it appears she isn't getting enough (with a double electric pump), and supplement with expressed breast milk as much as possible. Nothing wrong with a little formula. But if you are able to pump an ounce or more after a feeding like that, then you know she is just not good at emptying your breast. If you are really empty, then your body may need a few days to get the signal that it needs to up its milk production. A rare supplement of formula here and there isn't going to make or break your milk supply, but I think its better to start pumping after a few feedings a day than to formula supplement for the sake of your milk supply.

It is normal for them to do that, but I wouldn't have done the formula. She is teaching your body how much milk she needs. This usually lasts for a couple days until your body catches up, and then she will go back to normal. I would keep her awake after eating, and at night can you side lie to nurse? If so, my son would then just unlatch and fall asleep. I would wait until he was totally asleep and put him back in his crib. Sometimes I fell asleep too, but would put him back when I woke. I also kept him swaddled, and right before he started sleeping through the night, I could feed and put him right back, and no problems.

Do NOT give formula to her right now, if she's hungry, nurse her. Giving formula now is a slippery rope, you rely on it now and you will rely on it more and moreu ntil your body stop making enough milk and she prefers the ease of a bottle.

If she's comfort suckin give her a pacifier. It will not ruin breastfeeding, choose a MAM pacifier, or one of the blue hospital ones, and let her comfort suck on that.

Right now she is building your milk supply, so nurse her whenever she is hungry. If she needs to comfort suck, give her a pacifier but don't overuse it, don't use it when she's truly hungry.

It is totally normal for her to nurse that long, especially during a growth spurt. That is how your body knows how much milk to produce -- it's nature's version of supply and demand! The other mamas are right on about using a pacifier rather than formula, but it's also good for her to do as much comfort sucking as you can stand. It won't spoil her and most babies grow out of that on their own. If you want to encourage her to do more active nursing, you could try switching her to the other breast pretty soon after you notice her active sucking and swallowing decreasing, with a diaper change and some burping in between. She is still adjusting to being awake more during the day and sleeping more at night, too, so she will gradually start to want to nurse less and less at night. The books Nighttime Parenting by Dr. Sears and The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley are great for other suggestions for getting through the night. You might also want to check out your local La Leche League group for some more support (www.lllusa.org). Hang in there Mama!

My baby use to routinely nurse for at least 45 minutes when he was a newborn. This doesn't last - you will notice a quicker feeding time in a few weeks. Newborns are very sleepy feeders and fall asleep while nursing all the time - using breast compressions will help wake them up and keep them actively sucking. My lactation consultant told me to de-latch him when he was comfort suckling by sticking a finger in his mouth...that being said, I struggled to get my milk supply up for those first few months - if I had to do it again, I would use the comfort suckling as a good way to induce more let-downs and thereby increase my supply. According to Dr. Jack Newman (a well-respected lactation consultant) there are some cultures that wear their children and just have them latched on all day - eating with each let-down. Although this is a wee bit extreme, I plan to do something like this with my next baby. BTW - learning how to nursing while lying down is the bomb...it takes some practice, but is now my preferred method of nursing.

Three weeks is not nearly long enough for any habits to form so you should not be worrying about at this stage about having her on your breast all through the night. As the post have suggested, don't start down the road of formula just yet. Let your milk supply really get ramped up. We are headed into cold and flu season, and she needs all of your great milk to grow healthy and strong. Three weeks old? I'm smiling just thinking how sweet she must be.

It is normal for babies to nurse longer and more frequently during a growth spurt. This is how your body knows to make more milk. The increased nursing will cause your milk supply to respond in 24 hours. So unless your doctor is concerned about her weight gain, or she is getting dehydrated, it's not a good idea to give your baby formula during a growth spurt because then your milk supply will not increase and you'll have to keep giving her formula.

As far as comfort sucking, I'm not sure, maybe she'll take a pacifier? We don't use paci's with our kids till they are 6 weeks old and nursing is well established because we want to avoid nipple confusion, but you might want to try a paci. The most helpful thing for me is to lay down and nurse my baby in bed, then we both get sleep and she can nurse as long as she wants.

If you choose to bedshare, there are safe and unsafe ways to do it. Make sure there are no fluffy pillows or blanket anywhere near your baby's face, and get a bed rail or push your bed against the wall so the baby can't fall off. Never co-sleep on a couch or waterbed, or if you have been drinking or have taken any medications that make you sleep more deeply.

I don't mean to make bedsharing sound scary, it's been a very positive experience for us, just make sure to do it safely. :)

Yes, it is normal that an infant (older baby) nurse that long. My daughter (who I nursed until she was 26 months) would often nurse for more than an hour. Could some of that time be "comfort nursing"? Likely, but that is also normal and okay. Infant's benefits from nursing are more than just nutritional. Their right brain development (affect regulation) is rooted in early care (and comfort) experiences. I would recommend following your infant's lead. We ended up co-sleeping for the first 18months or so, so that I did not have to spend hours awake during the middle of the night. This worked wonderfully for our family -- both emotional and nutritional needs were met, as well as sleep needs. I suggest read information on Dr. Sears website (or his book The Baby Book) for more information on nursing.

It is really important that you do not give her formula right now or you will not make enough milk to fulfill what she needs. This is how babies build up your milk supply by sucking for longer than they are getting milk...then your body knows that over the next few days it should make more milk. It is a supply and demand thing. You should switch sides after 15 minutes so she can get the milk from the other breast before falling asleep. Stick with it!!

She will need to suck more (even if she isn't getting much) to increase your supply. I'd let her nurse longer than normal, but I never liked being a pacifier either!