Feeding Time Is Short but Poop Is endless.......good Sucker?

Everything counds great as long as there is 5+ wet diapers a day (to show she is not dehydrated) and at least 2 dirty diapers a day for the first 6 weeks or so (to show she is getting enough food). The dirty diapers may slow down after that. Unless she doesn't poop, don't worry!

Hi R.,

My girls were the same way. As long as she is producing enough wet and dirty diapers, she should be fine. I found that the forums on the La Leche League website were great for breastfeeding questions. They have a lot of information--it can be so overwhelming in the beginning. Good luck and happy nursing!

Some babies are just fantastic suckers!!! Thank your lucky stars it sounds like yours is! Remember the poop is not telling though, it is the urine. She needs enough WET diapers. As long as she has enough WET diapers and they mean Soaking wet not just a little wet, you are doing great! If you need to keep her up, it helps to keep her only in a diaper!

As long as she is going to the bathroom, when she is hungry, she will let you know.

Ok your daughter sounds perfectly normal!! My son would only eat for 5 minutes at a time! And that was just on the one side. Just like someone else said I only nursed on one side each feeing. Though I didn't have a quick let down. It was just what he liked to do!! He had plenty enough wet diapers so I didn't worry about it!

I thought my son was bad.... My daughter was worse!! From day one she would only eat 3 minutes at a time TOPS!!! And now she's 13 months old and just starting to nurse for longer periods of time (but that's because I've cut her available time to nurse in half!)

Like someone said just keep a chart of nursings and diapers and that should be able to give you some insight!! And if you're a real data freak like I am you can try trixietracker.com. I use them and have from the beginning!! If you don't do anything else at least use their trial 2 weeks! It's a GREAT program!!

As long as she is poducing enough wet and dirty diapers, she should be fine.Keep tracck, and even a journal on EVERYTHING!
I kept a journal on it all, and it helped alot when we went for well baby/sick baby appointments.

As long as her diapers are wet, I wouldn't worry. I used to worry about that too. For the first few weeks, I kept a chart documenting how long she ate, I had a digital clock by my chair...I was quite obsessive about making sure she ate enough. :) My son was a "dawdler"...he would nurse for about 5 minutes, then doze off.....Zzzzz...then nurse, and doze off....Zzzzzz.... :) It got a little frustrating and time consuming, but that's what worked for him! So as long as her diapers are consistently wet and poopy, I wouldn't worry. :)

I nursed 2 babies so far - another on the way. Both of them nursed for very short periods of time. My "let down" is VERY fast. Actually both of mine would throw up - I mean major projectile type requiring both them, me and the chair to need a change - if I let them go much longer than 5 minutes...especially in the beginning. At the beginning they would only nurse on one side per feeding. I'd alternate sides for feedings instead of doing both each time since it was such a short time. I worried about the vomitting at first but then I pumped a few times and realized that I was overfilling 6+ ounce bottles in less than 5 minutes on the low pump setting per side. Many times I could just turn the pump off and I'd just continue to spray into the bottle it was so strong. I think they start bottle fed newborns on about 2 ounces/feeding so 6+ ounces was way too much! We realized that the babies were simply overeating because they wanted to suck still even though their bellies were plenty full. I reduced feeding times to only 3-5 minutes and they had full bellies, but didn't explode. Have you noticed that you tend to leak a lot or spray when you take a warm shower? You may have a quick "let down" as well. So, YES... it is definitely possible your little angel is getting enough milk in just a few minutes.

Just continue to monitor her diapers - it will be your biggest insight into how she's doing for the early months. As long as she's producing there, she's getting enough in. Mine would poop during just about every feeding -- at minimum. One of my friend's breastfed babies only pooped once a week - both are normal for breastfed babies. There should be lots of wet diapers for all babies though so if she's not making wet ones, talk to the doctor.

Usually the ped will want to see babies by 2 weeks...sometimes also at 1 week for breastfed babies. They basically just do a weight check at this point to make sure they are starting to regain weight at 1 week and are back to birth weight by 2 weeks. That's another way they can monitor if the babies getting enough milk.

Another thing to remember as a new mom - call the ped anytime you have a concern or question. Use reason, of course, and only call about serious things during off hours, but during regular business hours, don't hesitate. Many times they will have a nurse call you back to review the concern with you and advise you about making an apt or how to deal with it at home and what to watch for to know it's something needing checked in the office. Don't feel silly about any question or feel like you are bothering them. If you don't know, that is what they are there for. Most of the time a quick phone call can ease your mind and help you to know how to handle a minor situation without too much stress.

Enjoy your new little princess!

Don't worry -- newborn babies sleep all the time; just keep feeding her on demand, whenever she wants, she will be fine. She needs to sleep so don't try to wake her up!! All my baby did for a month was nurse and sleep on the boob. nurse and sleep nurse and sleep... she is thriving!

R.,
my son would only nurse 5 to 10 minutes EVERY feeding from the time i started nursing to the time i quit a year later. as long as she's prducing wet or dirty diapers, and is keeping her weight up i wouldn't worry about it.
congatulations oy your new girl
kris

Evertyhing sounds perfectly normal. Enjoy your little angel.

mine did the same. i would strip him down to his diaper and use a cool cloth to wake him up. he'd eat on one side and fall asleep so i'd change his diaper to wake him up and feed him on the other side. i dont have to strip him down anymore but i still - at 10 weeks - change his diaper between breasts (during the night feedings) to wake him back up.

your baby would definitly let you know if she wasn't getting enough, dont worry, just keep doing what you're doing. best of luck!

Kids vary a lot. My nephew was much like your baby, but my son ate every hour during the day for the first 2 months and pooped every time he ate! Both kids are healthy and happy and in the higher percentiles for height and weight, so I think it's just all about finding your baby's habits and doing your best to follow them until he's out of newborn phase and can be more of a regular eater.