Feeding FAQ: 0-8 weeks – Breast Feeding

1-month-old Grace takes hours to breastfeed

I am breastfeeding my month-old daughter, Grace, and she takes hours to breastfeed but still seems hungry. At 7am she takes 1-2 hours. The 10am feed lasts another hour and at 11.30am she keeps on feeding or will fall asleep for 10 minutes. She will happily feed all afternoon and again at 6pm. She does not sleep during the day unless she falls asleep on the breast. The 11pm feed can last an hour and this happens again at 3am. Sometimes she will settle back until 6-7am but other nights she wakes wanting more. Grace also screams all the time unless she is feeding or playing on the floor with her nappy off. She kicks her legs and clenches her fists. Could she have colic, possibly due to hunger?
Any advice gratefully received.

If you have been following the Contented Baby routine and expressing milk on a daily basis you should begin to use the stored milk to offer Grace a top-up after feeding for 45 minutes. It would appear that your milk supply is possibly low, although Grace is gaining weight. Use the plan for increasing your supply as laid out in The New Contented Baby Book on page 52. By the end of the day many mothers have a low supply due to tiredness, so I would certainly offer her a top-up at 7pm to see if she will settle better in the evening. You might also consider an expressed or formula feed at 10pm which could be given by your husband. This would allow you to express at 9:30pm and then have an early night so you are more able to cope with the night feed.
Have you also considered having her positioning checked? Some babies who are incorrectly positioned are unable to empty the breast effectively. This results in less stimulation and therefore lower milk supply for you and a vicious circle develops of long feeds and an unsettled baby.
Until you have sorted out your supply and had Grace’s position checked by a qualified lactation consultant, it will not be possible for her to settle properly to sleep. Ask your health visitor to give you the phone number of your local breastfeeding counsellor.
A baby who feeds on and off throughout the day may receive too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk which can result in colic. It is important to try to shorten the times of Grace’s feeds so you are able to rest in between them and begin to settle Grace for daytime naps and longer periods of sleep at night. Daytime sleep in her cot is important for her and you must beware of sleep association problems developing if she gets used to falling asleep on the breast.