My baby wants to feed every two hours, but only stays on the breast for ten minutes each time. How can I increase the time between feeds, or encourage baby to feed for longer?
In the first one to two weeks of your baby’s life this can be a normal feeding pattern. He only has a very small stomach, about the size of a marble, and so will need to feed little and often. Some ways you can help increase the amount of time he feeds for are by ensuring he has a really good attachment so that he is getting the milk quickly and efficiently, and is staying interested. If he is falling asleep too quickly try feeding him skin to skin or with less clothes on him. Swap breasts more often during feeding. Breast compression is also a useful technique for helping to increase the amount of milk he takes at a feed. The way to do this is: • To cup your breast with your free hand, thumb on one side of your breast and fingers on the other, well away from the nipple and areola. • When your baby becomes sleepy, or his sucks are less active, compress your breast, not so hard it hurts, but firmly enough to squeeze the milk into the ducts, so that your baby starts sucking deeply again.
