3 week old’s feedings taking 1.5-2 hours

[flyingfoamies]

FTM with an EFF 3 week old, currently having about 20 oz per day, anywhere from 1-4 oz per feeding. I think he’s gaining weight okay, although we don’t have any pedi appointments between 1 week and 5 weeks to really check (beyond our semi-accurate measurements at home). The thing is, he takes FOREVER to eat. It can take an hour for him to drink 2 oz—he’s either barely sucking on it, or falling asleep in the middle for a few minutes, then waking up and wanting more, over and over. Nothing works to keep him awake. Then once he’s finally done, he always has gas for the next hour, so despite showing sleepy cues, he won’t go back down to sleep. Once he finally sleeps, it’s for maybe 2 hours before he’s hungry again and repeating the cycle. It’s really starting to wear on my husband and me when he does this all night long.

Is this in the realm of normal? Or worth calling the pediatrician? FWIW, I’ve been wondering if he might have a mild tongue tie—he has a small notch in his tongue, often dribbles milk while feeding, sometimes chokes despite using slow-flow nipples, had latching issues when I was originally attempting breastfeeding.

 

[igwe]

@flyingfoamies I’d check on this. Every feeding should not be taking this long. Maybe you need a larger nipple flow size? How spaced out are you feeding?

 

[flyingfoamies]

@igwe I did order some medium flow nipples to try, hopefully they help. We did try the standard flow Enfamil nipples since they were the only non-slow-flow nipples we had on hand. They didn’t seem to help, but the Enfamil nipples aren’t really his preference to begin with, so it wasn’t the best test.

We don’t wake him to feed anymore per his pediatrician, so we just feed whenever he wakes up and is showing hunger cues—the average is around 3-3.5 hours from the start of one feeding to the next.

 

[andyweb]

@flyingfoamies Definitely work checking out. He could be expending more calories attempting to eat and now it’s a vicious cycle

 

[melissam17]

@flyingfoamies Like others have said, see if he can be looked at by the pediatrician. It shouldn’t always take that long to eat, and especially at his age, he could end up burning too many calories trying to eat for an hour.

Is he eating every 3-4 hours? If you’re waking him to feed more often than that, his belly may still be full and he may not be hungry.

 

[flyingfoamies]

@melissam17 3-3.5 hours is about his average. We rarely wake him to feed; he typically wakes up on his own wanting to eat. I definitely will call the pediatrician!

 

[neuroclusterbrain]

@flyingfoamies I was thinking upping the nipple size may help. If your using doctor browns try the “T” nipple. It may be taking so long because he is having to work so hard he gives up and falls asleep. And he may be taking in a lot of air while struggling.

 

[flyingfoamies]

@neuroclusterbrain I’ll see if I can get some of those—it’s worth a shot!

 

[hannah4jesus]

@neuroclusterbrain So our SLP said that nipple sizes are a scam. If you think about it the breast does not change flow rates. I would definitely have your little one assessed by an SLP pediatric dentist or ent.

 

[neuroclusterbrain]

@hannah4jesus Interesting.. because our SLP is the one who recommended the T nipple.. we had never heard about it until her

 

[hannah4jesus]

@neuroclusterbrain Right?!? Me either!!

The preemie nipple is very very slow which is why she prob suggested it. My little guy could never handle the 1 without dribbling. I’m not making that up about what his SLP said and my lactation consultant said about the nipple size. Not sure why all the down votes….

 

[fundyjohn]

@flyingfoamies Definitely not right and I don’t think anywhere here can identify why. Feeding this long can tire your LO out too much too. At 3 weeks, I’m surprised they can even eat for that long!

 

[hannah4jesus]

@flyingfoamies Hi! My baby would take 1hr to 90 min. He was exclusively bottle fed as he did not latch.

I highly suggest you work with a pediatric speech language pathologist (SLP). I did not know that SLPs worked with newborns but they do!! It was life changing!! We live in NYC and I know my our SLP does virtual sessions. If you are interested in more info DM me.

 

[flyingfoamies]

@hannah4jesus I didn’t know that either! Thanks for the info. I can check to see if we have anyone locally but if not, I’ll DM you!

 

[hannah4jesus]

@flyingfoamies Happy to help!!

 

[san777]

@hannah4jesus Hey I was wondering if I could get the name of the SLP you worked with in the city? We are having the same issue. I’d like to avoid seeing an IBCLC if possible.

 

[hannah4jesus]

@san777 Yes of course! She is also an IBCLC

 

[hannah4jesus]

@san777 Just PMd you!

 

[madre0035]

@flyingfoamies Check for lip ties! Both my kids had one. Would take forever to feed the second with the bad latch!

 

[breathoffaith]

@flyingfoamies this can be related to the tongue-tie!! i have the same issue with my LO. it helped when she grew quite a bit bigger (she's almost 2 months now) & we got some bottles with a faster flow. also rubbing their chubby cheekys when they get sleepy during a feed can sometimes stimulate them to start sucking again, also angling the nipple of the bottle towards their mouth roof