Hey everyone!

So, our 2nd child (boy) was born 3 weeks ago now. Wife is breastfeeding well. He got into a patern of feeding every 3 hours and nights were ok, feeding at 10pm, 1am, 4am, then 7am. However, over the last few days the feeding has been a bit more all over the place; feeding for only 15 mins then wanting more every half hour, and last night he only went just under 2 hours every feed.

We don’t really understand why this is, as my wife didn’t breastfeed for long with our first child. Also, the info on the net is contradictorary and confusing as there seems to be lots of opinions of rights and wrongs! My wife cant be “doing it wrong” as she believes as he is putting on weight nicely. Its frustrating for me as I cant help out with breastfeeding so I feel a bit useless.

I think maybe I am expecting there to be a routine already, but maybe breastfeeding should be “as and when” the baby wants it.

Thanks, we are probably worrying for nothing!

I think you've answered your own question, you're right, breastfeeding works best when it's done on demand. There's nothing wrong here, your baby is doing what breastfed babies do and likely to be mid-growth spurt. 3 weeks is the typical time for a growth spurt, which mean baby does nothing much but feed for a few days, it's to get supply up for what they need at the time. The more your wife feeds, the quicker it passes. They also cluster feed, typically on an evening, but can be any time of day where they want to feed on and off for a bunch of hours close together with maybe a 10min break inbetween or short sleep, nappy change.

There is a lot of contradicatory information out there, when looking for breastfeeding information look to the organisations who support breastfeeding women such as La Leche League, NCT, ABM or BFN. Also kellymom has most everything you need to know about breastfeeding all under one roof and is well researched, evidenced based information.
This information on the normal course of breastfeeding also contains links to growth spurts and cluster feeding which you might want to read up on

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing.html

Dads can still do huge amounts of care, the single most thing you can do which can influence the bf relationship to stay positive is give your support. There's nothing that needs fixing here, offering bottles would be detrimental to supply. Making sure your wife has plenty of time to stay in bed as much as she can with the baby, doing as much as you can around the house and with the older child will give her the time she needs to establish breastfeeding. If you're back at work preparing packed lunches for her and your older child, leaving snacks out, putting a wash on before you leave for work and doing most of the housework. Doesn't have to be perfect, just do what you can and remember to tell her each day what an amazing job she's doing of feeding your boy, this time where it's so intense will pass and as the baby gets older it gets so much easier.

You sound very supportive by being here and asking about it. Good luck and congratulations on your new baby.

Sett,

Thanks very much for your reply, i can honestly say that its one of the most informative, enchoraging posts i have ever read!

Cheers!

A new born meal is only from his mother. Feeding every 2hrs is perfect and this is actually healthy. This indicates that the appetite levels of the baby are very good. Even it is less than 2hrs, still it is permitted, because baby's appetite levels are perfect.