# Fast nurser?



## RN-Mommy (Nov 30, 2007)

My son is 3 weeks old currently. He seems to be a very efficient (fast?) nurser. It normally takes him no longer than 5-10m on 1 side to be content. Normally it is right around about 7-8 minutes.

He nurses every 2-3 hours, but does have some clustering in the evening, which amounts to about 5 minutes every 30-45 minutes lasting about 2 hours.

I feel like he can't possibly be getting enough nursing so quickly.

For background, he was born at 9#3oz, at one week was 9#7oz, and 2 weeks was 9#11. He has bountiful wet and bm diapers.

Of course his pediatrician was happy with his 1 week birth weight, but not with his 2 week gain of only 4 oz. He goes back in a week for another weight check.

Help? I don't know what to think. The fact that he _is_ gaining, and having sufficient diaper output, and seems content makes me think its okay. BUT he did only gain 1/4 lb in a week which is making me second guess things.


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## ChetMC (Aug 27, 2005)

All of our kids were content with one side, nursing for under ten minutes at the newborn stage. They still had a very strong urge to suck though, and spent a lot of time sucking on my thumb or baby finger.

When our first DD was born the public health called to see how she was doing, and to ask if I wanted to get her weighed. I told them that she nursed for 5 to 10 minutes on one side, every 3 to 3.5 hours, and I could tell the nurse on the other end of the phone was terrified. The next day when she came to weigh the baby she took one look at DD and said, "oh, this baby is fine," sounding very relieved. This woman had spent a lot of time weighing babies and I swear that she could guess a baby's weight within two ounces just by looking at them.

I just have a fast letdown, and a mild oversupply. The kids were always able to keep up though.


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## pumpkinseed (Aug 6, 2005)

My dd2 has also always done this-I was worried at first, but she is gaining. I am thrilled if she stays on for 10!

As long as baby is gaining-I wouldn't worry. There is a calculator on Kellymom-I think (don't quote me-look it up)-it says the avg weight gain from 0-4 months is 5-8 oz/wk.-with an asterisk of some babies gain 4-5 oz/wk and are fine.

eta: found link:
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns...ight-gain.html


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## RN-Mommy (Nov 30, 2007)

Thanks for the replies, I feel better to know my son isn't the only baby like this.

And pumpkinseed, thanks for that link. I wonder why *some* babies are okay with 4oz gains, but others aren't


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## caitryn (Aug 18, 2005)

I had been wondering about this, too, since my son doesn't always nurse for very long. Sometimes he can nurse for between 20 and 30 minutes, but I think most of that is for comfort rather than because he's hungry. Most of the time it's between 5 and 10 minutes with the occasional bout of 15 minutes on one side. After that, he's not interested in the other side at all.

Of course, his weight is strange to me. He lost during the first week from 5 lbs 11 oz down to 5 lbs 1 oz (normal, I'm told). He maintained that for about 3 or 4 days. I took him off the formula I had been supplementing with and went exclusively with breast milk. He won't be a full 2 weeks old until Monday, and he's suddenly weighing at 5 lbs 8 oz. Coincidence? Maybe, but I think I'm going to try to stick to bfing as much as possible. (I'm one of those people that feels weird about bfing in public and have yet to develop a knack for feeding him while being covered. Oh, for me "public" means anyone around other than me, DS, DH, my mom, and specific nurses/lactation consultants.)


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## Claire and Boys (Mar 27, 2007)

I don't think one week's gain is really telling of how much baby is getting. BF babies tend to grow in spurts. Both my sons were fast nursers exactly as you describe and my youngest grew in a similar way to yours at first. Some weeks he would only gain 4-5 oz, then the next week it would be a lot more. I quit weighing so often and just kept track of his diapers, having his weight checked once a month or so.
My older son gained a llb a week for a good while with the same nursing pattern - he is just a larger child in general. Both are healthy though.


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## dex_millie (Oct 19, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *SN-Mommy* 
My son is 3 weeks old currently. He seems to be a very efficient (fast?) nurser. It normally takes him no longer than 5-10m on 1 side to be content. Normally it is right around about 7-8 minutes.

.................................................. ...

I feel like he can't possibly be getting enough nursing so quickly.

For background, he was born at 9#3oz, at one week was 9#7oz, and 2 weeks was 9#11. He has bountiful wet and bm diapers.

Of course his pediatrician was happy with his 1 week birth weight, but not with his 2 week gain of only 4 oz. He goes back in a week for another weight check.

Help? I don't know what to think. The fact that he _is_ gaining, and having sufficient diaper output, and seems content makes me think its okay. BUT he did only gain 1/4 lb in a week which is making me second guess things.

Sounds fine to me. DS was a very quick nurser(5-10mins and then went down to 5mins or less) and he nursed only on one breast at a time. Nursing to sleep was a little longer but still not as bad.

I also think the weight is fine. My ped told me that because babies lose weight in the beginning because of waiting for the milk they just look to check that the baby gained back its birth weight around a week or 2.


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## kalamos23 (Apr 11, 2008)

DD is a fast nurser and always has been - it's been somewhat of a problem when she wants to use the boobs as a pacifer and gets a meal though! Sounds like your baby is doing fine though - DD never got over 10 minutes a feeding and is a one sided nurser and has consistently gained 12 oz a week - as long as your baby is happy and has lots of wet and poopy diapers I wouldn't be too concerned.


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## RN-Mommy (Nov 30, 2007)

Thanks everyone!


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## JoyfulMom84 (Apr 22, 2008)

It sounds like he is doing great...Weight gain really shouldn't be the determining factor in how well a baby is doing... Diapers should be the thing to keep an eye on since all babies gain at different rates...And BF babies shouldn't be judged by the same growth charts as FF babies.

How do YOU think he is doing, REALLY? If your instinct says he's fine than most likely he probably is!! And enjoy the fact that you have have a low-key nurser... DD _lived_ on my breast for the first 9 weeks.

To put your doctors mind at ease you may want to print off this chart from kellymom.com on NORMAL groth in BREASTFED babies.

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns...wthcharts.html


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