How long does it take for a newborn to start breastfeeding?
ByI just had by daughter Shiloh on December 17th and she hasn’t been breastfeeding very much. Every once in a while she will start to feed, then after a suck or two, she stops. We are still in the hospital waiting for her to start, but she doesn’t seem to want to. The doctors say that there is nothing wrong with her, but I just want to know when newborns should start breastfeeding.
Thanks!
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10 Comments
April 7th, 2010 at 9:43 am
A lot of babies start breastfeeding within the first few hours but every baby is different. Is she getting a good latch? Have you talked to the lactation consultant? She would be more helpful than strangers on the web.
April 7th, 2010 at 10:32 am
Your milk probably hasn’t come in, right now you may only have colostrum. When your milk comes in you will feel it, and become extremely emotional because your hormones will go crazy for about a day. Then your little girl will be able to drink a few ounces from your breast. Make sure you get a good latch on, that is so key so that you don’t get really sore nipples, they will be sore at first but they shouldn’t be raw and cracked that means bad latch. Everytime my son had a bad latch I would take him off the my breast with my pinky to break the suction and then wait for his tongue to be down and latch him on correctly.
Good Luck and Congrats!
April 7th, 2010 at 11:28 am
With my firstborn he barely breastfed while we were at the hospital. However he making enough wet diapers so we took him home and I just kept trying.
WIth my second she breastfed easily at the hospital and more frequently by 4 days old.
Trust your doctor. As long as she is making wet diapers and her weight is good at the first few visits she will be ok. Sometimes it seems to us like they are barely getting any milk but they may in fact be getting more than we think! Congrats!
April 7th, 2010 at 11:39 am
Technically they should start feeding right away, but sometimes it takes longer. It was the better part of a week before my son really got the hang of it. Has she been checked for tongue-tie? It’s quite common and can cause latching issues, but is easily fixed.
April 7th, 2010 at 11:51 am
I had my son on the breast in the delivery room; he had to be in the NICU for awhile so I went down every three hours to nurse. We noticed in the hospital he was a lazy eater and they had me stripping him down to just a diaper when he nursed and play with his feet (they hate that) to keep him eating… I had to continue that at home but it worked and he’s five weeks old and starting to eat without having to be messed with constantly. You just have to keep at it, make sure she’s awake and get her on there as often as you can, Kangaroo Care might help too. There is nothing wrong with her, at first all you have is colostrum and you are both getting the hang of things, after three or four days your milk will come in and you both will start getting used to each other and nursing.
April 7th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
some start immediately after birth, others can take up to a month before they really get the hang of breastfeeding.
ask midwives and other new mums for as much advice as you can gather, try all different methods, holds, times, etc and see if you can find what works for you and your sweet angel.
As she is only days old, perhaps she is still a bit sleepy from the birth, and has enough reserves to keep her happily content and healthy.
Newborns don’t require much milk early on, they fill their little tummies quite quickly. If your milk has come in, then she could very well be happily snacking with a few sucks at a time. If your milk hasn’t come in yet, it will take a little longer to come in, and when it does she will get reward for her sucking and will likely feed for longer at a time.
April 7th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
my son had the same sorta trouble the first 3 days of life. But I just keeping trying and trying. The nurses and Lacation Consultant said as long as Im trying to get him to latch right and I keep trying he would catch on. He was making enough wet diapers they said he was fine. I would put her to the breast as much as you can. I hope it works for you like it did me. This is my 2nd child and my milk ended up coming in on the 3rd day ( i had c section) and now at a month old hes Breastfeeding great.
April 7th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
If you have been giving her bottles the flow is a lot faster than when you breastfeed. My milk took a few days to come in so we gave the baby a bottle and he was kind of partial to the bottle until I started breastfeeding more.
April 7th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Generally they start immediately. Are you giving bottles or pacifiers? If you are, stop right away. Baby should meet all sucking needs at the breast.
April 7th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
congrats
all babies are different so don’t stress out you just had her 2 days ago and being born is a lot of work for mother and baby she is prob just resting after her journey and will feed when she needs to.
also your milk has not come in yet so you will not be producing that much, follow her lead and put her to the breast every so often.
enjoy your new baby and well done