Is he feeding or comfort sucking????
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Topic: Is he feeding or comfort sucking????
Posted By: FionaO
Subject: Is he feeding or comfort sucking????
Date Posted: 27 October 2008 at 11:35am
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Help needed!!! When I finally get my boy latched on he will stay there forever, well I think it would be forever if I let him, I take him off either side after about 35 mins thinking surely you don't need any longer - but does he? He is a sleepy feeder and I often take him off to burp him or just try and wake him a little then put him back on. Any thoughts on this would be good, should Iet him stay on as long as he wants, or is he just comfort sucking??? ------------- 
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Replies:
Posted By: Troods
Date Posted: 27 October 2008 at 12:24pm
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Emily used to be like that - sometimes she still is - it's frustrating isn't it? You do think they're going to be on there forever but in the end I found that she had stopped feeding and was just comfort sucking when I unlatched her my nipple had started to go white. So I would just give her the dummy after that to let her comfort suck herself off to sleep. ------------- 
 Missed MC July 2011
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Posted By: LeahandJoel
Date Posted: 27 October 2008 at 12:28pm
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Joel is like this, I can tell he is just playing around when he stops taking big long sucks and just has little ones, I give him another few minutes and then take him off. I didn't take him off at the begining and he made my nipples blister, crack and bleed from just comfort sucking. -------------  
 
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Posted By: FionaO
Date Posted: 27 October 2008 at 12:49pm
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i think this is what finley does too - he takes huge gulps to begin with then the sucks are much shorter but he appears to still be swallowing which is what makes me leave him on. Just now I fed him, took him off gave him a dummy and he sucked it for 10 mins then spat it out and fell asleep. Just not sure when to take him off, feel he might finish feeding way before i take him off, but its so hard to tell. -------------
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Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 27 October 2008 at 1:45pm
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When he swallows with the short sucks it's probably just that the comfort sucking is stimulating your milk so he has to do something with it but he's not really hungry. You can tell coz to start with he'll have a long, strong suck-swallow motion, then it will gradually change to shorter, shallower sucks with swallowing every 5+ sucks. That's a sign that he's done. Some comfort sucking can be a good thing, but you don't want to encourage it too much as it can be hard on your nipples. If you think he is just comfort sucking/nibbling, break the latch with your little finger and see what he does. If he is still genuinely feeding he'll root around look to latch again, if he's not he'll show no interest in latching or maybe even doze off. -------------  Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: emachan
Date Posted: 28 October 2008 at 4:15pm
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Good thread fifi, Lily does this too and sometimes (especially in the middle of the night) it can be quite hard wondering if they're taking milk or just fallen asleep sucking.
Emma, would you still need to burp them once you've taken them off because Lily sometimes gets real bad wind and often spills up her milk, so she gets hungry again real soon after I put her back down to sleep again (in both day and night) ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">  DD#1 Sept 08 DD#2 Oct 09 |
Posted By: weegee
Date Posted: 28 October 2008 at 4:56pm
Frustrating when that happens isn't it Emma? When JJ used to do that (he hasn't for a while now) I just wanted to scoop up the vomit and put it back. I didn't care about the mess, just all that wasted breastfeeding effort! I know you asked the other Emma  but someone once said to me that if their body is relaxed then it's unlikely they've got much wind. So when JJ falls asleep at the boob I tend to just put him down like that. (If he wakes up again after about 10 minutes then I get him up and wind him pronto otherwise he does spill.)
Of course, lots of people will say you shouldn't let them fall asleep on the boob - sleep associations and all that - but while bubs is so little ignore them! ------------- 
Mum to JJ, 4 July 2008 & Addie, 28 July 2010 |
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 28 October 2008 at 7:50pm
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Lil miss is usually asleep by the end of her dream feed and after her night feeds, I usually put her over my shoulder for a few minutes and gently pat her back, she doesn't often bring up much coz as Weegee says she's so relaxed, but occasionally she'll squirm then burp a little. Also, the older they get the more able they are to get their own wind up. ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: DJ
Date Posted: 28 October 2008 at 9:56pm
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Good question, and good on you for being aware of this while your baby is so little.
I got some great advice on this - watch your baby's jaw carefully when he feeds - if the jaw is moving right back to his ear then he is feeding, but once the jaw starts to make smaller motions, then it is just comfort sucking. He probably doesn't really need to feed for that long, and after my problems later on basically caused by feeding to sleep and not burping properly, my advice would be to take him off after the first 5 mins for a good burping session, then offer the same boob again until you notice that jaw motion slowing. Then have nice cuddles. mmmm new baby cuddles (cluck cluck cluck) ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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