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Breastfeeding/Change in feeding habit

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Expert: - 9/5/2004


Question
Hi, I am a first time mum and I have a 18 week old baby. He is almost 9kg and 73cm long. To start he used to feed from both breasts and rarely vomit. during the last week he feeds for only about 10 minutes on one breast at any time of the day, he then seems disinterested but will feed more if I encourage him, but a few minutes later he vomits. Am I overfeeding him? How can I tell if he is getting enough in those 10 minutes? What do you suggest? P.S He rarely cries for food I feed him every 4 hours and during the same period of time he has gone from sleeping through the night to waking at about 2 am, I am feeding him at this time and he goes straight back to sleep but I am worried that he is not getting enough at his "dinner" feed and developing this habit. Thanks for your advice Samantha

Answer
Dear Samantha,

First, congratulations for giving your baby the best start in life by breastfeeding! It sounds as if he has been thriving on this diet.

Babies do change their feeding habits. When you say he vomits, is this simply spit-up milk, which sort of dribbles out of his mouth, usually after a burp? If so, this is very common, especially among well-fed nursing babies, and is nothing to worry about. However, if it is projectile vomiting (that is, the vomit spurts vigorously out in a sharp spray), you should tell your pediatrician about it right away.

Otherwise, I would not worry about his change in habit. Give him a couple of weeks and see whether he has changed again.

Good luck!

Sally Wendkos Olds
author, THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BREASTFEEDING (Eiger & Olds, 3rd edition, 1999, available at most public libraries, online booksellers and La Leche League meetings)  

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Sally Wendkos Olds

Expertise

What do you want to know about breastfeeding? I can tell you what`s good for the baby, what`s good for the mother -- and the father, how it`s related to a woman`s sexuality, how working moms can nurse, how to overcome obstacles, and lots more. As the author of THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BREASTFEEDING and author or coauthor of 8 other books and more than 200 articles about child and adult development, I can offer sound, sensible advice on breastfeeding, child care and family issues.

Experience

I nursed my 3 daughters and am the grandmother of 5 breastfed children. My book THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BREASTFEEDING (written in consultation with pediatrician Marvin S. Eiger, M.D.) was first published in 1972, and in 1999 came out in an updated 3rd Edition by Workman Publishing & Bantam Books. It is now a classic, with over 2 million copies in print. I am now revising this book for a fourth edition, consulting with pediatrician Laura M. Marks, M.D. This new edition will be published September 2009. I welcome any and all suggestions for the new edition. I coauthored college textbooks A CHILD'S WORLD: INFANCY THROUGH ADOLESCENCE, and HUMAN DEVELOPMENT; both are leading texts in their fields and have been read by 2 million students. I am the coauthor of HELPING YOUR CHILD FIND VALUES TO LIVE BY and RAISING A HYPERACTIVE CHILD, and author of THE WORKING PARENTS' SURVIVAL GUIDE & THE ETERNAL GARDEN: SEASONS OF OUR SEXUALITY. My newest book, A BALCONY IN NEPAL: GLIMPSES OF A HIMALAYAN VILLAGE, published in 2002, tells the story of the way of life in a remote village in Nepal, where all the women breastfeed! My book, SUPER GRANNY: COOL PROJECTS, ACTIVITIES, AND OTHER GREAT STUFF TO DO WITH YOUR GRANDKIDS, will be published March 2009. I speak often to professional, parent and general audiences and make many radio and TV appearances.

Credentials I received my B.A. in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, where I minored in Psychology, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude.

Other points of interest I have received national awards for my writing, and am a former president of the American Society of Journalists & Authors. I am listed in the World Who's Who of Women, International Authors & Writers Who's Who, and Contemporary Authors, and am a member of several professional and civic organizations. I believe: that all parents are working parents; that parents employed outside the home need special support; that mothers' well-being is crucial to their children's welfare; and that the family is the best institution in the world and the one for which we are least prepared. My thrills come when parents or kids tell me they were helped by my writing or speaking or just understanding. To find out more about me, go to

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