Not drinking milk for longer time

Question

My baby is 3 months old. She is breastfeeding for five minutes at a time. If we try to feed her a while later then she is in a mood to play, does not want to feed, and she cries.

Not drinking for more than five minutes and only drinking every three to four hours once I am feeding (as she is not ready to drink every hour) does not seem like enough.

I feel very depressed. What can be done to encourage her to breastfeed for longer periods? Before, she used to drink for 20 to 30 minutes at a time.

If I'm not satisfied then I used to give her powdered milk in bottle once in a day.

Answer 1

Three month old babies know how to drink better than newborns, who have less energy to suck, and are less practiced. It's entirely possible that your baby is getting all she needs if she's particularly skilled at nursing in this way.

She might be overly curious about the world, causing her to get off the breast as soon as she's no longer hungry, but it this were the case, I would think she would nurse more frequently.

It's normal to be worried that your child isn't getting enough nutrition, but it's easy to demonstrate that she is, in fact, getting enough, and that's by calculating the progress of her weight gain. Obtain a growth chart from your doctor (or download the new WHO chart for breastfed infants here).

You'll see that a dip is normal initially. These weights are charted by weeks for the first 3 months, so please read carefully. What is important is that she stay near the percentile line she was born on. If she is crossing percentile lines down, that could indicate a problem which should be discussed with your doctor. If she's staying on/near the line, though, please reassure yourself that she is getting adequate nutrition.