snacker

[@llli*jkmmama]

I think ds2 is a snacker. He's 12 weeks and has really never nursed for more than 5 minutes at a time. I know I have a fast let down, I can pump a good 7 oz in less than 5 minutes (using double pump). He goes anywhere from 1-3.5 hours in between nursings and I nurse on demand. He seems satisfied with these short sessions, but obviously gets hungry again soon. He's growing well. I wouldn't really be that concerned except I'm going back to work soon and trying to come up with a routine for a nanny to follow with him and ds1 who is 2.5! Any suggestions for getting him to nurse longer?

[@llli*phi]

My son was similar, nursing frequently for very short periods (sometimes just a few minutes), but I think for us it was more my insane OALD than necessarily "snacking" because I could hear serious gulping (still can at 14 months). I wouldn't worry about this causing problems for your nanny. Mine developed a different rhythm with caregivers and did fine taking bottles at longer intervals rather than the constant nursing while with me without any interventions on my part.

[@llli*kjohanna]

same here. My DD gulps like crazy the few minutes she spends nursing--she learned to get pretty efficient due to my OALD. While i have no firsthand experience with caregivers, I've heard from friends IRL, as well as on here that their babies tend to fall into a different routine while with a caregiver than what they have around the baby's mom. I'd be willing to bet my DD nurses as frequently as she does, because she's with me all the time and has that option, and would probably hold out longer if she were away from me for any considerable length of time.

[@llli*mommal]

Nursing for longer periods isn't likely to translate into going longer between feedings. Breastfed babies tend to eat every 1-3 hours whether they nurse for 5 minutes or 30 minutes. If you've ever heard someone assert that babies "should" routinely go 3 or 4 hours between feedings, ignore them. That assertion is based on the feeding patterns of formula-fed, intensively scheduled babies. It's not a typical eating pattern for an infant.

Instead of trying to get your baby into a routine that makes life easy for your caregiver, I think I'd try to get your caregiver to feed your baby the way you do: responsively. Leave small bottles so she can feed baby frequently, instead of expecting baby to take large bottles infrequently.