How often do you breastfeed, and for how long?

My 10 week old baby could feed for 50+ minutes per session if I don’t unlatch her. She would show signs of being satisfied (sucking slows down, hands open, body relaxed, arms floppy, eyes shut and often asleep) - but sometimes when I try to take her off the breast, she might suddenly start active sucking again (as if to say, hey I’m not done yet!) She rarely comes off the breast on her own. Is this normal?

Also, her weight gain has been slow (though steady) therefore HV advised me to feed her around the clock. So I feed her every 2.5 hours during the day, often before she shows any hunger cues / during her nap. She also nurses to sleep. This means she spends 4-5 hours feeding every day which seems like a lot!

She is alert and happy, has sufficient wet nappies, and is meeting milestones. HV has asked us to weigh her every couple of weeks and keep up with the feeding to make sure she maintains her growth (which she has).

in our community

Reassurance

My 5mo rolled out of bed and fell onto the floor. I rang 111 immediately and they didn’t seem too concerned- they requested the out of hours go to ring back within 2 hours. We fell asleep so I missed the phone calls (2am). But the 111 speaker said it has been raised as a safeguarding issue and someone will be out to see me. So I’m a little nervous. Can anyone offer any experience or reassurance of this?
My baby was asleep when she fell and didn’t cry when she landed on the floor. She didn’t seem to have much change, a few red marks on her head that have since faded.
Should I take her to the GP in the morning just to be safe? I’m prob going to anyway. I just feeel like such a rubbish mum.

Can’t cope with this

My baby is 5 weeks old. She has been crying for days.

I can’t do this anymore. I have a toddler and she’s waking him multiple times a night and then his behaviour is dreadful all day..

She takes a feed and then screams inconsolably for up to 2 hours after a feed. She then settles and is due another feed again.

I am so unbelievably depressed. I’m not sleeping and I’m not coping and I do not know what to do.

Second baby-baby blues

When does it get better??😭 I’m not even two days pp yet my heart hurts sooooo bad and I just keep crying. I wish I could turn back time and it just be my first baby and I again atleast for just one more second to soak it in. She looks so big now… my heart wasn’t ready. I feel like no one around me understands how heart broken I am. Please tell me this goes away because It hurts sooooo bad 😭

Expressed breast milk quantities

Those that are breastfeeding and giving the odd bottle of expressed milk; how much are you giving per feed in the bottle?
We’re doing 2 bottles a day, 1 around dinner and 1 in the early hours, everything else is on the boob. I pump in the early hours and get loads but I’m not sure the right amount to give baby at each bottle.

He’s 3weeks old for reference

19 weeks old and won’t nap independently

My 19 week old will only nap on me and will only nap for 30 minutes on the dot independently in her crib. I’ve tried recreating the nighttime routine for naps and gentle methods, but nothing is working. Is anyone else going through this? Any advice or tips would be really appreciated!

Positivity poll 🩷🫂 What is something you see another mother doing that makes you think "she's doing a great job"

Let's try to lift each other up more! There's sooo much negativity already, but we're all doing the best we can with our own unique situations.

I'll go first!

I get so happy when I see a mother breastfeeding. I struggled so much with breastfeeding both my children, I know how incredibly tough and draining it can be, so it makes me so proud to see someone doing it successfully, and also not giving a fuck what others think and doing it in public.

Any pregnant woman who is literally out of her house, that's it. If you're pregnant, and you've left your house (especially if you're at your job!!) like I always just think back to my pregnancies and how draining it was to do anything, leaving the house felt like it was taking years off my life by the 3rd trimester 😅

Also whenever I see a pregnant mother with a small child in the supermarket like until you've experienced it, you'll never know how difficult that shit it 😂 not only do you need to keep on top of your kid, you also need to deal with the nausea and being surrounded by food that may trigger you, the smells, people getting in your way, standing for so long. Ugh, it's not for the weak. Respectfully, man could never 🤣

I love when I notice a kid who is reeeally into something niche and their parents have totally embraced it, no matter how weird it is. There was a boy at my sons playgroup who loved feathers and he carried around a big feather. His mum found several big, soft feathers for him to hold/stroke instead of a bear or blanket. I don't know if she ever worried about him being looked at weird but I just thought it was so sweet