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Wow, I am not sure, but I think that sounds a bit short. Is he a frequent feeder, like every hour or two? Does he pull off after five minutes on his own? Do you let down a lot of milk at once? And most importantly, is he gaining weight, producing wet and soiled diapers? You may want to talk to the pediatrician about it.

My daughter does the same - she nurses 5 minutes, MAYBE 10 if she's being lazy, and then is done for another 3 or 4 hours. But, I know it's because I have a quick letdown; I can pump 6 ounces in the same amount of time that it takes her to nurse. As Christy said, watch his weight and diapers; my duaghter usually has 1 wet diaper per feeding per day, and 1 poopy diaper every other day. The poo should be light green to bright yellow, (kind've like mustard) and have little "seeds" in it - they look like tapioca or sesame seeds, IMO.

Sometimes my daughter is the same way. She is 13.5 weeks. Like Christy said if he's gaining weight and having the wet/soiled diapers then it's probably okay. Who knows tomarrow he may want to nurse for an hr. That is how my daughter is anyway.

how often is that? my daughter eats for up to hour and half, sometimes for like 3 hours on off but she does sleep through night, shes pretty slow and i guess lazy, my friends baby is 4 month and says she feeds 5 mins only very efficient

you have a baby on your b___st for an hour and a half?!?!??!

My 5 week old son nurses for over an hour every time with very few breaks and in the evenings nurses on and off for up to 3 hours or more. My letdown is pretty strong. I know that this is not normal and I am starting to worry about my milk supply. He is gaining plenty of weight, though, about an ounce a day. He has at least 8 wet diapers a day and at least 1-2 soiled diapers per feeding. I am wondering if he is cluster feeding at night. Around week four he did sleep 4-6 hour stretches at night but is now back to 3 hours if we are lucky. I wonder if he is using me as a pacifier at night - he will not take a regular one and I have tried all kinds. Any suggestions? Any brand of pacifier that has worked well for any of you? We did not introduce one until week 4 and he wants no part of it still. I am hoping that he outgrows this since he is still so young. Thanks.

Kim- my 4 week old is like that. He just came off a growth spurt and was attatched to my chest for like 6 hours with maybe 5 short breaks for diapering and burping. He still likes to take his sweet old time to eat, about 40-60 minutes per feeding. He is a little connoisseur. :) Kinda wish he was a Hoover, but I am sure he'd spit up even worse than he does not.

The last word should be now, not not. Also, Lisa, I bet your baby is hitting another growth spurt, hence the cluster feeding.

So, is there anything we mothers of slow poke feeders can do to make our babies eat more efficiently/quickly?

Thanks, Christy. I don't know if there is any way to make our babies eat faster. In fact, my son will go crazy when he is hungry and eat very fast for the first 5 minutes. Then he'll slow down and hang out, eating slowly for the rest of the hour or so. He was a little better last night but still has not been sleeping well lately. We think that this is due to congestion, though, which has gotten worse over the weeks. I am just making sure not to skip meals, too, so that I have enough nutritious milk for him. I did read elsewhere that that can cause them to eat longer since they are not getting enough fat. I'm a healthy eater but often don't eat until noon due to his schedule. I know that I can't do that anymore. My Mom is coming out to stay with me for a week starting today and so I know that I'll be eating very well going forward.

If my daughter is being lazier than her usual 5-10 minute self, like right before bed, I'll break her latch; as soon as she feels me start to move away, she'll relatch and nurse better. Maybe that will help you guys with slower nursers? Also - we may be talking about different ages - my girl is 4 months old and thinks she's an expert on nursing.