Another breastfeeding question

Well, my baby will only eat for about 5 to 15 minutes at a time, and then 10 minutes to an hour later he wants to eat again. Is that normal? Why is he only eating for short periods of time now? He used to have long full feedings and ate off of both breast, but now there short and usually only on one breast, the feedings usually lasted anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. He's only 3 weeks old he'll be 4 weeks Friday. Also is it normal for him to sleep 5 or 6 hours straight during the night this early? Should I wake him to feed every 2-3 hours still, or is it alright to let him sleep? Plus, him only eating for the little bit he is, isn't emptying out my breast, and there becoming engorged...

Has anyone else ever had this issue?

Added: He is also biteing/gumming my breast/nipple, it's actually quite painful and he will also clamp down and pull back and sometimes just clamp can pull his head back until he unlatches like that, he won't just open his mouth and let go...are they anything I can do to make him STOP?

maybe he's cluster feeding..
my son does that too. sometimes he'll eat for 20 minutes, and then other times he'll eat for 2 hours. he's 3 weeks old also.

oh and he sleeps for long periods of time too , I made a post about it and everyone said to let him sleep, he'll wake up if he's hungry.

Alessandra does the same. I was worrrid but as long as they are gaining weight and have lots of wet diapers there is no problem.

doc told me i was just lucky to have a speed eater.

but im curious to see other replies

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html

this explains cluster feeding  

I'm not much help because I'm having almost the same problem..
My daughter does this too, but not all the time. She has cycles where she does this for like 5 hours and then all of a sudden she stays awake w/o eating for like 3 hrs straight and then eats A LOT one time before passing out for 4-5 hrs.

As for sleeping through the night I think it's ok as long as he's eating enough in the daytime, but if he's not you should prob. ask his doctor..

my son is 7weeks old and started to do that around 4 weeks.. turned out he wasnt getting enough milk.. i pumped just out of curiousity and was only able to get 1 oz!! so it explained why he was always hungry and yet it seemed like he was fighting to eat?! i ended up just switching him to formula! now he eats every 4-5 hours and 4-5 oz and a time! MUCH EASIER!!
The night i brought him home he slept for 9 hrs, and every night since then he has slept no less then 6 hours!! his pedi says just to feel blessed!! lol
Good Luck momma!!

Quoting Mana Jane:“ my son is 7weeks old and started to do that around 4 weeks.. turned out he wasnt getting enough milk.. ... [snip!] ... and every night since then he has slept no less then 6 hours!! his pedi says just to feel blessed!! lol Good Luck momma!!”

Well, I was worried about the whole milk thing, but apparently that's fine since he went from 6lbs 7oz on the 11th to 7lbs 2oz on the 19th. He' seems to have acid reflux because he's constantly spiting up or vomiting, I'm wondering if that could be it, I'm taking him to the doctor in the morning.

My daughter is 6 months and STILL eats in clusters.

my daughter is 7 months and she also cluster feeds but as long as he is gaining weight, don't be worried... make sure you pump to keep up your milk supply..... and as for sleeping at night, be proud and get you some rest!!!