breastfeeding - how long is enough each feed

[linspins105]

Hi there,

Kaden is now 11 days old and we had problems with him learning to breastfeed and with him being jaundice and hence we kept in hospital to get these sorted. He is now much better and we were allowed home from hospital with the plan to breastfed and then do top-ups with expressed milk.

I am concerned though as to how much time he should have on the breast, sometimes he will go 30 mins with a 30 ml top up but others times its a struggle to get 15mins with a 15 mls top up. is this normal? I presume it like us sometimes we are hungry other times not so much. But just wondered if there was a certain amount of time he should be on the breast for as of course it can't be measured like the top-up.

Regards.

Lindsey.

 

[purple13]

hi hon

there's no set time for babies to be on the boob in those first few weeks - anything up to an hour is perfectly normal, although beyond an hour might be more to do with comfort sucking than feeding. i also had problems with connor's feeds in the early days and did the same as you; it felt rather like i was either feeding or expressing, with no time for anything else in between...

let him feed for as long as he wants, whenever he wants - don't expect any sort of routine to it; have lots of skin to skin time, and get as much rest as possible to keep your flow up.

after 6-8 weeks, you'll find that you've settled into your own sort of pattern and it will become soooo much easier. you'll probably find that you don't need the top-ups any more when you get the hang of bf-ing.

 

[DebbieM]

All babies are different and it really depends on how fast your let down is etc.....

My sisters LO used to feed for a good 90 mins whereas Luke feeds for anything from 5 to 15 mins.

You'll know from the weight gain if he is getting enough too xxxxxx

 

[maybebaby]

My son was a terrible feeder, he regularly fed for 5/10 minutes, had 15 mons off, then went back on for 5/10 minutes again. My breastfeeding counsellor said that if he goes back on within an hour feed from the same side, otherwise he can swap sides. When you feed on demand you have to be flexible to what baby wants.

Congratulations on your gorgeous baby, just let him tell you what he wants