How long does he need to feed to get the hind milk ?

[Naterjack]

Josh is now 12 days old - he was 7lb 15oz at birth and dropped to 7lb 7oz.
Now at 12 days old he is 8lb and my HV told me today that Josh should be feeding at least 15-20 minutes each time in order to get the hind milk he needs when hungry. The formilk will just quench his thirst.

OK, so today he had a good full feed ( well over 20 minutes) twice this morning and now ive just fed him again and he was only sucking for 10 minutes. I could hear his tummy being filled and he had a mouth full of milk when he came off the breast all dozey - he's now sound asleep.

My question is, is this ok ? Did he get the milk he needed? My breast was hard beforehand but now is soft so i know he's emptied it quite a bit but the 20-30 minute guideline has got me a bit worried. he tends to feed every 2-4 hours and isnt always latched onto me so surely this, combined with the fact that he is over his birth weight is a good sign ?

Does anyone else have this or can anyone help please ?

Thanks
Nat xx

 

[Squiglet]

It depends on your foremilk... I hardly had any...

If he gets too much foremilk his poop will go green. But if he is otherwise happy and alert and sleeping well...seems content...producing around 6 wet nappies a day, 2/4 yellowish poopy ones... then he is getting enough hind milk.

 

[Sherlock]

Sounds like you have a baby who gets on with feeding and is on and off your boob when done

I'd not worry in the least. He seems to be doing great. If he is happy, not rooting or looking to feed then Also his gaining weight is good sign. As will be wet nappies and mustard poo (although breastfed babies can go days between poos,quite normal). If he starts pooing more green coloured poo it is probably down to having too much foremilk and not enough hind.

The timescale is a bit of a crock as babies are all different in how long they feed for. So don't fret he *has* to feed for 20 minutes.

FWIW my HV told me and my own understanding is that the foremilk tends to come thorugh in the first few minutes of the feed. But there is not a set time it can happen in. After that they are on to the hind milk and then can feed for however long. Some are quicker than others.

My LO used to feed for hours and was a big lad so did a lot of comfort sucking to get my supply up. He'd guzzle to start but once on to the hindmilk he would slow down and svaour it For hours.... But after a few weeks it was easy to see he had had a proper feed as my boob felt like you described, hard and full beforehand and then softer and more empty after.

 

[Naterjack]

oh thatnks girls thats made me feel a lot better - i was just starting to fret as he's sound asleep and no sign of being hungry !!
His nappies are nice and wet regularly, and mustard / korma coloured poos (about 4-5 per day usually ) - he is very happy and alert when he's awake.

I'm sure there are no hard and fast rules - every baby is different i suppose 8)

 

[purplebluered]

This won't help but I have a friend who's baby can do a full feed in 5 mins flat. I used to be so jealous of her as mine used to take up an hour and a half - but then soon realised the benefits of longer feeds - feet up and dvd time!!!

Nowadays Isaac fusses and gets distracted so it's difficult for me to know how much he's had, but I'm confident he's ok cos his poos arent green. Some days he only has 10 mins at each feed which is nothing compared to his norm, and he's still ok. So I guess just follow what the others have said and trust your instinct with how long a feed is enough for your baby

 

[Squiglet]

This won't help but I have a friend who's baby can do a full feed in 5 mins flat. I used to be so jealous of her as mine used to take up an hour and a half - but then soon realised the benefits of longer feeds - feet up and dvd time!!!

Nowadays Isaac fusses and gets distracted so it's difficult for me to know how much he's had, but I'm confident he's ok cos his poos arent green. Some days he only has 10 mins at each feed which is nothing compared to his norm, and he's still ok. So I guess just follow what the others have said and trust your instinct with how long a feed is enough for your baby

gah the dreaded 4 month fuss When they discover the world is far more interesting than booby

Don't worry Naterjack, lil miss pooped for England too 3/4 times a day were normal.