Right, which of my mws is right re feeding of newborns?

[Fillyjonk]

Ok mw1 says

"Keep feeding on one side until it is empty, this way dd2 gets all the hindmilk. Even if there are gaps of a couple of hours between feeding.". (she also says that this is the most up to date advice, and certainly seems most clued up)

mw2 says

"Swop sides each feed".

mw3 says

"Stick to one side for EACH feed, but if there is a 2 hour gap or more between feeds, swop sides."

dd2 was born on monday, so is 5 days old. She is feeding absolutely fine, no latching on problems, plenty of wet and dirty nappies, etc etc. She feeds about once every 2 hours, aside from a 3 hour marathon cluster feed between midnight and 3 am

Any thoughts? I was always told with my previous two to swop sides once the baby had come off of her own accord (dd2 often does this-she seems to like a short break mid feed)

[Fillyjonk]

no that is not right re mw2

she says "swop sides for each BIT of a feed" so when dd2 comes off mid feed, I should swop sides THEN.

This is what I was always told, but what mw1 is saying is wrong.

I feel a bit daft questioning this really, its just I've so far had 3 mws out and every one has said something different.

[harpsichordcarrier]

hi filly and CONGRATS
generally I would say feed on one side for as long as baby wants to until she comes off of her own accord. then you can offer the other side, if she would like it. next time she feeds, offer the second side first.
the cabveat might be if you think the baby is just stopping for a breather i.e she comes off after a very short time, then you might not want to swap sides because she might get too much foremilk
making any sense at all?

[cmotdibbler]

I think most people use both breasts per feed - they usually unlatch when the milk flow has got to an annoyingly slow rate. Then start the next feed on the side that was used second.

If you have oversupply, then things are different, but thats not you from the sound of things.

The whole hindmilk thing seems to be something that people get all confused about.

But Hunker or TikTok will be along later with professional advice !

[Fillyjonk]

ah

what if there is still milk in breast no 1 though?

(also-does this massively matter? dd2 is only 5 days old and the milk supply is still acclimatising. The problem is that right now, there is milk still over and I am not sure what to do with it )

[ConnorTraceptive]

I always fed ds on both sides, just let him feed one side until he came off naturally, winded him for a few mins and then offered other side

[magHOOVERlia74]

There will always be milk left in breast 1, just not as obvious as at the beginning of the feed.

Sounds like you are doing great, go with the flow. Feed baby as often as she wants, let her feed for as long as she wants. She will come off the breast when ready and if she wants more you can swap her to ther breast.
It doesn't matter really with regards to hindmilk ect... In my opinion (only my opinion ) milk is milk and as long as she is feeding well then you are doing great

[tiktok]

Filly - at all this confusion!

None of them are right

mw1: she is not clued up, sorry. You cannot feed on one side 'until it is empty' - dear oh dear. You can't tell if it is empty or not.

mw2: wrong. Some babies end up only feeding on one side like this, but in the early days, it's a good policy always to offer the second side, to ensure stimulation of both.

mw3: ditto - far too prescriptive and encourages clock watching

Harpsi is right - this is perfectly in line with the physiology of breastfeeding, which is responsive to the needs and cues of the baby, not the clock.

I despair - how on earth are mothers supposed to know what to do, when 3 people whose job it is to get it right, all get it wrong in different ways?

[neolara]

I was always told to swop breasts at different feeds but my personal experience is that in some circumstances this might not be best. Both my children fed very quickly (10 mins max) and then would fall asleep and there was no way I could wake them up to have more. With DD I swopped sides and it was all OK. However, DS woke every hour to feed at night for the first two weeks. It took him three weeks to put back his birth weight. I wonder whether I should have followed the advice of your third midwife as I suspect he was waking so much because he wasn't getting enough hindmilk. I subsequently found advice on La Leche League website which is similar to what your third midwife said. This was about a year ago. The advice that is right for you and your baby may just depend on how your baby eats. Sorry, that's not a very helpful conclusion.

[Fillyjonk]

THANKS ALL

ok, am i right in saying I should

feed for as long as dd2 wants on side 1, until she comes off

if she comes off for less than-I dunno-a minute? 5 minutes? (she quite often likes to look about and ponder for a bit), I go back to breast 1

if longer, breast 2?

[kiskidee]

"Keep feeding on one side until it is empty, this way dd2 gets all the hindmilk."

This basically is what a breastfeeding leaflet in the initial 'congratulations & welcome' antenatal pack given out by the nearest hospital to me says!

How on earth do you go about changing stuff so ingrained and fundamentally wrong.

[theyoungvisiter]

"Keep feeding on one side until it is empty"

I was told this in hospital too - and even worse - Gina Ford says you can tell when a breast is empty because if you try to express a few drops, nothing will come out. If you can express any milk then the breast is not empty.

Ok, maybe my boobs are weird but IME there are ALWAYS a few drops of milk left in the boob - when I think of all the times I spent squeezing in puzzlement at my nipple and putting poor DS back on the same boob for the 4th time... grrr!!

Needless to say, that was the first and last bit of advice I took from Ms Ford...

[StealthPolarBear]

i offer one side, if he's happy i leave him on as long as he wants, if he starts fussing i offer the other side.
only in the first few weeks i tried to make sure he fed roughly equally, now i only worry about it if, say, i'm engorged

[StealthPolarBear]

tyv the opposite is also true, loads of times I can't express a drop - DS wants a feed and all of a sudden there's milk squirting across the room and dribbling out of his mouth!

[Place]

Totally agree, Harpsi and of course Tiktok are right.

All this stuff about getting babes to empty a breast....impossible a baby can only take 78% of milk in breast (because of the continual milk making process).

Let the babe decide - you don't know, I don't know, the midwife doesn't know, neither does tiktok or harpi know WHEN the babe has had enough or when the foremilk/hindmilk changes - but do you know what - probably the baby does eeergh. So if/when he comes of the first side beacause he fell asleep, stopped feeding, started fidgeting whatever perhaps he's saying - 'pudding (side 2) please'

[PortAndLemon]

Yes, I would say so, Fillyjonk. Although as your DD gets older she may get more efficient and only feed for five minutes anyway. But by then you'll be used to what's normal for her. If for some reason you are concerned about weight gain or supply you can also offer the first side again when she comes off the second side.

[NatalieJane]

I just used to do one feed on one side and the next feed on the other. It kept him going till he was past 6 months, I had no engorgment (or supply problems), except when we gave up BF.