How long does your 12 w.o. BF for?

[Ulysses]

My 12 w.o. DD is fed on demand but I do try to feed her every three hours. However, I am finding this difficult because she is so easily distracted and only manages a few minutes before getting distracted/fussy. And because of this I feel I need to keep offering her it all the time.

Her best feeds seem to be after she has a nap (will only usually have 45 mins unless in sling, then can go for hours so I feel that she is easily tired out too).

At this stage, do you think 10 mins is enough as I keep getting stressed she isnt getting enough milk. She goes normally needs a nap at 5.30 pm, then gets up after 6, then i give her a bath so will be down for 7.40-8pm. In between I am constantly trying to feed her up. She seems to wake every 3 hours after that. By the times its about 7 am, she only wants a small feed and then is ready for another nap at 8 till 9.

I just want there to be more of a structure to her feeding routine so any advice on the length of feed would be welcome.

[RitaMorgan]

Some babies are quicker and more efficient than others. Is she growing well, alert, content, weeing and pooing? If so then 10 minutes every 3 hours is obviously fine for her.

At 12 weeks I think my ds was more like 20-30 minutes every 2-2.5 hours, but he slept 8 hours at night. They are all different. He didn't go 3 hours between feeds til he was on solids and his feeds still take 20 minutes now at 10 months.

[TittyBojangles]

My DS fed probably every 2-2.5 hours at that age and has always been a quick feeder, 5 mins MAX, and that includes a change of boob. He probably slept at least one 6 hour chunk at night.

He now feeds about 5 times in 24 hours at ROUGHLY 5am, 9am, 12pm, 4pm and 7pm... ish. He is now 7.5months and BLW.

I'd maybe try and feed a bit more often in the day if your aim is to reduce the night feeds, but as RM says if she's happy etc then she's getting what she needs. I personally wouldn't stress about getting her into some kind of routine as it just causes more hassle trying to change them and they change so quickly themselves anyway.

The length of a feed will be sooo different between babies that this measurement means little. I was worried about this too due to my quick feeder, but he's always been fine with it, it was easier for me just to accept it. I always offer both sides and the longest feed we have EVER had was 16mins in the middle of the night ONCE. I don't time feeds now, ever.