Emptying breasts - I'm confused

[celandine]

Hi, my DS2 is 5 days old and already I'm experiencing the same confusion over the whole 'make sure you empty each breast' issue, which I recall from my first ds.

Basically, ds can feed for 45 minutes or so fairly continously on the right side and it then feels very empty so i check it to see if he's just comfort sucking but when I squeeze it I can still get milk out. Do I really have to continue this side until I can't get any milk out?

The left breast is the opposite. It's bigger and feels fuller before a feed. But ds can have just 5 minutes on this and when I squeeze it to check then no milk comes out - yet he'd be happy to continue sucking for ages. How do I know when to swap sides or which side to start feeding from when I don't know if either has really been emptied? He rarely pulls himself off either side and some feeds have extended into 2-3 hours with me seemingly putting him on empty breasts. I'm starting to feel perhaps I'm not producing enough for him, as with ds1 when he lost weight (after the initial weight loss).

I'm particularly paranoid as I had mastitis with ds1 which ultimatly led to me giving up breastfeeding and I REALLY want to avoid that this time. Any advice on this would be gratefully received, thanks!

Your breasts are never ever empty, just less full at times. I never fed from 2 breasts until dd was much older and simply let her feed as long as she wished off the one. I know some people do this and then offer the other.

A breast is never truly empty. It will keep making milk. If your baby has fed well and long from that side, it counts as "empty"

Yes, I used to feed with one side, offer the other if DS wasn't asleep and then start with the second side next feed.

No such thing as an empty breast! Gina Ford has a lot to answer for. Your breasts produce milk as a response to your baby's sucking.
It is normal for a baby to lose weight in teh first week and to regain it after a fortnight or so. newborns just love to suck. feeding isn't just about milk for them, but the sucking is powerfully pleasurable, so some babies will happily suck for hours. you clearly have tons of milk so stop all that squeezing and worrying!
let your baby feed as much as he wants but when you are fed up you can take him off. An hour is plenty enough for a feed, but remember, the more they feed, the more milk you produce.

as a newborn both of mine would suck for hours, but them settled down to about 10 minutes when they got older.

made my nips sore actually as they both sucked for so long - then they found their thumbs

thanks, I did have a feeling that breasts were never actually 'empty', I'm just concerned to avoid mastitis. Good to have some reassurance. I will try to relax about it and just see how his weight goes.