How long does your newborn feed for in a session?

[emmyjj]

I'm a first time mum who is breast feeding and having the usual concerns about whether my baby son is feeding enough/for long enough.

Initially at the colostrum stage, he would feed for up to 45 mins at a time. The first couple of days after my milk came in he would feed for 20-30 mins, but the last couple of days it has been like 5-15 means per session.

I'm feeding on demand and he is 9days old. He is feeding in excess of 10 times in every 24 hour period, with cluster type feeding in the evenings on top of that. . He weighed 8lb 12oz at birth and at his five day check had lost 2oz. He is being weighed again tomorrow.

He is producing lots of wet nappies( 10-12 reusables in 24 hours) and poos. Wee is clear and poos are mustard yellow, fairly runny but have grainy/curd like solid bits.

I just imagined each feed lasting a bit longer?

As long as he's satisfied and seemingly healthy then dont worry it may just be he's snacking. I always fed dd every 3hrs for the first couple of weeks and tried follow set times after that otherwise she would've snackng every hour!

He sounds fine :)

All babies are different, some will feed for ages and some will have shorter feeds. Feed time can vary during the day too. THink about it, sometimes you want a big meal, sometimes you just want a drink or a biscuit. His tummy is still tiny so frequent feeding is normal. The main thing is that he is producing lots of nappies so you know the milk is going in.

Oh and I always kept her on for 20-25 min too.

The best advice someone gave me at a similar point in time was 'throw the clock away'. If your baby is happy, if there are lots of wet nappies and the odd pooey one (my DD only pooed every 2-3 days), then just feed when they want it for as long as they want.

Just ensure you have high calorie food and snacks ready to eat at a moments notice, a big glass of 'posh squash' or a flask of tea, relax and enjoy the amazing thing that breastfeeding is.

Thanks for your replies everyone, it's very reassuring to hear from you experienced breast feeders!

I'm going to just relax and go with his cues, and hopefully his weigh-in will bring us good news in the morning.

Just loaded up with some snacks and a big glass of water and am snuggled down for a nap when he sleeps.

It's a kind of a how longs a peace of sting qestion. They are all different and some baby's do get a full feed in just 5mintes. Throwiing the clock away is a good idea.

Just to give you an idea,
DD fed for 50minutes at a time newborn was down to about 20-25minutes by 8week's. But feeds would vary in lenght during the day. She fed every 2hours during the day untill 8months.

DS fed for 5minutes from birth every 3-4hours (that was a shock to the systme after DD), In fact his bedtime feed has gotten longer as he's gotten older.

Both of the put on weight fine, you can't make a baby feed for a certain lenght of time and as I tired to demtrate hear they will all feed for different amounts of time. Neither is wrong or right.

Sounds like your doing a great job, just follow baby's lead and keep up the good work.