Breastfeeding-latest guidelines?

[Sammyjayne489]

Hi there I have a week old baby who I'm breastfeeding, I'm just wondering what the latest guidelines are in relation to how often babies should be fed, how long for and do you alternate between each breast on each feed, so would I feed from my left breast at the 10am feed for say 20 mins then feed from my right breast for 20 mins for the 1pm etc

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I found this website fabulous for information. Kellymom.com newborn
congratulations! My first bit of advice would be to get rid of the clock. Some babies are fast feeders, others take a while.

I would change sides if the baby looked like he was drinking and gulping before falling asleep. Babies also suck for comfort and I'd always leave them on the breast for that. DVDs, books and Internet are handy for such times. My second baby didn't suck for comfort as much as the first.

Get used to having a feel of your breast and you'll start noticing when it's empty or full. It's perfectly fine to put them back on the same breast if it still feels full.

I think the guidelines now are to feed them whenever the baby asks. I would offer whenever the baby cries. Obviously a clean nappy and the right amount of clothes would be factored in too.

Best of luck with your baby.

The breastfeeding board is very good on MN too. I'll paste a link in a bit.

Hi there! I agree with Ostrich. I was told to feed on demand, ie. whenever baby cries, first option is to offer milk. However, at that age, they shouldn't be going more than 3 or 4 hours without a feed. More often is fine, but I was advised (although I know a lot of people who disagree with this) to wake baby up if he/she slept longer than that. Didn't happen too often . Mine fed for as long as they wanted. IIRC at that age it was around 90 minutes sometimes but they get better at feeding quite quickly and by the time they were a couple of weeks old, they were feeding for about 20 minutes at a time. Congratulations by the way!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding

I would also recommend asking MNHQ to move this to Breast/Bottle feeding as there are a lot of people on there who are very clued up.

I agree the breast and bottle feeding board on here is really helpful. One piece of advice on Kellymom and elsewhere that I wish I had known at this stage is that baby should be feeding at least 10-12 times per 24 hours- and quite possibly somewhat more than that.

Sammy you can also call any of the bf helplines - they will help you work out what's right for you. There are no guidelines on how long or how often because babies 'drive' the supply with their appetite. With a young baby, you'd feed whenever the baby is alert and awake and open to offers of a feed - crying is a late sign, but of course sometimes they do get to crying quite quickly :)

Offer both breasts each time, swapping when your baby tells you he's 'done' with side one by coming off, slowing right down, snoozing. He may or may not take the other side. You'd expect a baby of this age to feed frequently, day and night, with anything from 8 to 16 'visits' to the breast in 24 hours.

Are you seeing the midwife? She should help.

Hi there, we've moved this into Breast and Bottle Feeding. Thanks.

Every baby is different and every mother has a different milk supply/letdown so it would be unwise of you to schedule feeds at this early stage. I think feeding on demand is the current advice which means feeding whenever the baby displays signs of wanting to suckle as opposed to waiting until he or she actually cries.

Yup demand feeding... i remember with ds who was child 2 that i really learnt what demand feeding is.. it is demanding .. but so very very rewarding when you get through the early months! Dc#3 was the same and each one feeding has become easier... they all fed every hour as newbies and I got so sick of people telling me.. what you are feeding again.. they cant be hungry.. give it a bottle if you don't have enough milk.. etc...