Some general breastfeeding questions

[MediumOrchid]

Can I ask some general breastfeeding questions? Breastfeeding is going really well, dd (6 weeks) has gone from the 25th to the 75th centile, but I seem to have little confidence that I'm doing it right! I think it would help me, and hopefully others, if I could have some answers to these questions. They are in no particular order, just as they occurred to me. Thanks very much.

If she falls asleep at the end of feeding on one breast, should I try to offer her the second breast or just let her sleep?

Is it ok that sometimes she doesn't seem to give feeding
cues? Sometimes she wakes from a nap, and goes straight from sleepy but content to screaming, and she must have been
hungry because when offered a breast she latches on straight
away and has a long feed.

Is it ok to feed from one breast, then do her nappy, then feed from the other? This is what we do at night and seems to work

She often comes off the breast coughing and sputtering, and sometimes needs patting on the back to get her to take a proper breath, which is always a bit scary. Is this normal?

How do I know if she's finished? She sometimes comes off the
breast during the feed, but immediately opens her mouth and
latches straight back on. I'm assuming that she hasn't
finished and just came off by mistake. If she comes off by
herself but looks content, I then sit her up for a bit then
offer her the other breast. Is this right?

How long would you say can elapse between feeding on one
breast and the next that it stops counting as the second
breast of the feed and becomes the next feed?

Thanks very much!

Sorry about the formatting!

Well done for getting to six weeks, you sound like you are both enjoying bfing.

If she falls asleep I think it's safe to say that she has finished

Can't do links ATM but try googling kellymom feeding cues, some might be much more subtle than you think.

Yes it's fine to do that but I'd only change her nappy at night if she has pooed or its leaking.

Have a look at kellymom forceful letdown.

If she comes off and goes straight back on that's fine, if she comes off and you offer the other side, that is fine too.

Really don't think the last one matters too much. At that age the feed so frequently that it can end up feeling like one big feed.

First off, congratulations and bloody good job on getting that kind of weight gain in the first few weeks! I'm not an expert so please wait until someone more knowledgeable comes along but for what it's worth here's my experience:

If she falls asleep at the end of feeding on one breast, should I try to offer her the second breast or just let her sleep?

Given the good weight gain I'd be inclined to let her sleep

Is it ok that sometimes she doesn't seem to give feeding cues? Sometimes she wakes from a nap, and goes straight from sleepy but content to screaming, and she must have been hungry because when offered a breast she latches on straight away and has a long feed.

My DS was like this - a good sleeper and feeder so didn't always wind up to a feed.

Is it ok to feed from one breast, then do her nappy, then feed from the other? This is what we do at night and seems to work

Totally. I also only used to change nappies at night if he/she'd done a poo.

She often comes off the breast coughing and sputtering, and sometimes needs patting on the back to get her to take a proper breath, which is always a bit scary. Is this normal?

My DD did this. I had quite a strong let-down/supply. If you think it might be that

How do I know if she's finished? She sometimes comes off the breast during the feed, but immediately opens her mouth and latches straight back on. I'm assuming that she hasn't finished and just came off by mistake. If she comes off by herself but looks content, I then sit her up for a bit then offer her the other breast. Is this right?

Sounds good to me.

How long would you say can elapse between feeding on one breast and the next that it stops counting as the second breast of the feed and becomes the next feed?

I used to worry about this with DC1 but gave up worrying about it with DC2. DC1 used to cluster feed in the evenings so it was more like one long feed. DC2 did this much less. Notionally I used to think it was about a 30 minute gap. But so long as you're feeding on demand I don't reckon it really matters.