How long / much does your 8 week old feed?

[Beans1977]

Hi everyone, my DD#1 is 8 weeks old and seems to be doing well on EBF. We had a terrible start with me having awful split nipples that took weeks to heal and her losing weight, but thanks to some awesome support on here and IRL we have made it to 8 weeks and in the last two weeks feeds have become pain free and - dare I say it, even enjoyable! I never thought this would happen.

But now I am worrying again (doh!) as my DD's feeding time seems massively reduced. She feeds around 7-10 times a day. Every 2/3 hours in the day and then she goes 6 hours at night. She is gaining weight (18oz in last two weeks) and doing lots of nappies, she used to feed for 30/40 mins but she now only feeds for about 10 mins, sometimes coming off a couple of times during and she doesn't always want the other boob afterwards. Sometimes it's longer but other times she seems done and happy about 5 mins?! Not sure if it's just a phase, if she is becoming more efficient - or if everything is ok and I am just being a complete donut and finding something else to panic about now the BF is going better!

Does this sound ok? How long / often does (or did) your 8 w. o. feed? SHould she be taking both boobs at each feed? Would she let me know if she was hungry and not sleep etc?

My 8 wk old son has only really taken one boob (though he was 6 weeks early).

Surely if she is gaining well, making wet nappies and in good form all is going well? I'd have thought that an older baby, with a better hang of bf would suck more efficiently and thus more quickly! No expert though, just my 2p worth. (the early, difficult feeds probably felt like a complete eternity too...!)

My 6 week old feeds for 10 minutes from one boob and has gone from 75th to 91st centile so I'm thinking (for my baby at least) it is do-able. I would go by nappies and weight gain rather than time spent at the boob?

DD is 7 weeks and has reduced her feeds from and hour long to about 10-15 mins. She is also gaining weight and having plenty of wet nappies, so I think it's ok.

7-10 feeds and gaining weight sounds fine! Always offer the second side, but if she doesn't want it that's fine too.

I think my ds was probably having 8ish feeds at that age, normally just one side but sometimes both. He was always quite a slow feeder, 20+ minutes even when he was 12 months, but lots of babies can do a full feed in 5-10 minutes.

Thanks for the replies everyone everyone - I think having got off to a bad start with the BF (as redwine says those feeds with cracked nipples felt like an eternity...) I am being a bit over the top and worrying too much. I suppose this is 'welcome to parenthood'!

I went to see the HV today as well - baby is doing sufficient nappies and putting on weight steadily and HV has told me not to come back and weigh baby for 3/4 weeks so I don't get stressed about it, that everything is fine and to just relax and enjoy my daughter. So that is what I will try and do! Thanks for your support, appreciate it x

i had a lot of milk so (as advised by mw) DD for the first three months DD would take one boob for about 4 long sittings - until it was empty. i would then switch to the other side. this really helped establish my milk supply and prevent blockages from leftover milk. the baby can decide itself how much boob to take and for how long - she seems to be managing well, as do you.