How often and how long for breast feeding

[ComradeJing]

Ds2 is almost 2 wks but I've forgotten almost everything about breast feeding.

With DD I fed on demand for about 15 mins - 20 mins on each side every 2 hours then 3 hours or on demand which turned into her just wanting to feed to sleep and comfort sucking. I sodding hated the comfort sucking, feeding to sleep and feeling like a human dummy and it took stopping breast feeding at 8 months to end the habit.

So I don't want to get into the same situation with Ds but I'm a bit confused about how often I should be feeding him and what I'm doing.

At the moment he feeds anywhere between hourly and every 3 hours. My supply feels good and he looks like he is gaining weight. I've been taking him off after approx 15 minutes which is roughly when he starts to loose interest (a few sucks then stops for a while and repeat). He then isn't interested in my other breast. Is this ok or should I try to get him feeding from each breast at feeds?

I know babies aren't machines who need x number of minutes on the breast every 3 hours on the dot but I have that horrible and helpless feeling of 'what the fuck am I doing' again

Well, it sounds like you did everything right the first time! Letting babies feed as often as they want for as long as they want (assuming no latch problems etc) is the best way.

There is sone good information on kellymom called Feeding your newborn, what to expect.

Should be helpful or you could give the National Breastfeeding Helpline a call.

Thank you for the quick reply.

So do you leave them on each breast until they don't want to feed any longer and then offer the 2nd or stop at some point and offer the second?

Will check out Kelly mom.

Thanks

Probably not the best person to help you comrad as my DS had undiagnosed tongue tie and would have happily stayed on for 24/7 and dd was a very quick feeder, 10 minutes max.

If it was me though, I'd wait until he comes off, you can always try breast compressions if you want to speed things up

I used to wait until they came off, but I rarely offered the second boob - they'd have that one next time.

My midwife told me:
No more than around 30mins on one breast (for a slower feeder) as they should have emptied it by then.
If they still want more after that, swap to the other side for 'pudding' and then start with that one at the next feed.
When your baby has fed really well from one breast, it will feel much emptier and kind of floppier (!) than the other one, so you can partly gauge by that whether to swap. If they want to feed and there is no milk left in that breast, baby will probably get quite annoyed anyhow (unless they fall asleep like mine!).
Girls are more likely to snack than boys.
Once the fattier milk starts to flow, then newborns will pause between sucking sessions. She said that is just how they feed; sometimes they'll do some fast sucking which can feel almost fluttery and that's stimulating let down to get more milk. She said that if the baby is still latched on, don't take them off. They'll come off by themselves if they're asleep. (That doesn't solve then human dummy problem though.)