When do I know that boob has been emptied?

[FormerlyKnownAsPrincessChick]

Just that really! My boobs seem to be making endless amounts of milk and just wondering about possible oversupply? Just wondering when i should be changing boobs? Tbh, i dont really know what i've been doing but stumbled across oversupply when researching "green poo " this evening. Baby is 6wks, very healthy, charting the 98th percentile consistently (from birth) and feeding well. However, we do get fussing at night which we put down as tiredness and we had a bizarre green poo today where normally she does lots of big, wet and sometimes foamy yellow ones. This is the first green poo since she changed to tellow poos. We're not worried as hv / gp have given her glowing reports and we feel that she is fine. It just seems strange that I never seem to run out of milk. Also I get spraying sometimes and tend to leak a lot from the unused boob in the morning and occasionally throughout the day. Any advice?

I don't really. I feed until she drops off. I don't offer 2nd breast anymore (5month old and is either not interested or asleep). Sounds like your baby is healthy.

What do you mean my changing breasts? The advice in the old days was to feed for about 10 min on either side. That is now know to be nonsense. You shouldn't change over mid feed. The milk they suck at the end is the good shit. To begin with your milk will be quite watery (especially in this weather) then it will gradually gets thicker in consistency. Don't take your baby off because they need that. Sometimes green poo is a sign that they are getting more of the watery milk and not so much of the later.

Don't get too obsessed about which breast when, normally one will feel heavier and that's the one I feed from. If I can't tell then it doesn't matter.

I always preface my bf responses by saying the best thing to do is get rl support! And not from a HV but from the Bfn or by going to a bf group.

Anyway, I always offered both because I had quite wee babies who needed to get weight up initially. When we had settled into more established bf they quite naturally popped off the 1st boob, and I would then offer the other, sometimes they took it sometimes they didn't. Dd2 was a speedy feeder, so roughly she'd feed 10 mins or so on one side, 5 mins or so on the other. Then next feed I'd start on the 5 min side, if that makes sense. I think at 6 weeks your supply is still settling down.

You can also get v g bf advice from the kellymom website.

And technically your boobs are never empty! But I think the flow sort of slows down, which is when they will pop off/lose interest

You can't run out of milk - they make milk constantly! Advice to "empty the breast" is really misleading.

Feed off one side until the baby comes off/falls asleep, then offer the other side.

Occasional green poo is normal - as is leaking and spraying at this stage. It normally settles by 3-4 months.

Sorry I just re read your post! Although having huge supplies of milk can be messy/a pest, it is totally normal! And actually i found it reassuring, knowing I had lots! It's still early days and it will settle down. From leaking everywhere/soaking bed sheets/spraying people in cafes etc I went to not even needing breast pads after a few months.

If spraying & baby just getting watery milk found taking off breast & leaving to spray milk into a cloth & then putting baby back to breast meant they get all the fore & hind milk. Its not getting enough hind milk (the thick stuff) that causes green poo.
Some people express a bit first but I don't have time for that with a 3 year old running around.
I just offer one breast until baby gets fussy then offer other breast. I have an efficient feeder so for me it's 10mins per breast. When weather isn't so hot he only needs one breast.
I have to wear pads as I can leak too. We've just got a good supply.
Sounds to me like your doing just fine.

Thanks ladies. I sort of thought it must be going ok (given the 9 ounce a week weight gain!!) but was thrown by the green poo yesterday and then started recognising oversupply symptoms. I try and trust my instincts but the Internet (and baby whisperer on this occasion) got me worried. I have been offering just the one boob until she's done since birth and she's been very happy but all this empty one boob and offer the other got me thinking as the hv mentioned using both boobs during a feeding sesh a few weeks back when I had a cracked nipple. I didn't really understand what she was saying and ignored. Thanks for the reassurance.

A breast is never truly empty but I've always imagined it as more like a jug being filled by a dripping tap rather than "never empty" like a running tap IYSWIM.

There is a point at which it is kind of empty, but refilling - you can get an idea from how many sucks the baby does before swallowing. Mine always started out on a 1-1 basis but, by the end, there was very little swallowing going on. This is when I'd switch to the other side - sometimes they'd want the other one, sometimes not. My three were all fat little porkers :)

I don't think an over abundant supply is unusual at 6 week. It always took mine a good while to settle into providing the right amount.

Lots of wet nappies and a happy, thriving baby are all good signs :)

Don't read Baby Whisperer for breastfeeding advice - she talks rubbish!

Milk is made on demand. You can't empty a breast. Keep up the good work!

Just to say thanks for all the reassurance. It really did make me feel so much better. Since the surprise green poo last week we've been back to yellow (and gallons of it!), she's up again in line with the 98th percentile (6 weeks 4 days and 12 lb 12!!) and I've followed her feeding cues as norm and just done what instinctively feels right re sides. I'm still spraying ovcasionally and got her in the eye earlier this week which startled her (v.funny) but I just stuck a muslin over my boob until it stopped. Great advice. I'm annoyed that I let one little green smear worry me so much!