how long should baby feed from each breast

[pregnantbabyelephant]

my baby is only 3 weeks old
how long should i feed from each breast before switching somesay 20-30 mins others say 45 mins
i cant tell yet if the breast is full drained or not
v hungery baby

I very rarely fed from both breasts at one feed. I fed for as long as dd wanted to from one breast per feed - you don't really "drain" a breast, and changing breasts too soon can mean that the baby doesn't get enough of the hind milk from the first breast.

If dd was particularly hungry and wanted more, I'd then offer the second breast after I'd winded her - but I didn't have to do that more than a couple of times.

If the baby is very hungry, just feed more and try not to set a time limit to how long each feed lasts.

elephant, give one of the helplines a call. They'll talk you through it. Timing has zero to do with happy breastfeeding - you don't feed until the breast is 'drained' or until the clock says X minutes have passed, but until your baby shows by his behaviour he's ready to swap (and some don't want to swap, though in the early weeks it's usually best to at least offer the second side each time).

Oh, and anyone saying '20-30 minutes' or '45 minutes' is merely revealing what they don't know