Always needing to take baby off the breast after a feed, is this normal?

[Demented]

My DS2 is now 5 1/2 months and we are still b/feeding. I have always found that he would be very reluctant to come off the breast by himself.

In the early days I didn't mind and would usually eventually take him off when he was sound asleep assuming it was just a small baby thing. Now however he still does not come off the breast by himself and would stay there all day. I have been taking him off when I feel that he is no longer feeding and just comforting and he does not seem too bothered by this.

The problem is that I am concerned that by making the decision myself when to take him off he may be losing out on milk that he needs, at some feeds he butterfly feeds (is that the right expression, jaws sort of rapidly jiggling up and down) which I understand is when they are getting the really rich milk but then he will go on from there still moving his jaws as if feeding again but I am sure he is only comforting at this point. I will then take him off and put him on the other side then at the end (or what I deem to be the end) of that feed I have to take him off again. If I do not take him off he can still manage to spend about an hour on one side before falling asleep and although I realise that you should not breastfeed by the clock this seems ridiculous at his age. He is gaining weight well but I just don't like to be the one to make the decision that he has finished. I wondered if anyone could tell me if this is normal. He won't even come off by himself if he is windy, he just starts to thrash about and I can feel the wind moving up and down his body.

Thanks to anyone who can help.

I'm not an expert, but my ds was also a very long and very slow feeder. I used to take the view that if I could gently pull him off, ie not have to put my finger in to break the seal, then he wasn't really feeding seriously. I'd then put him on the other boob and go through the same process after about 45 minutes on the second side.

Even at 12 months, he was still taking ages, albeit less frequently!

I'm sure that there'll be plenty of advice out there, but my copy of "Breast is Best" says that is reasonable to stop a feed after about half an hour if you have something else to do!

It's fine to strike a compromise between what your baby would like to do (suck all day) and what you have to do....as long as the baby is thriving then he will be fine. Lots of mothers are happy to 'allow' the occasional long langorus feed though, as comfort and enjoyment are part of bf, too : )

This is especially the case with a baby of your baby's age, well-established with bf.

If your baby was not getting what he needed from his milk, he would show you in lots of ways, including by not thriving.

Thank you everybody, I knew Mumsnet would provide the answers. I was getting a bit paranoid about always having to take him off but he is happy and putting on weight. I suppose there are advantages to him taking a long feed is that if you are engrossed in something on the telly you can leave him there until it finishes or there is a commercial break and he is quite happy or the odd time I have been very naughty and just left him there to get out of doing something I didn't want to do saying I'm still feeding the baby.

Good to know what it says in Breast is Best as well (must get a copy from the library) as I do sometimes feel guilty when he wants to stay put and I unlatch him to get on with something else, he certainly always gets at least half an hour.

Mind you as if to call me a liar I have not long fed DS2 and put him down for a nap and he came off himself at the end of that feed, a very rare occurance indeed!

Thanks again to everyone, all your help is greatly appreciated.

Agree with 'Breast is Best' which was my bible. My ds no.1 would never let go on his own. When it got to no.4 she was constatnly removed by me so that I could take the others to nursey and school etc.
Mind you when dh came in from work I didn't remove any of them so that he would make the tea because I was 'busy'
Carry on as you are demented.

DS2 will feed all night sometimes. He goes from one breast to the other without pause. I'm sure that taking him off after half an hour is fine.
lol - they always make you out to be a liar. I've lost count of the number of times I've complained about something only for DS to do the complete opposite within the hour. I think it's telepathy.

Demented, my dd was just the same, used to take ages to feed and never come off by herself, but she didn't seem to mind a bit of gentle persuasion.