Please help - getting conflicting bf advice...

[KellyJDE]

My ds is a week tomorrow and I have, I think, been successfully bf him. My MIL, who was once a midwife and HV told me today after he'd been on one breast for about an hour that this was wrong and I should allow him ten minutes on one breast beore swapping to the second breast. Can anyone tell me whether this is correct - does your breasts empty after only ten minutes?

Please help - I'm really confused as I believed I was doing the right thing by alternating the breasts each feed???

Thanks

DS2 doesnt spend an hour on each breast, but the advice to swap every 10 mins is very old hat

Shockingly old-fashioned advice - likely to lead to problems, too. Check with your own midwife and do not listen to your mil

The clock is not a guide, and some babies will need more than 10 mins and some will need less; some will always take both breasts (swap when you feel your baby has lost interest - you'll soon get to know the right moments to pick); some will fall fast asleep after one breast; some mix and match

It's a good idea to offer both sides at least at first, but it is no big deal as long as both breasts get used pretty frequently day and night.

Breasts do not empty - there is always milk there

Agree with Jacobs, 10 mins is very old advice (+ I don't think a breast is ever actually 'empty'). It can take this time to get to the hind milk, which is the fattier part of the milk.
Feeding is also a comfort thing for newborns.
Sounds like you are doing a fab job. Listen to what your baby wants and let him lead you. Current advice is to wait for baby to come off naturally when they are full x
PS my MIL was a midwife too - tbh, I listen to her point of view, but whether I actually use her advice when I get home is a different story. There have been so many developments and learnings in the last 20 years +.

thank you for your advice - I did suspect that her advice might be somewhat dated as she has not practised for many many years!!

Thanks again

Kelly - enjoy your baby and enjoy getting to know him

Please don't be concerned about foremilk and hindmilk - the baby sorts this out very well without any clock-watching

liketosleep - it's understandable that you think the baby needs to sort of 'drill down' to the hindmilk and that this takes time, because this is the very duff way foremilk/hindmilk has been taught. It's WRONG!!!

You can find out what really happens at www.kellymom.com where there is a good explanation in the section 'how breastfeeding works' and also at Hunker's blog which is howbreastfeedingworks.com