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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

One breast at a time or both?

23 replies

Vizzle · 06/04/2009 20:26

I've been breastfeeding my 10-day-old baby successfully - giving her about 10 - 15 minutes on one breast, and then swapping sides to offer her the other one for about the same time.

Now my midwife has said I should just do one breast per feed. Baby's not keen - she's been restless and has cried a lot! What does everyone else do?

OP posts:
thisisyesterday · 06/04/2009 20:31

i did whatever baby wanted.
your midwife doesn't know how hungry she is, your daughter does, so be led by her!

think ds2 had both sides for a long long time

foxytocin · 06/04/2009 20:32

Midwife is wrong.

let your baby feed on first side as long as baby likes and when she comes off offer the second side, letting her accept or refuse. If she wants a 'third' side, offer the first breast again. don't time feeds, let your baby stay on as little or as long as they like

if you put your baby down, seemingly contented and then she wakes up after 5 or 10 mins, crying, rooting, just feed again. that is what they are like at this age. and most of all learn to enjoy it. take the time to put your feet up and watch the telly and have people serve you hand and foot do the mundane stuff around you cause you are doing the most important job in the house.

singalongamumum · 06/04/2009 20:33

I started off like you, but ended up increasing the time on the first breast before swapping. This is because the hind milk which is the thicker stuff takes a while to come through so if you swap too early your baby might miss out on some nutrients. That said, no one ever suggested to me that I should only do 1 breast. What was her reason? Maybe just try 20 mins on one side, then swap. If your baby is happy there's no point making problems at this early stage. Try a few things, see what works, trust yourself. You know your baby best, even at this early stage.

shonaspurtle · 06/04/2009 20:33

Take the lead from your baby. She knows what she wants .

Both breasts, and even the first one again if she wants it.

Feeding from one breast at a time is a way of reducing your supply, which can be handy if you're producing too much, but not a good thing if your breasts are matching your baby.

shonaspurtle · 06/04/2009 20:34

(obv if your baby only wants one side, that's ok too)

gardengrump · 06/04/2009 20:34

do what baby says, not mw

gardengrump · 06/04/2009 20:35

if it aint broke, don't fix it

Original poster
Vizzle · 06/04/2009 20:40

Aw, thanks - that's really helpful! Mw said that my milk might run out if I used both. There's no shortage so far, and me and baby were happy with how it's going!

OP posts:
thisisyesterday · 06/04/2009 20:42

it won't run out if you use both! quite the opposite in fact.
milk is made on a supply and demand basis, so the more you feed her the more milk you will make

foxytocin · 06/04/2009 20:49

sorry vizzle, I had to laugh though I know how sad it is that a midwife actually said that. does she think you have milk bottles down your top?

I wonder if she also thinks that cows will run out if the farmer milked all the udders at the same time.

Original poster
Vizzle · 06/04/2009 20:55

Haaaaaaaa! It's amazing what you believe as a first time mum

OP posts:
StarlightMcKenzie · 06/04/2009 20:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

NellyTheElephant · 06/04/2009 22:16

That's crazy. I would stick with giving both, mainly because it seems to be working fine for you and also because later on when the baby starts going much longer between feeds and taking much bigger feeds you'll find your breasts get much less lopsided if you are always offering both sides. Re the fore and hind milk debate, I always understood that your breasts adjust to provide milk as demanded so if you are offering both breasts as standard then your breasts will adjust their milk production and composition accordingly.

babyphat · 06/04/2009 22:18

although i did have to stick to one side per feed as i had quite bad oversupply, resulted in having to feed 6 hours (!) on same side for a few days before it settled.

but that is fairly unusual i understand.

definitely wait for the baby to come off by herself before swapping

and well done!!

TheProvincialLady · 06/04/2009 22:22

Yeah I had that too babyphat (though not as severely as you by the sound of it) and using only one breast at a time did reduce the amount of milk.

MW is a dangerous loon. As per usual. I ought to have that phrase saved permanently to my clipboard so I could just hit paste every time I needed to say it.

tiktok · 07/04/2009 00:36

Very poor advice and knowledge from the midwife

You can tell her we said so, too

NormaJeanBaker · 07/04/2009 00:47

BF never really worked for me for long but while I was trying the babes had free access to both breasts at all times. One feed sort of blurred into another but when one side was knackered I just swapped over until the suckling babies passed out from exhaustion. MW sounds like an idiot.

vlc · 07/04/2009 00:57

"milk might run out if I use both"

snort

Ah, yes, but then the boob fairy flits along and replenishes from the magic booby milk float, you see.

MW should not be giving ANY bf advice until she had had some retraining. What is it that makes people feel that they can just make it up if they don't actually know the truth?

Claire2009 · 07/04/2009 01:38

I always used just one breast unless baby was hungrier than usual and wanted both.

SamJamsmum · 07/04/2009 07:02

'milk might run out if I use both'

Yikes. Such a fundamental lack of understanding of bfing. I actually wouldn't bother to listen to anything else she says on the subject in the future. Only talk about it if it's YOU teaching HER.

Offering the second side after a baby has finished the first side naturally is the standard advice. The only time perhaps I would be cautious about this is if a young baby fell asleep at the breast after not much active feeding and your instincts might tell you that they need another go at side number 1 after they've been woken up a bit. Or if a younger baby is very windy and may benefit from a return to side one after a burp, and then offer side 2.

Some babies won't be interested in side 2 but offering it at least is the usual practice.

SamJamsmum · 07/04/2009 07:06

Just re-reading your OP again. Just wondering if the MW said this if she feared you were timing feeds and removing baby after 10-15 mins.
Let baby stay on side one for as long as they are feeding and swallowing. Most babies will come off by themselves when they are finished with breast number one. Try not to look at the clock but familiarise yourself with baby's feeding style.

Lawks · 07/04/2009 07:35

Great advice from Foxytocin.

Original poster
Vizzle · 07/04/2009 10:23

Thanks for your advice, everyone!

So I went back to giving baby as much as she wanted from one side, and then the other.

And she went back to her calm self - woke for a feed at 1am, then 5am and then 9. Nice restful night.

I'm slowly learning that mums know better than mws!

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