Question for those who ebf

[autumngirlxo]

How long does your baby nurse for and how old are they?

Anywhere from 30seconds-30mins although not ebf as now 11months but this has been the same since birth.

I would say around 5mins generally for most feeds though.

He’s 7 months old and nurses for 3-5 mins at a time (this hasn’t changed since recently starting solids). When he was younger it was much, much longer!

My baby is 12 weeks and only feeds fur about 5-7 minutes and I'm really worried it's not long enough🫠

First three months, they were nursing for the majority of the day and night. 3-6 months, still a lot but with longer breaks in between. From six months on, gradually reduced but they still enjoyed a long sleepy feed for a long time. My youngest has just turned three and I think we might have reached the end of the road in the past couple of weeks.

My girl was 5-10 minutes on average with maybe one a day a longer stretch and she's fine. All babies are different but if they're putting in weight and meeting milestones, all's good

Mine is 9 months and nurses for between 4-20 mins per time, about 6 times in 24 hours. Her feeds have always been on the longer side though

She's 5 months. Maybe 10m? Or slightly less. Oh and she likes to unlatch and talk to me all the time while she's doing it.

How is weight gain going? Did baby used to have longer feeds and has suddenly changed?

That length would have been about normal for both of mine, both EBF until weaning with fine weight gain (at least once we got DD2's reflux under control, but that was about too much milk coming out rather than not enough going in.)

It really gets quick at this age. Your baby is much more efficient. As long as they are gaining weight and having dirty/wet nappies, you're doing great and so is baby!

If they’re weeing and pooing enough and putting on weight inline with their centile then their getting enough milk and you’re just a super feeding pair.

My son was exactly the same and I worried so much because it was much shorter than everyone I knew (he did do more feeds though, just shorter ones, bit of a grazer!). He gained weight perfectly well though (went up centile by 5 months) and am still bf him at nearly 2. They can be quite efficient at that age so as other posters have said provided gaining weight well and wet/ dirty nappies, short feeds are absolutely fine

I had a fast let down (if I pumped my letdown would fill 3oz in under 2 mins!) so feeds were 5 mins max very early on.

@autumngirlxo my baby girl is coming up to 12 weeks on Wednesday and feeds for anywhere between 5-15mins - she's on every two hours if say, but she is a comfort feeder too! Basically wants boob if she's hungry, tired, mad or sad 😅

After the 5-7 minutes, do you switch sides? In the early days, I always offered both sides per feed.

I had a fast letdown and my daughter rarely ever fed for more than 10 minutes. Most of the time it was 3-5 minutes every 1.5-2h but she went through a phase at 3-4 months where every feed was only 5-10 seconds and she only fed for a total of 1-2 minutes between 10am and 8 pm! Due to reflux and allergies. After these were sorted at 5 months she probably did 5-7 minutes feeds. The infant feeding team said she was just an efficient feeder and I had plenty of milk. We didn't have issues with weight gain until weaning as she was slow to wean and once moving needed food and breastmilk, later formula, to gain weight.

Thank you all for your replies to my post. In answer to some questions, I offer both breasts, she will only feed for a few mins per side. She has wet and dirty nappies, I change her before each feed (sometimes after if she decides to poop again!). I'm not sure about the weight gain as they don't have weekly weigh-in's anymore at our clinic, I'll have to buy some scales I think, I never thought about that before - thank you! She feeds on demand but roughly every 2-3 hours.

A few minutes just doesn't seem long enough for some reason, as she used to feed for about 45 minutes when she was a newborn and it's gradually decreased as she's got older😅

6.5m and around 5 minutes unless he goes to sleep on the boob, in which case he'll suckle for a good while.

I'm also worried that if she isn't feeding for as long, that my supply will also decrease!?

DC1 would feed for 20-45 mins at a time but had reflux and was feeding to ease the pain. DC2 only fed for 5-7 mins and when I asked my HV she said he was probably just more efficient at feeding. I would go by weight gain as well as wet/dirty nappies. Each baby is different and each mum's let down is different so go by your normal x

Ps - they will drink more milk during growth spurts too. Some days they will eat more than others and that's normal x

If she used to feed for longer but feeds have gradually got shorter, nappies are fine, and she is alert and (mostly) happy in herself when awake, then I think it is very likely she's just got more efficient. If she's getting enough, your supply will be fine.

When was she last weighed? I think the advice for this age is about once a month.

There is a huge range of normal from minutes to hours so if you have ay

Any concerns sorry! then see your local breastfeeding support group. Currently in the middle of such a long feed it's triggered three letdowns! But another baby (I'm still feeding at 3+) has always been a snacker and could efficiently drain the boob in under 10 mins.