Nursing... how long is your session?

[terrainthailand]

In the early weeks I use to try really hard to get hazel to nurse as long as possible. She would generally go 15 to 20 min on one side and then I would push the other side on her. Usually she would go about 5 min on that side - sometimes longer. At some point I stopped trying to force the issue and just let her nurse as long as she wanted. I've noticed now (at 6 weeks) that we only do one side per feeding and she does about 7-10 minutes of very active, rhythmic sucking... followed by maybe 5-7 minutes of weak, sporadic sucking. Is this too little?? As she is gaining and wetting fine I guess I know it is ok, but it seems so short. Should I go back to trying to get her to go longer?? When she is done I do always burp her and offer the breast again, but I don't really do more than that as far as prolonging the session.

[Funny Face]

Dd only ever nursed 5-7 minutes on one side and ds is follow that pretty closely at 7-10 minutes on one side. Ds was 8lbs 8oz at birth and is already 15 pounds at 7 weeks so I'm gonna say he's getting plenty of nutrition!

How often does your lo nurse? Ds is every 2 hours or more frequently during the day and every 2-3 hours at night.

I always felt bad for moms who had to nurse for 40 minutes every session- wow!

[terrainthailand]

Oh good!

She nurses every 3 to 4 hours at night and every 2 hours during the day (sometimes more frequently).

[arahzel]

DD nurses every 3 hours or so. If I can keep her awake, she usually nurses on both sides, but only for about 15 min total. She drains me pretty fast, but she is a pretty a pretty agressive/effective nurser. Your kiddo might be the same!

I know when I pump I can get about 3oz out of one side while Dd nurses, and then I let her latch on the other side so I can get it completely drained (and boost my supply). When she nurses on that side, I pump the side she already ate on and get another letdown (I usually get 5oz total).

At today's checkup, DD has gained 2lbs, 5oz from her birthweight!

[KSLaura]

DD nurses about 10 minutes per session every couple of hours. She cluster feeds though, so she eats about every 20 minutes in the evening. I try to just follow her lead and feed her when she acts hungry. When she stops, she's done. Oh, and I usually only offer one side per session. I hated in the hospital, they wanted me to nurse her on each side every time she ate. Totally not necessary!

[Starfish11]

I would love it if Evangeline did this. I would trade frequent feedings for our marathon hour sessions. She'll nurse on one side, sleep a little or pause, then we switch to the other side. She only nurses every three to four hours, though, and we maybe nurse twice at night (a few times not at all). Still, it's hard to nurse her in public b/c it just takes such a long time.

[rebecca03]

Originally Posted by Starfish11

I would love it if Evangeline did this. I would trade frequent feedings for our marathon hour sessions. She'll nurse on one side, sleep a little or pause, then we switch to the other side. She only nurses every three to four hours, though, and we maybe nurse twice at night (a few times not at all). Still, it's hard to nurse her in public b/c it just takes such a long time.

Oh I so hear you. Jennifer is a very leisurely nurser. She'll nurse for upwards of an hour just because she dozes off and likes to take breaks. When we NIP I'll just wait foer her to doze off nicely and mostof the time that'll hold her for a good little while.

[FondestBianca]

ds was born on dec 2nd

for the first few days he didnt do much nursing... too busy sleeping! for the next few weeks after that he would nurse for 45 minutes to an hour. A little less on the second side. For the last few weeks he's been getting it done much quicker. If he is sleepy it takes him about 30-40 minutes total. If he's pretty awake I'd say it's more like 20-30 minutes total. My back hurt sooooooo bad that first month because he nursed so long.

He has always been a good sleeper. He's been sleeping through the night for a monht now with the exception of a few night when he slept in 4 to 6 hour blocks with feedings between rather than a 7-10 hour block followed by nursing and another 2-3 sleeping block to directly follow. During the day he becomes active at around 11ish (after a couple wakings for eating earlier in the day). He'll eat then sort of hang out and be happy awake for a couple hours, then eat agian and go back for another 2-3 hour nap. He'll wake up for his long awake session at around 5-6pm. At that time he'll eat again then spend the rest of the night eating, hanging out contently, taking 5-15 minute cat naps here and there, then he'll eat a final time at around 9-9:30pm and fall asleep for the night at around 10-10:30pm.

He's gaining fine despite sleeping long hours and eating his meals quicker. I've worried a bit about supply simply because he eats so quick now compared to the first month but, plenty of wet daipers and gaining weight so I guess all is well!