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One of the biggest questions we get as lactation consultants is whether to offer one breast or two during a nursing session. There are so many articles, books, blogs, and information out there and it gets so confusing! You may have been told to offer both breasts every 2-3 hours, and for 15 minutes each breast. But what happens when your baby doesn’t reach 2-3 hours and needs to feed more often? What happens if your baby is only taking one side? What if your baby eats one breast for 5 minutes refuses to eat longer? Our goal is to help you understand YOUR baby and body, because there are no two breasts that are the same… and no two babies are, either!
During any part of your nursing journey, it is important to remember to watch the baby, not the clock. The amount of milk varies by each individual dyad (nursing parent and their baby/babies). When we feed our babies, I encourage the nursing parent to watch for swallows, keep the baby active and AWAKE. In the early days, or if we have a baby that is slow at nursing, may mean we want to switch the baby more than once and sooner than 15 minutes. We want to change breasts BEFORE they fall asleep and that is why timing the baby gets so confusing- what if the baby falls asleep after 5 minutes? You are wasting precious time you could be resting and doing other things. Many times, if the baby is sleepy or not having adequate swallows we can help by squeezing our breasts to help push the milk out and switching as soon as we see them start to slow down their sucks before they fall asleep. SO, YOU MAY HAVE TO SWITCH THEM MORE THAN ONCE OR TWICE. Switching them to keep them active while squeezing your breasts, will get them fuller faster. Especially in those early days of breastfeeding.
Some babies, even in the early days- get on the breast, need no stimulation, nurse, suck and swallow with audible gulps and come off in 5-10 minutes on one breast. If you keep them active- and you offer the other breast, its ok if they refuse. It is important that you are monitoring their pees and poos and keep a general idea of how frequent they feed. The older your baby gets, the more practice you get- you will get more confident by watching their sucks and swallows and helping the baby when they need it. If your baby does get full off one breast quickly, then just be sure to offer the other breast at the next feeding.
Most babies do tell us when they are done, however there are those tricky babies that will nurse forever. If your baby doesn’t respond to squeezing, or it has been several minutes, it is a good idea to take the baby off and see what they do. If they are content or stay asleep, then it is likely that they are done. Generally they will eat 8-12 times a day for much less than 30minutes each feeding. If you find that they are going over that number, it may be a good idea to get an evaluation from an IBCLC. If you have any specific concerns, or questions about your feeding situation, it never hurts to get one-on-one help.
