How long should a breast feeding session last?
A breast feeding session can last anywhere from five minutes to an hour depending on the age and the size of your baby, and at what period in the baby's life it currently is. It's development changes very quickly, as you'll notice. In the beginning, babies are developing a mother's milk supply, so they tend to stay attached for a very long time. It's not unusual for a newborn baby to nurse for forty minutes every hour. That's very frustrating for mothers in the beginning, but it's nature's way of making you stop, relax, and watch your baby. As the baby ages, it'll want to play more than it wants to eat, so breast feeding sessions will become shorter, and have a little space in between them, but it's really dependent on the baby. You want to leave the baby at the breast as long as you see its little jaw sliding back and forth and it's telling you that it's enjoying breast feeding. When the baby comes off, you may want to burp it, let it have a little break, and then offer the other side. If it goes to the other side and kind of wrinkles its nose and pulls off, it's not hungry anymore. If it attaches and drinks for longer, then it wanted that side. The baby will let its mother know how much it wants to eat.
