I read everywhere that the baby should be on breast atleast for 15-20 minutes. Now is the baby suckling continuosly for 20 minutes. How does one count? My 6 week old son drinks formula from a bottle continously, whereas he has never latched on to the breast for more than 5 minutes, even when I had not started formula. I actually started formula because I thought he was not drinking enuf.

Chini Sujatha replied. Hi Chini,
My daughter was exactly like this when I breastfed her. She would be on my breast for 5 minutes and then she won't be interested at all. Nothing I did will get her back to feeding. Worse part was, she will not even take bottles or sipper. She was doing this right from the 3rd month. I made an appointment with the lactation consultant at the hospital and we checked how many ounce she took. To our surprise, she was taking 2 oz in 3 minutes and she was actually not hungry at that time. Then I learnt that some kids are power feeders especially when it comes to the breast. Ever since, she has been feeding only for a few minutes. Look on the bright side, the weaning was very easy for me as she didn't miss it much.

Don't go by what the book says. Every kid is different and as long as your baby is happy after each feed, you don't have to worry about anything. If you are worried about how much your baby gets, visit the lactation consultant to check that. You can also rent their scale for a very small fee just to check it out for a day or two.

Good luck. Sandhya replied. Hi Chini

It's true that breast fed babies should feed for at least 20 minutes, 10 minutes each side.At least,this is what the dosctors advice.This is because,the hind milk,which has the fat and proteins,comes later than the fore milk and hence the baby should be latched on at least some time.My son is 4 months old and is exclusively breast fed.I intend starting the formula only next month.If your baby doesn't feed properly on the breast,consult a lactation expert.They should be able to help you.

Hope this helps.

Sandhya