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The exact duration of the feed is not important, the duration varies greatly depending on the baby's characteristics, the time of day and the mother's availability.
However, if the feedings are too long (more than half an hour) or too short (less than 4 minutes) the mother must be careful.
In the first days of life, or with low birth weight babies, feedings can be very long and this is not a problem.
There are several types of babies and mothers should know about:
– Very lively babies latch on to the breast and get all the milk in 10-20 minutes
– Others are very excitable, they go “crazy” when they see the breast – they grab it, lose it and start crying.
– Others get upset while the milk doesn’t appear. The mother can squeeze a few drops of milk to calm the baby and speed up the milk flow process.
– There are babies who like to play with the nipple before starting to breastfeed.
– There are also those who breastfeed for a few minutes, stop for a few minutes and start breastfeeding again. Some fall asleep at the breast, sleep for about half an hour or more, and then wake up for “dessert.” The best solution in these cases is to make extra time for feedings and remain as flexible as possible, or encourage the baby to breastfeed.
The mother should learn in the first few weeks after giving birth how her child likes to be breastfed. And this will make the entire breastfeeding process easier (the mother will understand when she is hungry, when she is full, how often she needs to breastfeed and the time for each feeding).