how long should my 2 1/2 week old be nursing for?

Sometimes I swear she'd rather sleep than eat - and it makes me nervous!

Re: how long should my 2 1/2 week old be nursing for?

I know how you feel because I worried so much in the beginning about how much ds was eating. Just keep track of the diapers and as long as she has enough, everything is fine. I know it's so hard because you can't see how much they're actually getting. I remember the first month being really difficult. It was so hard to keep him awake to eat. You can try taking off some of her clothes and even using a cool wash cloth to wake her up so she'll eat more. If she's falling asleep at the breast you can also massage right behind her ear to stimulate sucking. I think at 2 1/2 weeks, they should probably be nursing for at least 15-20 minutes 8-12 times a day. For the first month my ped and LC wanted me to be nursing at least every 2-3 hours. After 1 month I was able to let him go up to 4 hours at night if I was lucky. So I would wake him up at night to nurse on the rare occassion he slept that long! I promise you the nursing will get easier! The first month is the hardest, but you've already made it 2 1/2 weeks!

Re: how long should my 2 1/2 week old be nursing for?

30-45 minutes max.

Jordana also always used to fall asleep while nursing. The nurses in the hospital (I was there 5 days) told me that as long as she was making diapers, not to worry.

Re: how long should my 2 1/2 week old be nursing for?

Julia would fall asleep on the boob also, but whats good about BF is when she gets up and shes hungry again, put her back on for another feeding, BF babies dont have to be on a schedule.

Re: how long should my 2 1/2 week old be nursing for?

My DD only seems to nurse for about 5-10 mins on each side. I call it breast snacking I was so worried that she wasn't getting enough but she has been consistently gaining weight and giving us plenty of wet diapers.

Re: how long should my 2 1/2 week old be nursing for?

thanks! She def has enough wet (well, we count when she pees out the side and keeps the diaper dry too!) and dirty diapers (sometimes it amazes us something so little is so "messy")

SOMETIMES IT REALLY DOES HELP TO HEAR SOMEONE ELSE REASSURE YOU!