I agree with Heather - DON'T give a finger (or anything else) to shorten the
feed. If the baby is taking that long, he/she obviously NEEDS to do so in
order to get enough milk. Artificially shortening feeds is a bad idea on all
counts.

I consider 45 minutes as "excessive" if the pattern is consistent.
Excessively long feeds call for careful evaluation. Yes, I agree that some
long feeds are common, and this may be just fine for that baby as long as
mom's willing. However, ALL feeds that are that long often indicate an
underlying suck-swallow-breathe problem.

Someone skilled should be watching this baby feed, the whole 45 minutes, to
look for infant-related suck/feeding problems.

Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre
Dayton, OH USA
http://www.bflrc.com