Another point to remember when discussing how much of the available milk a
baby gets in what amount of time is that these figures refer to the
"average" baby.  If the "average" baby takes 10 minutes to get 80%, then
some babies take only 4 minutes, and other babies take 16, and a few babies
may take 32.  An "average" baby is a statistical construction.  Some babies
are "barracudas" and eat fast and efficiently and want to go do something
else.  Other babies are slow and/or inefficient nursers and like to linger
at the breast, maybe looking around, holding the breast in their mouth
without really suckling much for a while, falling asleep for little
mini-naps, etc.  Some babies only want to nurse until the edge is taken off
their hunger, and then go play, and will be quite happy to nurse for 3
minutes and then be taken off the breast, *as long as* they can come back in
20 minutes for another 3 minutes of nursing.  You have to know a whole lot
about your own baby's particular strengths, personality, and style, before
you can tell how often and for how long s/he needs to be at the breast to
get sufficient milk.

Each of my children had different styles of nursing.  One size doesn't fit
all -- because no baby is average!

Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Texas A&M University