Chris writes:
>if the baby was sufficiently
>draining the milk sinuses (including with breast compression) that there
>shouldn't be any reason why a single nursing session should take more than
>10 minutes from a nutritional perspective.

It depends on the baby -- its neurological functioning, how hungry it is,
the efficiency of its sucking, its strength, if it is healthy or sick, etc.
etc. etc.

Not to mention the more important point that breastfeeding is much more than
nutrition, and that some children are leisurely nursers, while others are
barracudas, and others change from day to day or nursing to nursing.

I have one (sitting on the stairs reading a book as I type) who liked to
spend 1-2 hours nursing every morning to *ease into the day*.  He would
drift in and out of sleep, gradually waking up, but always latched on,
always sucking, getting milk and love.  He is still not a morning person.
My eldest, by contrast, would be quick and efficient in the morning as she
was an early riser and wanted to be up, fed, and about her business -- but
later in the day she would nurse for longer stretches.


Kathy Dettwyler

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