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Do you think it’s possible to nurse too long, or pump too long?
What’s your experience on how the length of sessions impacts lactation results?
Do you pay much attention to how long you nurse together or how long the pump is on or savour the experience without any regard to time?
I know from experience frequency of stimulation has an impact on the outcome, but not sure about the other.
Would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.
I have heard that long pumping/nursing sessions can be counterproductive to lactation and that frequency (q 3 hours) of stimulation (for 15-20 minutes each side) is optimal.
When my middle son was a newborn he was not getting what he needed nursing. If I knew what I know now back then, I probably could have figured it out. However, I didn’t have the resources to help me figure out our back then. I went back to the hospital multiple times and spoke with the nurses and doctors and all they would do is have me try different nipples or pacifiers. He would nurse for hours though, hours and hours. With a 4 year old and a 2 year old to also take care of, I was hysterical. When men make comments about nursing for hours I immediately think of how hysterical I was after nursing that baby for 5 hours straight once. There is definitely a too long for me. I think that I could do 2 hours of I feel asleep during, but anything over an hour and a half would feel like too much for me
Yogi, I’ve heard that also but also know as Jessica mentioned, sometimes babies nurse much longer and it doesn’t seem detrimental to supply, in fact the opposite at times.
Jessica – I too believe my breastfeeding experiences as a mother would have been very different had I known then as much as I do now. I was far more educated on the topic than the average mother and still didn’t know enough to resolve the challenges. There’s always more to learn. Your poor nipples – 5 hours of nursing would take a toll!
It’s amazing how much I didn’t know about breastfeeding after nursing 4 children!
Outside of that experience with my middle son, breastfeeding just came naturally and effortlessly. My youngest son after nursed until he was 18 months old with no issues.From my perspective, I don’t know if there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Having said that, the muscles required to create the stimulation once I’ve latched on do not have hours of endurance. I know, I tried. Likewise nipples by and large, are not designed to take all that stimulation for hours and hours on end.
In a previous relationship it was difficult sometimes to gauge. Other times when she’s really yearning for it she might want to nurse continuously for 2-3 hours or more, alternating 30 minutes on each nipple. This was fantastic but I might only be able to sustain 1 hour max of continuous suckling. If we took breaks in between it could be stretched out to possibly 2 hours. When she was ovulating, nursing sessions usually lasted no more than 5 minutes before the inevitable. At other times her nipples were so sensitive that the stimulation was too painful. On the flip side because the over sensitivity lasted around a week or more it made our ‘cravings’ that much more intense which then led to yet another attempt of continuous suckling for hours once it had subsided. The cycle went on and on like this for months which made it impossible to stick to a rigid inducing regiment. Neither of us were complaining, this was just the nature of our journey.
I have no real answer for you Lady O, and my input is probably not even relevant. I will just say that the journey of inducing is one full of pitfalls especially when she’s inexperienced and isn’t ready for the changes happening to her breasts. Progress was made and she went from dry to some drops which went from clear to cloudy. I think if the goal was for her to have milk we’d both have been very disappointed. The fact we just went into it with the ‘que sera’ mindset made it so much more fulfilling.
@Lady Oceana. Perhaps the difference is whether or not you are nursing a man or a baby (with all the natural hormones flowing). Nursing for longer than 30 minutes nowadays has no effect on my production and just leaves my nipples sore.
L – Your input is relevant and appreciated. Thank you for sharing your insight and experience.
In my relationship, we’re of the mindset that the journey is enjoyed without pressure or focus on a milky outcome but also long for the day that we may be blessed to experience even a few drops.
Yogi, you raise a very valid point! It’s interesting your production isn’t increased by longer sessions. It’s really helpful to hear other people’s experiences.
If it starts interfering with your professional life or just other important aspects of it , it’s probably been too long. I could go for hours but it was usually during binge watching Netflix shows
I’ve nursed for 7 hours a day for a couple of days in a row. It as incredibly relaxing, so relaxing that I felt I couldn’t do any executive functioning activities, my brain was mush. Other than that, nothing was sore, I had a great partner, I had no sensitivity issues either.
From everything I have read, consistency is key along with not being stressed.
My experience is predominantly centered around pumping. I have found lately that I prefer 5 45 minute session over more frequent 15-20 minute sessions. Mind you though, I work in 3 15 minute stimulation/expression cycles. This works more fluidly around my work schedule and thus is less stressful.
From my experiences with my babies, all 3 of them had different nursing styles… my son was a grazer – frequent short duration feeds, one of my daughters was a lazy nurser and feeding her took forever, and my other daughter was the buffet master- fewer but slightly longer more industrious feeds. She was my chonkiest baby. My body adapted beautifully to all 3 of them as this was their consistent pattern.
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