First, there is no
definite number for this question. In the first four months, it is recommended
that nursing mothers practice breastfeeding on demand rather than scheduled
breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding on demand means you breastfeed your baby whenever she shows sign of hunger like hand sucking motion.
Breastfeeding on demand has shown to be much more beneficial than scheduled feeding as scheduled feeding has shown to be linked with poor academic performance in the future.
Another reason that breastfeeding on demand is better is because there is growth spurt in the first year in which baby will put on more weight than usual.
In general, in the first four months, frequency of breastfeeding is about 8 to 12 times a day. This will usually decrease as the size of tummy of baby increases.
Number of times of feeding will drop to 3 to 5 times a day when your baby is 6 to 12 months old.
For duration, there is no specific guideline, nursing mothers should look for sign that the baby is full like stop sucking for a minute.
In general, duration of breastfeeding can last from 10 minutes per session to 45 minutes per session. In the first few days after birth, the size of tummy of the baby is very small, the breastfeeding may just last 10 minutes.
One of the major concern that parents have is whether their babies have sufficient milk or not for each session of breastfeeding.
To know that, parents can monitor the weight of the baby. In the first three days, baby will lose about 7% of weight after birth and gain 35 grams daily thereafter in the first week.
In the second week to 2 months old, the baby is expected to gain weight by 170 gram every week. The increase in weight will drop to 120g to 160g per week in the 2 months to 6 months. The number will drop further to about 80 when the baby is between 6 months to 12 months old.
Please refer to how often to breastfeed for more information.
