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Knowing how often to nurse is both easy and difficult at the same time. I think the hardest part about it is listening to what others are telling you. Everywhere you go someone has something to say about it. Magazines tell you one thing. Nurses at the hospital tell you another. The pediatrician may say a completely different thing. On top of that you may have to deal with people telling to go ahead and give your child formula or supplement with it. This is especially true if you have a hard time with breastfeeding or even if your child just wants to nurse more often than someone thinks is normal. If that other person used formula themselves, well expect them to comment on your decision not too.

I was lucky with my daughter. From the beginning the nurses at the hospital supported both my decision to breastfeed exclusively and to breastfeed on demand. I had decided to do so both from research I had done beforehand and because, lets be honest, I'm not going to tell my child she can't eat if she's hungry because "it's not time yet". That being said I still had a few issues. My nurse kept telling me that she had to eat fifteen minutes on each side at each feeding, and if she fell asleep that she must be woken up to finish. My sweet daughter had other ideas. Switching sides not a good idea with her, I'd never get her back on. And if she fell asleep... there's no waking her up until she decides it's time to do so. At the same time she latched on right away and had no other feeding problems. I was lucky that way. After I got home I found something I'd read before about feeding twenty minutes on each side and if they fall asleep after switching then they are full. Start off on the second side next time... But still I worried for the two weeks until our next Dr's appointment.

Once again, very lucky. Our pediatrician is very supportive. She explained that it is OK if the baby doesn't eat as long as they were telling me to every time. As long as she is filling her diapers like she's supposed to, gaining weight and growing then all is good. We were fine on all counts. In fact breastfed babies usually lose weight at first (don't freak out if your Dr complains about it, is normal) and are just catching up at two weeks... but my daughter had gained two pounds!

It's been almost two months later now. We're still feeding on demand... which in our case is about every two hours, although sometimes every hour (!). Sometimes she eats ten minutes and decides that's enough, sometimes it's twenty or thirty. Right now I'm having a harder time telling when she just wants to suck and not really eat - I usually figure it out when she starts playing with me instead of really eating! It may sound like I'm nursing a lot, and sometimes it feels like it... But she's doing well and that's what is important.

So what it comes down to is listen to your child. Learn their cues - like licking lips, sucking on hands, etc. Feed them when they are hungry. Don't worry about how long it is or how often. Although you should pay attention so that you can answer their pediatrician's questions. And like I was told... As long as you have 5 to 8 wet diapers a day, one bowel movement a day (although that slows down as they get older, don't worry when that happens), are gaining weight well (after the initial drop), etc... You're doing fine. And remember, the more you nurse the more milk you make.

Learn more about this author, Kris Mery.
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