How Often and How Long to Feed

Breastmilk is the perfect source of nutrition for most babies. It provides all the nourishment your baby needs during the first six months and continues to be an important source of nutrition even after that.1

How long should a mother breastfeed?

• American Academy of Pediatrics
  • Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months.
  • Continued breastfeeding along with introducing appropriate complementary foods for 1 year or longer.
• World Health Organization
  • Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months.
  • Continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to 2 years of age or longer.

How often does the baby need to be breastfed?

Every baby is different. It's best to let your baby set the pace.

First few days:

In the first week, your baby may want to feed very often (as frequently as every 1-3 hours).3 Frequent feedings helps stimulate milk production and gives your baby practice at sucking and swallowing.3

First few weeks and months:

• The time between feedings will start to increase as your baby grows— Most infants who receive only breastmilk may require feeding every 2 to 4 hours.3
• Some babies may even cluster feed (frequent, small feeds within a short time); they often have a longer sleep interval of 4 to 5 hours. Cluster feeding is normal and happens in the early days of breastfeeding.3
• Depending on the time of day, some feeding sessions may be long, while others may be short. Do not worry its not a cause for concern.3
• Your baby may breastfeed about 8 to 12 times every 24 hours.3

Proactive or Cue-based Feeding

Demand feeding should be practised once lactation is established. It is important for you to know ‘Early Feeding Cues’ and ‘How to wake up a Sleepy Baby’ to practice cue-based feeding.6

Early Feeding Cues: Through their early feeding cues, your baby will tell you whenever they are hungry. Look for signs of readiness to feed or hunger, such as6^,

• Sucking on fists and fingers
• Soft cooing or sighing sounds
• Restlessness
• Sucking sounds
• Rapid eye movements
• Crying is a late feeding cue, and it may interfere with effective breastfeeding

Waking up a sleepy baby: New-born babies can be sleepy and not interested in feeding at times. As mentioned earlier, babies need to eat about every 2 to 4 hours. This means you may need to wake your baby to feed. You can try the following tips to wake your baby to feed: 3^,6

• Remove the baby’s blanket
• Remove the clothes
• Change the nappy if wet
• Gently massage the infant’s back, abdomen, arms and legs

It’s okay to breastfeed your baby at other times too, for example, if your breasts are beginning to feel full or you’re just about to go out.7