How Long per Feeding?

Sometime babies take awhile to get into their groove with breastfeeding. You may want to consult with a lactation consultant to make sure that she is latching properly. Basically, you should feed her until she naturally latches off, which means she's had enough. But if she's constantly on and off, or falling asleep during feedings, a lactation consultant can help you troubleshoot so you can get her eating more effectively. For the first few months it really does seem like all you do is breastfeed, but their stomachs are tiny at this stage and breastmilk is really easy to digest, so it's normal that they be hungry and eat every 2-3 hours until they start being able to eat more at a feeding. My son is 10 months old, and he's got it down to a science. Sometimes he's done in 5 or 10 minutes! But, it wasn't always this way, and I had a great lactation consultant that came and did a home visit and helped me find the best position to feed in, assessed his latch, and weighed him to assess his intake. The La Leche League website has a lot of interesting and insightful reading about all sorts of breastfeeding related concerns, you should definitely check it out. Contact your OB and ask if they have a lactation consultant on staff, or if they can refer you to a good one in your area. La Leche League is another great resource to find one as well. Good luck, you're doing a great job! Stick with it!

Sounds like she might be using you as a pacifier. :D Does she fall asleep when nursing? Are her sucks strong and constant? Can you tell if she's swallowing? Generally speaking, she should be nursing for about 30 minutes at a time; 15 mins on each side. My girls were both snackers, so they would do about 10 minutes on one side and then be done for awhile. That took a couple of months to get over. Then they started nursing for longer periods of time. I would let her nurse for about 10 minutes, burp her and nurse her for another 10 minutes on the other side. After that, try a pacifier and see if that works.
Some babies just really have a strong suck reflex. My youngest did. She would nurse literally for hours if I would let her! We started the pacifier (Soothie brand) and it worked really well, until she found her thumb! :)

I used to joke that my middle child "nursed for an hour every hour". It verys per child and per age. It will get better as she gets older.

when my son was that old I started limiting him to 30 min feedings. 10min on side 1, 10 min on side 2, 5 min on side 1 then another 5 min on side 2. I had terrible sore nipples so this helped with them. There was of course burping and possibly a diaper change in all there too, so in all the feeding usually lasted 45min-1 hour. Also I was feeding him about every 2 hours start to start until about 8-9 weeks.

totally normal for a new born :) actually it sounds like you are doing everything right because you are listing to your babies needs and feeding on demand. This won't last forever....both my babies did this at the beginning but as they got older the feeding were less and would usually last only 15 min. Then once they get even older like 10 months or so the nursings are like 5 min. tops. So just try to hang in there you won't be nursing that baby round the clock forever :)

my baby is 5 weeks old too. he nurses 10-20 minutes at a time about every 2 hours.

Hour-long feedings are normal for a newborn. But rest assured, they will get shorter. I now have a 6 1/2 month old son. He nurses for about 15-20 minutes 5 times a day. And he sleeps through the night. But in the beginning, he nursed for easily an hour at a time.

Whatever you do, make sure one breast is totally empty before switching to the other side. When my son was a newborn, he would always empty one, then maybe nurse the other side for a few minutes, but usually just nursed the one side. The foremilk that comes out first is waterier and is designed for thirst, and the hindmilk that comes out after is fattier and designed to fill the belly (and is needed for brain development). If you switch breasts before the first is empty, your little one is lacking the important nutrients in the hindmilk.

Make sure your daughter is sucking and swallowing the entire time. If she drifts off to sleep, wake her by rubbing a cool washcloth on her cheek to rouse her. My son used to use me as a pacifier, which was okay with me since I did not want him using one (so I wouldn't have to break him of it later), and he never did. It lasted maybe two or three months - tops. Then he learned to be more effecient at emptying my breasts.