Nursing history

Last month, when she was six months old, Laurel nursed an average of 80 minutes a day. When Isaac was six months old, he nursed an average of 187 minutes a day. That's a 42% difference! Isaac nursed 3.1 hours a day; Laurel nursed 1.3 hours a day. To think of it another way, I spent over 20 hours a week nursing Isaac, while nursing Laurel occupied a mere nine hours a week.

Why the huge difference?

Isaac actually nursed fewer times per day than Laurel does, but each session lasted much, much longer. I encouraged this. When he was born I was paranoid about plugged milk ducts, so I pushed him to completely empty both breasts each time. (Ironically, by doing this I increased production to the extent that I actually did have occasional problems with plugged ducts.)

Laurel nurses more frequently than Isaac did (although, unlike Isaac, she only nurses during the day!), but each session is brief. She usually only nurses on one side at a time, and even when I think she should be ravenous, like after 11 hours of sleep, she only nurses for five to seven minutes. Then she is done -- don't even bother offering, she wants no more, thank you! She doesn't seem to want to nurse for comfort or for recreation; once she is no longer hungry, she stops.

Breast-feeding is affected not only by appetite, however, but also by sleep! When I nursed Isaac I would let him linger, making sure to nurse him solidly to sleep before I dared to try to set him down for naps and at night. Not only does Laurel not want to linger, I don't need to be so careful in the first place; while she also nurses to sleep, thankfully she stays asleep when she is set down.

And, of course, with Laurel I don't have the luxury of sitting around all day nursing a dozing baby -- I simply need to get up out of the chair and take care of Isaac.

Is the difference in the way they nursed due to choices they made, because of variations in their temperament? Or is the difference in nursing due to choices I imposed upon them, for my own convenience? More than this, I wonder what effect the difference in nursing will have on them -- naturally every child varies when it comes to independence, attachment, security, and so forth, but will more or less time spent breast-feeding make a difference?

Or does the only thing that matters is that both kids are having their needs met, as different as these needs might be?

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As a side note, I know some people find that breast-feeding helps them lose weight, but I think that with Isaac, my body actually held on to a few extra pounds to help it make all that milk. For me, less nursing has equaled more weight loss.