How do you know when your breast is 'empty'?

I keep hearing from midwives/CHNs etc about feeding on one-side until your breast is 'empty' before moving onto the other breast in a feed....

How do you know when your breast is 'empty'? I know that sounds like a funny question but I have no idea. I tend to feed Maddy until she stops suckling or goes off to sleep, then I change her and attempt to put her on the other breast.

I don't think it's a funny question; it can be really hard to tell! For me, I figure if Tamsin is sucking but not swallowing then it's probably empty. I find my breast goes really soft too.

It isn't a silly question, you have never done this before. In the early days I wanted see through breasts so I could know if I was empty. I was even a bit jealous of the girls who bottlefed because they knew exactly what their baby had drunk.

You are never completely empty but you do have a lot less milk which you can tell from having soft breasts. As you suspected, your baby knows when it has had enough. She will stop eating when you are empty.

I always found watching for the swallowing was difficult. I couldn't tell if she was or not.

Hi Beckibee

You can not tell if your breast is empty apart from your baby stops sucking. But you dont worry about that, what you are doing now is what I advise mum's to do.