Breastfeeding Routine

How often was your BF baby eating ar this age?

My 3 month old is still eating every 2 hours like clockwork during the day. If I feed him at 8:00, he'll play for an hour or so and then nap and wake up hungry 2 hours later on the dot.

He goes to sleep for the night at 7:30/8:00 and then wakes to eat at around 12:00, 3:00, 5:00 and 6:45 and then wakes for the day at 8ish. This seems like a lot of feedings compared to what I'm reading from everyone else.

Any suggestions on how to get him to go a little longer between feedings?

Re: Breastfeeding Routine

Can you try stretching the daytime feedings to every 3 hours so that he gets a bit more in his belly each time, instead of just a "snack"? This might help him have more in his tummy right before bed which might help him sleep longer. The other thing is it could just be that he likes the comfort.

IMO 3 months is too young for CIO so you may not be able to eliminate those feedings yet, but as he gets a bit older he will probably naturally cut some of them out and sleep longer. My DD was sleeping from about 8-2 at that age and then up again around 6.

HTH!

Re: Breastfeeding Routine

DD eats every 2.5-3 hours during the day. At night she will usually go 8+ hours then eat and go right back down for another 3+.

She kinda got herself into this routine a while ago so i'm not really sure how to go about doing it, but do you have any pumped milk stored? I find sometimes that DD wants more than I can give her at night and i'll give her an extra 2 ounces of pumped milk from a bottle to fill her up. Maybe give that a try.

Re: Breastfeeding Routine

My daughter is 4 months and still on a similar schedule. She can go a bot longer. Unfortunately, when she wakes at night, I have been giving her the paci instead of feeding her. She might still wake up BUT she does go right back I'm thinking that if she was really hungry she would be wailing. A lot of babies just need comfort and the sucking motion.

Re: Breastfeeding Routine

Thanks for the suggestions! I try holding out a little bit longer between feedings, but he gets upset so I feed him. The rare times that he does go 3 hours between feedings, doesn't seem to make a difference, he still wants more 2 hours later.

My DH gives him a pumped bottle for one of the night time feedings on the weekends and he usually takes about 3 ounces. He still is up several hours later to eat again. I know he "can" go 5 hours without eating because he does sometimes for his first stretch of the night. I'm not even considering CIO for a very long time. I try soothing him back to sleep without feeding him but it usually doesn't work or if it does he wakes up 10 minutes later crying again.

Re: Breastfeeding Routine

Every baby is different but I have heard of other moms/babies having similar schedule to yours.

DS is 4 months today. I do not really keep track, just go with the flow but on average, his first feeding is around 6am after a diaper change. He'll barely wake up and will go back to sleep until about 8:30ish and then we snuggle/play for about 30 minutes before eating. I'd say he eats about every 2.5 to 3 hours and takes about a 30-40 minute nap almost every time after some play. And a good long nap in late afternoon. He gets a bath/book/boob at around 8pm every night (we do sometimes skip if we're out or too tired), jammies then we cozy on the couch for family tv time and he'll feed once more by 9pm and fall asleep. He goes in the crib for the night. 'Til 6am.

Now, he's not on a firm schedule so everything is subject to change depending on our day. If we do a lot of errands/car rides, he naps more and eats less often. Same if we play more, get more outside/stroller walk time. I find if I give him just a few extra minutes of my time, he'll give me more back in naps. Same goes for opposite... if I have lots of chores to do or am tired/don't feel good and give him less attention, he'll eat more often and nap less. And once in a while he'll have a growth spurt and feed 2 or 3 times through the night. Nothing is carved in stone.

Re: Breastfeeding Routine

I found that both my DD and my DS weren't nec hungry at night every time they woke...they were more just in need of sucking ...so I would offer the binkie and they would fall right back to sleep! At each wake up I would offer the paci and if it worked , it worked if they cried, I would feed...eventually I was cutting a feed out one by one...my DD "slept through the night" at about 3-4 mo (I now realize with DC#2 - this was amazing..lol) and my DS just started about a month or so ago...he is 9.5 mo

Re: Breastfeeding Routine

I always fed on demand. All babies are different. DS typically nursed every 3 hours from the beginning, but he also nursed for 45-60 minutes per session. Some babies eat more often than others. He started going even longer between feedings by 3-4 months. It will get better soon.

Re: Breastfeeding Routine

I think after I got through the first few weeks of BFing I stopped keeping track. When he cried, I stuck a b00b in his mouth.

I know he didn't start STTN until I moved him into his crib at 7 months. Before that we coslept.

Re: Breastfeeding Routine

Your schedule is similar to mine, but my baby is 5 weeks