My baby is breastfed, but this question applies to anyone with an infant! How often do you offer/feed your infant? Still every 2-3 hours during the day?
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She was BF until 5 months and FF after and I just offered whenever she seemed fussy and before/after naps. She liked to graze basically and was that way until maybe about 8 months when she started eating a lot more solids.
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I did about every 3 hours approx but it was formula/breastmilk. The hospital put her on a schedule and we kept it!
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Well we're having issues, obviously. But before all this nonsense started I fed her about every 3(ish) hours. Although sometimes she'd take a long nap and it would be 4 hrs and she'd wake up hungry but not too upset about it-- she'd just eat more.
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Okay cool. I sometimes offer it every 2 hours and she never eats that much so maybe I should do every 3-3.5 hours and I will get better results! Her naps are so short though and I hate to send her for a nap without milk in her tummy!
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I read his cues and feed as needed rather than on a schedule. During the day, it is as short as every 2 hours and as long as about 3.5 between feedings. He is 10 weeks.
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I think it changes as the infant grows. Very early on, mine ate 12 times a day, then around 2 months was eating 8 times a day, she is 4 months and eats 7-8 times a day (4 month sleep regression adds the 8th, or 9th :/).
She eats at least twice overnight, and eats 5 times from 8am-8pm. 3 hours typically between feedings at 4 months during the day, 2-3 hours between in the evening.
I don't follow a schedule, but my baby mostly put herself on one. I just followed her leads, and around 2 months I wrote down everytime I fed her and noticed her own pattern.
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We EBF and he eats 5x a day (no MOTN feedings). He's been on this general schedule for about 3 /4 weeks now (he's 5 months). I always feed him another time if he seems like he needs it though.
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I also feed on demand and it ends up being roughly every 2.5-3 hours, but every day seems to be different.
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I am feeding on demand, but she never really seems to demand it! The only time she really fusses to eat is in the MOTN.
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It never stopped. Lol but seriously she was a cluster feeder and took forever. I felt like I nursed her round the clock.
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@ellewoods84: I think our LOs are the same age? My twins are 14.5 weeks. I try to do EASY so our feeding schedule depends on whether they go down for a nap and how long the nap is. Usually 1.5 hrs after the beginning of their last feeding they start to get fussy, chewing on hands, etc. I try to stretch it out to 1 hr 45 min or even 2 hours. If they take a REALLY good nap (1 hr+) we might make it to 2 hr 45 min. Very rarely do they go 3 hours between feedings during the day. I REALLY want to start stretching this out because I know they can go longer (they do at night) but I think we are just stuck in the habit of eating every 1.5 hours! Mine are breastfed and supplemented with formula after each feeding.
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@twodoghouse: yeah my daughter is 15 weeks! I try to stick to easy also, but her naps are so short (30-45 min) that sometimes it hasn't even been 2 hours since she last ate and if I offer, she is sooo not hungry! And she always chews on her hands these days so it is not a good hunger cue for her, lol. I guess I just wondered how often other 3 month olds are eating. Because she rarely fusses for food!
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@ellewoods84: Ugh, I feel like all mine do is fuss for food, but maybe I am misreading their cues. Mine usually have short naps (when they actually nap) and I always feed them when they wake from a nap and they almost always eat voraciously. I think our problem is also that I have low supply so I supplement with formula and sometimes I think the qty of formula is too much, sometimes too little. So I think they are sometimes legitimately hungry every hour! But when I offer more formula they always drink it all and then scream and spit up like waterfalls. So I'm not totally sure what to do. It's a source of constant stress for me!
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@ellewoods84: c fell into a roughly every 3 hours (start to start) schedule on her own early on. I fed on demand but knowing it usually was about 3 hours helped me figure out when the fussing was for food, vs tired, vs I have no idea but here's a boob please make that fix it. We did every three hours for a loooong time.
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My LO was EBF and she ate roughly every two hours for months but she has always been a booby baby and a spitter so frequent feeds worked better for both of us!
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When Fia started sleeping well through the night and only waking up once to eat I got really stressed out because everything I read said babies should eat 8-12 times/day even at 2 months (where we were then) so I would try to make her eat every 2 hours during the day (give or take) to get in more feeds because she was only wanting to eat 6 times/day. Also the LC I was seeing told me she should be eating 28-30 oz/day and she was only eating about 24 most days. Then at her 2 month appointment I asked her doc if I needed to actually feed her that often and she said definitely not-- just feed her when she wants to be fed and as long as she was happy and had wet diapers don't worry so much about the amount of times or the number of oz. She said 24-32 is normal but if she has some days she eats a little less it's okay as long as she's happy and has the diapers. So I eased up and just fed her when she wanted (which was every 3-3.5 hours) and she immediately was happier and started eating more every feed! So she actually upped her ounces to 26-29/day at that point only eating 6 times/day or even sometimes 5 times/day.
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@Foodnerd81: lol, yeah, that is kind of why I wanted to know a time frame. When she fusses I always offer the boob, but she isn't always interested!
@Mae: that sounds good to me! I think she eats better when it is a bit longer. When I offer too early, she only eats for such a short amount of time. -
On demand. Pretty much every 3 hours, though he cluster feeds before bed and will then go for a longer stretch.
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I do the terrible thing and nurse to sleep so she eats about 5 times a day, 6am, 10ish, 2ish, 6ish and then when she goes to bed at 9. It works for us for now. She is 5 months and BEEFY.
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