Hellobee Boards

Feeding on demand means exactly that, even if baby wants to eat near constantly. I was still kinda shocked that our daughter sometimes wants to eat again 15 min after we're done, and yes feedings can last 45 minutes. Most of the time though we have about an hour and a half from end of last feeding to beginning of next. I usually check/change diapers before every feeding so I don't have to wake her if she falls asleep after eating. It's crazy but it doesn't last forever or so I'm told!

Eta: if she cries we check diaper, feed and if those don't work we sing, dance, swaddle, bounce around like crazy people

Every baby is definitely different. For the first few weeks it felt like I was either breastfeeding or pumping all the time. Our doctor said to offer the breast every three hours (from the start of feeding, not the end) and four hours at night. But that didn't last too long, and they really do speed up at drinking when they get a bit older and their mouths get bigger and they get more efficient.

We used to try and do a nappy change as soon as she woke up, then feed, then play, then sleep. Now I tend to do nappies after feeding because feeding usually gets her 'moving' : )

We started off changing diapers before feeding but he would scream his head off. It was awful, especially in the middle of the night! But it does work for some people so you'll have to see what your LO is like.

Also watch this about understanding newborns' cries. It was helpful for us to recognize that he wasn't hungry every time he cried; sometimes he just needed to be burped or put to sleep:

DS is currently 2.5 weeks old so this is what I've been doing...

For the first couple of weeks/first month, I'm following DS's lead by letting him sleep whenever and feed whenever. It's important to feed on demand to establish milk supply too.

Newborns are super sleepy the first couple weeks so right after a feed he usually falls asleep. I don't want to wake him with a diaper change, so I usually change his diapers right before a feed, feed him, then let him sleep until he wakes up again. He naturally fell into his own routine and seems to wake up naturally to eat every two hours.

However, this is going to soon change and I will soon put him on an E.A.S.Y. routine (from The Baby Whisperer). E = eat, A = activity/play, S = sleep, Y = you, in that order. This means instead of having him fall asleep right after a feed, I'm going to try to keep my sleepy baby up. So I'll likely start changing his diapers AFTER a feed, keep him up for a little bit, then put him down to sleep. I'm doing this because I don't want to have him associate sleep and eat.

I did this with my first and it worked out well.

@Mrs. High Heels: It's the best right? My husband made fun of it because the babies in the video have these perfect, enunciated cries and our LO's weren't near as "textbook." But still it was pretty useful... better than nothing for a couple of clueless first-time parents, at least!

@Mrs. Wagon: I love how you put it - like studying for finals. It definitely had that "in it together" feel for me too. DH and I also always got up together, and I think that made it a lot more fun and took away any loneliness there could have been in the middle of the night.

@Cherrybee: Don't worry about the lack of order right in the beginning - you'll be able to start your LO on a schedule before you know it, and then it becomes quite satisfying for people who like organization. I always get excited when a day goes pretty much according to my "ideal" schedule for the LO (and I try not to get too frustrated when it doesn't).

Subscribing to this- @Cherrybee: so glad you posted this cuz I feel the same way!!

Commenting to subscribe! Helpful info here!

@Cherrybee: they are awake for a little bit each cycle. And everyone loves holding a sleeping newborn.

@Cherrybee: lol. Basically they don't form habits for the first 3-4 months. And if they do "wake" when your visitors hand off, usually a spot of nursing will get them right back to dreamland.

And trust me, there will be times when your LO will refuse to sleep anywhere but your arms, best efforts be damned.

@Cherrybee: another excellent question!! Basically visitors will have to wait to hold the baby (and expect the baby to be taken away from them) so the baby can eat. Otherwise you can let them hold the baby while the baby sleeps during the day. In the beginning especially, they will do nothing but eat and sleep. VERY little awake time. If you have visitors who expect to be able to hold the baby for hours at a time, you might want to warn them that it won't be possible because the baby needs to eat and be changed regularly!

In the beginning, you can try to get them used to sleeping on a flat surface, but if you want to accommodate for visitors that might not be very possible. Basically you have to decide what your priority is. Honestly you can't spoil a newborn and they can't really get "used" to anything until they're at least 6 or 8 weeks old so in the very beginning you can just let people hold them while they sleep.

I also loved control, until I had kids. It did help me that my LC told me to expect the babies to feed constantly from 7pm-11pm. She said just pick a movie to watch early in the day, get a snack, a few bottles of water and the remote and settle in for feeding time. I nick named that time feeding time at the zoo! She also told me to expect the babies best sleep to be from 7am-12n and not plan to do anything during that time. If anyone wanted to visit, I needed to go out, or the babies needed a Dr. appointment to schedule it after 1pm and before 7pm. Just knowing that really helped, even if it didn't always happen. Outside of those times, I had to just be comfortable to go with the flow. I hope this helps you! I would pay attention (don't keep track of things, it will drive you nuts) over the course of 5 days to see if any of this would apply.

@mrs. wagon: @Cherrybee: I LOVED baby connect so much!

@Cherrybee: they have a web app! Just go to their website!

hahahahaha! This post cracks me up!!

Tell me about it! I went through the whole newborn / baby / breastfeeding stage, and I am still clueless how does it actually work!!

So yes, basically when your baby was a newborn, you feed him whenever he cries and shows signs of hunger (fist to mouth, smacking lips..etc.) and it does take forever for him to finish. Then you wind him for 10 minutes (or worse case he cries cuz of colic / acid reflux for 20-30 minutes), then after the change and all, you put him down for 20 minutes, and it is allover again!

I thought it got more confusing when he passed the newborn stage. When he grows a bit (3+ months) and you start nailing down a schedule that works, it is more confusing when things change. For example, the baby starts staying up for longer periods of time. He went down on his nap when he was supposed to be breastfeeding. And people say don't wake them and let them sleep up to 2 hours for naps. And there are times like this that there would be 4 hours that the baby hasn't eaten, your breasts engorged, and you just wonder what am I going to do? Is he going to be ok when all books say he supposed to be eating every 2-3 hours? That was so confusing. We passed that stage, and I am still confused!

@Cherrybee: i was kind of a monster about not letting LO fall asleep in visitors' arms because, like you, i didn't want to get in the habit. i know babies don't form habits that early, so i could have been more lax about this at the beginning, but i just kept remembering my pediatrician saying that while babies don't form habits during the first few months, adults do. and how are you supposed to tell when you hit the magic time where habits do form? is it a day? an hour? a week? i saw how much my husband was liking LO to fall asleep on him, and i put my foot down about stopping it early. i know, i was pretty anal.

as for visitors, i made clear that when i thought he was ready for sleep, away he goes. my parents and MIL were generally respectful of that. i said things like "let me know when he yawns because then i'm going to put him to bed" so they knew it was coming. like i said, i could have been more relaxed about this, especially with visitors who were only coming for a one-time or occasional visit (as opposed to my parents who live nearby or my husband), but i don't regret what i did either.

ditto mrs. wagon re: baby connect!