Forum home Babies Breast & bottle feeding

On Demand Breast Feeding???

Im due in three weeks and am hoping to breat feed. My mum is driving me nuts by telling me to not feed on demand but to schedule it to every four hours which shounds bloody daft to me. Is it the thing to feed on demand or a set time period?

Any advice greatly appreciated

Replies

  • You should feed on demand for the first few weeks at least. It's hard - especially through the night, but it is really what the baby needs at this age. Many people continue to feed on demand for months after, but once Lily was 6 weeks old I started to introduce a routine with feeding every 3 hours then on demand through the night (luckily this was only once or twice). By 6-8 weeks many babies have fallen into a semi-routine so you can just build on that and see what's best for you both. Lily thrived on routine and was much more settled and even now (she's 7 months) she is much more settled with routine, but every baby is different and you'll juts have to see how it goes.
    If you're breast feeding, 4 hours between feeds is quite a long time. The 4-hourly routine's were originally aimed at formula fed babies. Breast milk is more easily digested than formula and so you may need to feed more regularly e.g. every 3 hours. Good luck.
  • That makes alot more sence. Thanks for the info. Your littlin by the way is so cute, shes gergeous.
  • Yeah I would say 4 hours between feeds is too long unless your baby is asleep of course. our midwives here and health visitors say demand feed even with bottle fed babies. new babies may need to feed every couple of hours and with breast milk this is more likely.

    my lo fed between every 2 to 4 hours for the first few weeks and he settled into a pretty good bedtime routine only waking once or twice in the night. i found that the more i fed him in the day on demand the less he needed at night.

    my friend's lo fed every 2 hours day and night for the first 5 weeks then slept through the night since then a full 12 hours

    you really will have to see what your baby needs and it's not really fair to make them wait for food if they're hungry
  • Hi 4 hours between feeds for a newborn is definately too long. As well as lo needing more than that you need to establish a good milk supply if you want to keep breastfeeding. A lot of women stop because they feel they haven't got enough milk and a lot of the time this is because they haven't fed often enough at the start, baby isn't latched on properly and they are not offering both sides each feed.
    If you have loads of milk this may not be a problem but unless you have breastfed before you won't know. I have bf all 3 of mine and have to work at building my supply up in the early days (all 3 have taken over 4 weeks to regain their birth weight). I fed this lo every 2 hours for the first few weeks during the day and am still feeding her at 14 months. 2 hourly probably sounds like a big commitment and is quite tiring but bf is fab and as babycakes said, you will eventually get into your own routine. It takes 6 weeks to get your milk supply properly established. Good Luck xx
  • Just try telling a screaming, hungry baby that dinner time isn't for another hour!
    As everyone else has said, demand feeding is the best way to go, and after a few weeks baby will settle into a routine. My lo used to go 3 hours between feeds. We gave him a bottle of formula at night though, as that was the only way to keep him going a little longer so that we could get some sleep, but they're all different.
    Let your baby tell you what he needs and you'll be fine.
    Good luck, bf is fab as everyone else has said - best thing in the world.
    xx
  • Definately on demand. Poor things making them wait for 4 hours!!
    I have been feeding my daughter for 9 weeks ..on demand and yes at times ( growth spurts at 2 and 6 weeks) it has been nearly every hour!

    But now she is still fed on demand and it can be 1 hour or 2 or 3...depends. However, mostly it is every 2 and half hours during the day and a bit longer if we are out in the pram. But she is now sleeping for about 7 hours at a time on a night time.
    I manage to go out, do the school run etc and baby led feeding has fit into my routine. She started the bedtime routine herself.
    Alot of people try to force routines on babies but some just find their own.

    Amanda
Sign In or Register to comment.

Featured Discussions