Forum home Babies Baby

How often do you breastfeed?

Hi, just wanted to compare notes and find how often your lo's feed? Angelo is 13 weeks and I normally feed him approx every 3 hours during the day but he only feeds for a short time but wakes a couple of times in the night and feeds for ( what seems like) and eternity. I'm thinking maybe if I fed him less frequently during the day he might have longer feeds and not need as much at night?? Who knows!?
Would love to hear what do the rest of you do?xx

Replies

  • my l/o is 6 weeks i feed about every 4 hours but from tea time until she settles at 10 she feeds loads but then she goes from 10 til 8.30 with only one feed at 4 which is the worlds quickest feed. r u sure he is really feeding for the whole time hes latched on during the night. my first baby just wanted to suck i ended up giving him a dummy to see if he would settle when i thought i should take him off and it worked. so he was just doing it for comfort. i know of people who feed every 2 hours so it could always be worse.
  • Hi Missymoo

    Spencer is 18 weeks old and still feeds every 3 hours during the day. He feeds for anything between 20mins & 35mins. At night he doesn't really have a set waking time, for example; last night he went to be at 7pm but then woke at 10:30pm for a feed, he then slept through 'til 7am but the night before he went to bed at 7pm and woke at 3:40am for a feed, then slept through 'til 7am.

    It doesn't seem to make a difference what I do before he goes to bed, he just wakes when he's hungry.

    Hope some of that is helpful x
  • Hi missymoo
    Kade is 11 weeks and feeds like your lo in the day at every 3hrs but luckily over the past 5 days he has been going to bed at 7.30pm and not waking for his next feed until 7.30am......yay!!
    I don't really give him a choice when to feed in the day as if I did it would mess the times up for his last feed at 7.30pm but the hv said he wouldn't take the feed if he didn't want it.
    Each feed lasts for about 10mins or so I think or sometimes longer when he's just comfort sucking.
    What time is Angelo's last feed at night? I've never tried waking Kade for a dream feed at 10.30/11pm but maybe that would be worth a try??

    Good luck
    xx
  • Hi, thanks for your replies. Must say, I'm a slightly jealous of your lo's nighttime activity (or lack of)! When Angelo wakes in the night he does feed on and off but I have to keep nudging him as he's sleepy, if I try to take him off he just starts sucking again, but there's definitely swallowing.

    Loui4, Angelo's bedtime feed is at 6.30 so I can get him to bed for 7pm, then he has a dreamfeed at 11ish. But then he's usually up again at 2-3 and then 5.30. Some times he will go back to sleep for a bit but most of the time he seems ready to get up. During the day he usually only feeds for around 5 minutes up to a max of 10.
    Thanks again xx
  • Pixie_woo, glad to hear Spencer is doing well with his sleeping. You must feel much better now. xx
  • hi my archie is 24 weeks and he feeds 3-4 hourly even with having solids. during the night he normally feeds once at 4.30ish but the last 3 nights he has woken every hour from midnight time to feed so i think he is going through a growth spurt at the moment. but he loves his milk.xxx
  • Hi - Violet is 13 weeks, she feeds roughly every 3-4 hours during the day, sometimes longer, she feeds for about 30mins each time. She has her last feed anytime between 9-10pm, wakes between 5-6am and the day starts again!!
    Sam xx
  • hi Abby is 9 weeks feeds every 2to3 hours in the day for about 10 min each side i am supplimenting her on her bed time feed at 8pm with 4 oz formula as she is a big baby at 14lb and 5 oz (weighed today) she usually wakes at 3 then 7 and is up then but has a lot of sleep during the day so we are working on getting her body clock turned round as she thinks day is night!!!
    fea x
  • Hello,

    I just wondered if any of you could answer a question for me?! I am due to give birth any day now (WAS due last Sat!) and I am very keen to breastfeed. I have read that in the first few days its a good idea to feed baby from one breast for 5 minutes and then swap to the other breast for 5 minutes and to increase the time by a few minutes every day. Does this mean (or sound correct) that baby feeds for about 10 mins at a time for each feed for the first few days! It doesn't sound very long?! Would any of you mind telling me how long baby fed for in the first few days, i.e. from day one! and if you alternated breasts?

    Many thanks! :\?

    Bonnie
  • hi. what ever you do do not time the feeds on breast to breast, the best advice is to let your baby feed from your breast until he is satisfied and has drained it then the next time feed from the other breast. your breast will make more milk this way. in the first few days it is slightly different as you produce colostrum which comes in very tiny amounts so you may find your baby will feed more often to get what he needs. if baby is not happy after the first breast then offer the second breast. your milk will come in on day3-4 after birth. then you may find that baby will feed for longer to get what he needs and it is also his way of getting your breasts to produce more milk to meet his demands. it will all settle down though so don't feel that he isn't getting enough if he is feeding for an hour then still isn't happy jusy offer the other breast as well if this is the case. i have breast fed all 5 of my children and am still feeding no 5 he is 24 weeks.
    good luck and try to remember to persevere in the first few days because when your milk comes in you will feel the benefits. hope this helps.xxxx
  • Hello pen,

    Yes that did help, thank you very much. I will let baby feed on one breast until they are satisfied and as you said give the other breast first at the next feed. That makes sense and not to time feeds!

    Many thanks for your quick reply!

    Bonnie;\)
  • Hi Bonnie, I agree with Pen. Let baby finish one breast before offering the other. I think once your milk comes in this will ensure he/she is getting enough of the hind milk (the good fatty stuff) before they start on the other side. I used to time and write down Angelo's feeds until he was about a month but this was only so I get a rough idea of what he was doing. Good luck..not long now xx
    Pen, that growth spurt sounds horrendous!
Sign In or Register to comment.

Featured Discussions