How often should 7-week-old be nursing?

[JFTB1177]

I can't remember how often my last baby nursed at this age, but my now 7-week-old wants to nurse all the time. Everything I've read online says BF babies at this age nurse on average every 3-4 hours, and sometimes that's the case, but most of the time he'll nurse every 2 hours. We do BF on demand, so I'm okay with it, but he also is still nursing a lot through the night and I'm wondering when he'll get a longer stretch of sleep (btw he sleeps with me in my bed some of the night, and in his swing the rest of the time... he has bad reflux so doesn't like to be flat but will be if he's next to me)?

[PatioGardener]

Mine nursed every 90 minutes at that age.

[JFTB1177]

Thanks! :) Yes sometimes it is 90 and even 60 minutes!!! It is exhausting but I love it at the same time, kwim? I just always wonder what's *normal* and what isn't.

[PatioGardener]

Oh totally normal! Whenever I found myself saying "you can't possibly be hungry, I just fed you!" I realized that I just needed to put him to the breast, because he needed it, whether I thought he was hungry or not!

Now at 11 months he is often too busy to nurse much during the day - it does change as they age! :)

[Llyra]

The usual guideline for babies under about three months old (newborns) is AT LEAST eight to twelve times a day. Which you can see right away is way more than every 3 to 4 hours. Those estimates are based on the outdated information about the patterns of bottlefed babies (who also, incidentally, usually need to eat way more often at this age). There is no reason to restrict how often babies nurse. My kids at this age varied a lot, but tended to want to nurse about 14 times in 24 hours.

You can't go wrong, if you follow baby's cues. As long as baby is growing, and thriving, and wetting and pooping plenty, then you are doing just exactly right!

In my experience, some babies continue to want to nurse very often, through the whole first year. Others seem to ease back around four months, when the sleep patterns start to become more predictable, and regular naps appear. My favorite way to handle the night nursing has been to sleep topless, with baby next to me, so that I can sleep through baby's feedings. With a little practice, especially as baby's head control emerges, it can become very easy to sleep through most of it. Some mamas do find that baby sleeps longer stretches this way. Other mamas find that putting a little space between themselves and baby helps baby sleep better. But I wouldn't even try for longer stretches at this age--- that frequent night nursing is what builds your long-term supply of milk, and is biologically normal for human infants. It's the 4-hour bottle schedules that were unnatural and "not normal."

So give yourself a pat on the back, because it sounds like you're doing just exactly right!

http://www.llli.org/faq/frequency.html

[Megan73]

My seven-week-old  nurses at least eight times a day - and several will be marathon sessions, including about two solid hours in the evening. I would worry he wasn't getting enough because I've battled low supply but he's gaining amazingly so I think it's normal!