How often do you nurse during the day?

[Alpaca Wacka]

As I laid in bed last night, nursing Katie before putting her "down" (really this means putting her in her swing) to bed, I tried to count up the number of times I'd nursed during the day. From the time I got up at 7am until 10pm I'd had her at the breast 11 times. Now, actually, I don't find her nursing to be too much of a pain in the butt, but counting it up, it seems like a LOT. Granted, yesterday we were trying to keep away from the pacifier, so it was a bit more than we usually do.. but what IS normal, anyway?

How much does your LO nurse during the day? Does this include or exclude pacifer use?

[sparkly]

About every 2 hours from 6 a.m until 10 p.m., with a couple smaller feedings every hour. There's more "visiting" the nipples than I care for, from about 4 p.m. to 10 p.m...he seems to like to just check in with them and hang out for awhile, and do some pretend sucking. Then he wakes up two times at night (sometimes 3). So yikes, that means about 12+ times a day!

We aren't using a pacifier (tried to for diaper changes, since he screams, but he doesn't like it), but there's a lot of pinkie finger sucking, especially in the evenings.

[ORLY?]

It really depends on the day ... or should I say Caleb- it depends on Caleb.
Every two hours, typically. Sometimes he hangs out on the boob from 1-3 pm, 3-5 pm, 1-3 am or 3-5 am. One of those slices of time.
12 is a good round number. More or less.

[ChristyH]

The past 2 days Elizabeth has been nursing almost constantly! She is on the breast at least every hour to hour and a half, I would say yesterday she was nuring at least 15 times!! I swear my nipples are going to fall off, they don't hurt but that much nursing is making them a tiny bit sore from the constant sucking. She only gets a paci if Daddy is holding her because I'm in the bathroom or shower, if I have her she won't take it because she knows I have the boobies. I take it she is going through a growth spurt from what I read that happens around day 7.
She does sleep great at night - from about 11pm to 3am, wakes to nurse and then goes right back to sleep and sleeps till 7am. We are co-sleeping so she's easy to feed at night and she barely wakes up.

[ishereal]

Originally Posted by ChristyH

The past 2 days Elizabeth has been nursing almost constantly! She is on the breast at least every hour to hour and a half, I would say yesterday she was nuring at least 15 times!! I swear my nipples are going to fall off, they don't hurt but that much nursing is making them a tiny bit sore from the constant sucking. She only gets a paci if Daddy is holding her because I'm in the bathroom or shower, if I have her she won't take it because she knows I have the boobies. I take it she is going through a growth spurt from what I read that happens around day 7.
She does sleep great at night - from about 11pm to 3am, wakes to nurse and then goes right back to sleep and sleeps till 7am. We are co-sleeping so she's easy to feed at night and she barely wakes up.

yeah my LO nurses constantly. I lose count !!!

[Ironica]

I was never able to count with Donovan, and I can't count with this one either. I mean, if I nurse him for 20 minutes on one side, hand him to Daddy for 10 minutes while I go to the bathroom or eat or something, then take him back for the other side... is that once or twice? ;-)

One thing that made me feel better, in retrospect, about how often Donovan wanted to nurse was the book "Our Babies, Ourselves" by Meredith Small. It's an ethnopediatric cross-cultural comparison of baby care practices and how they interact with infant and child health and development. She mentions in there that the !Kung San people (a much-studied tribe in the Kalahari desert) teach their newborns how to find the nipple on their own, put them in a sling, and then the babies nurse on average every 13 MINUTES. So, if they had their choice, that's what they'd do, apparently. Suddenly every 90 minutes doesn't seem like so much!

[amaayeh]

Originally Posted by Ironica

I was never able to count with Donovan, and I can't count with this one either. I mean, if I nurse him for 20 minutes on one side, hand him to Daddy for 10 minutes while I go to the bathroom or eat or something, then take him back for the other side... is that once or twice? ;-)

:

Once L learned that milk came out and I wasn't just trying to irritate her by waking her, it's been constant. I really don't mind, though, because she cluster feeds two to three times a day and then goes a little over 4 hours at night...not bad for a one week old! I think dd1 was 1 year old before she went that long!!!

[BensMom]

I actually dont even know how to answer this question when my MW and the ped asks. Like others, tehre are times when I will pretty much nurse her nonstop for 90 mins (with a few breaks in between) and then she will sleep for 3 hrs. And the past 2 nights, she has had a nursing marathon from 5p-10p. And then she will sleep for 3 hrs stretches at night, maybe even more, but I have been waking myself b/c of the full breasts.

So I really have no idea. I nurse her when she fusses and roots. How's that? lol

[ericaz]

No idea...I'm too tired to even think about it, lol.
Today and yesterday Graeme slept quite a bit during the day but when he's up he usually wants to be on the boob.

He does a lot of cluster nursing - one boob, then the other, the other again, and then the right one, on and on and on until he's satisfied or falls asleep. It's a good thing I'm lazy and wholeheartedly enjoy lying on the couch.

[KariM]

It really varies a LOT. Some days Meghan will sleep for 2-3 hours at a stretch and other days she's waking up about every hour. We usually nurse every time she wakes up during the day (and the same at night, too).

I'd guess that we easily nurse about 10-12 times on her more wakeful days and less on her sleepier days.

With my DS I KNOW I nursed him at least 12 times during daytime hours because he nursed every hour and had short cat naps during the first month.

[celestialdreamer]

I'm completely pulling these numbers out of my rear as I don't watch the clock and lose track of time anyway I think he nurses about every 2-3 hrs most of the day and pretty much nonstop from 5p-10pm (3 really long sessions I think?), then wakes up 2-3 times a night to nurse. This seems almost the same as ds1 which is a good thing as he was a really easy young baby (don't get me started on the toddler part though). I'm guessing 10-12 times a day

We don't use pacifiers and my kids have all hated sucking on fingers. My first baby nursed every 1 -1.5hrs round the clock (and took a long time at each feeding) so really the 10-12 times a day seems great to me.

As long as I'm getting some decent sleep (which I am) then I don't mind. Evenings are a bit frustrating though as I have to get up to prep food or eat REALLY fast when he doses off. I remember alot of crockpot meals when my other son was born and plan to do the same this time. I usually just plan that my evening spot is on the sofa with a glass of water because of the cluster feeding It is a small price to pay for a baby that will sleep in nice stretches at night!

[Jennisee]

I'm not sure. Some days, every 2-3 hours. Some days, hourly. If he takes a nap in DH's arms, he may go 3 hours without nursing, whereas in the evenings, he often cluster feeds every 20-30 minutes. And I definitely have no idea at night because I just latch him on without even completely waking up. Nope, no pacifier.

When DD was a baby, I tried to keep track so I could answer the questions at the doctor's office, but it just stressed me out. Now I just tell them, "Every 1-3 hours. Just whenever he wants."

[~ATenthMuse~]

Originally Posted by celestialdreamer

I'm completely pulling these numbers out of my rear as I don't watch the clock and lose track of time anyway I think he nurses about every 2-3 hrs most of the day and pretty much nonstop from 5p-10pm (3 really long sessions I think?), then wakes up 2-3 times a night to nurse. This seems almost the same as ds1 which is a good thing as he was a really easy young baby (don't get me started on the toddler part though). I'm guessing 10-12 times a day

We don't use pacifiers and my kids have all hated sucking on fingers. My first baby nursed every 1 -1.5hrs round the clock (and took a long time at each feeding) so really the 10-12 times a day seems great to me.

That sounds about right, but I'm not entirely sure... Constantly, sounds better.

I'm thinking that since he came out weighing so much, he's trying extra hard to hold onto every single ounce of it and is really doing a good job of it! I'm sure he's only doing what he needs to.

Dd nursed every 1-1.5 hours, too. Now, that was something! Every evening, from 5-9, was spent just nursing.

[chely7425]

Like all the time?? He takes 2 long naps during the day (like 3 hours) and other than that he is usually nursing. He does sleep for two 4 hour stretches at night too...

[GardenStream]

I would guess Mason is nursing about 7 or 8 times a day. I would love for him to nurse more, but he seems more interested in sleeping. He is also sleeping in two 4 hours stretches at night, so there is another feeding in there.

I am tandem nursing, so maybe that is making a difference. Mason has never even come close to emptying even one side. He seems to be gaining weight, so I'm not terribly worried about it.

[treehuggermama]

When he is awake he nurses anywhere from every 1-2 hours to constant in the evenings (he just likes to "hang out" to settle himself). His "bedtime" is between 8-9 and he will then sleep 4-5 hours then we nurse all night.

[ltk]

Originally Posted by ChristyH

The past 2 days Elizabeth has been nursing almost constantly! She is on the breast at least every hour to hour and a half, I would say yesterday she was nuring at least 15 times!! I swear my nipples are going to fall off, they don't hurt but that much nursing is making them a tiny bit sore from the constant sucking. She only gets a paci if Daddy is holding her because I'm in the bathroom or shower, if I have her she won't take it because she knows I have the boobies. I take it she is going through a growth spurt from what I read that happens around day 7.
She does sleep great at night - from about 11pm to 3am, wakes to nurse and then goes right back to sleep and sleeps till 7am. We are co-sleeping so she's easy to feed at night and she barely wakes up.

My girl is just the same. I endearingly call her the pirana! I don't think I can even count....lot's of cluster feeding from 6pm-12am and then eats 1-2 times at night (co-sleeping). I do hope I can reduce the number of times in the evening. I keep thinking she will outgrow this as she gets bigger/holds more milk in her belly. 3 weeks old...so??

[s_kristina]

I've never kept track. At the ped's I just pull out the numbers I know they want as some of them freak if I tell them how much time he spends nursing. Newborns should nurse at least 10-12 times a day http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing.html

[rmzbm]

I couldn't even guess. At least a dozen, at LEAST. Then there's the nursing 2 year old...so, basically, I nurse a LOT!

[3for3hb]

no idea... like. seriously. I just nurse when it seems that he wants to and needs to. It's that unspoken language and I never really look at the clock when I do. Forget about counting how many times