[Cherry Alive]

How do things change after that initial 6 to 8 weeks? Do you still have feed the baby every 4 hours or less? What if he or she sleeps longer?

 

[lach]

I always fed on demand with #1 (and continue to do so with #2) and it took until about 4 months where she got herself into any real schedule in terms of when she napped and slept. I don't know exactly when we got to the point where I was going longer stretches without feeding, but 6-8 weeks sounds early (and my 8wo certainly isn't there yet).

Unless you have some sort of medical reason (the baby isn't gaining enough weight, or you are having some sort of supply problem), I never saw any reason to wake to feed after the first few days. I'd let the baby sleep and not worry about it. If your boobs brimmeth over, try pumping a little to alleviate any discomfort.

 

[sapphire_chan]

Or see if you've got a baby who'll sleep-nurse for you.

 

[Quinn's Mama]

I had my baby on a schedule by 1 month. He loves his schedule and is a grump if I change it too much. He gets up about 8:30am and fed, then gets fed every 2-3 hours after that with naps at 10am and 4pm(30-45 min.), bed time at 9:30-10pm. He sleeps the whole night through most nights.

The main difference between me and many mama's is that I pump exclusively, I don't nurse. After 3 weeks of biting and fighting constantly I decided it wasn't worth my sanity or smacking him in reaction, so I pump.

Good luck.

 

[LadyCatherine185]

After a few weeks, I def wouldn't worry about waking babe up to eat. I would always always always feed on CUE, not try to schedule. That can cause a detriment to your supply, and your babe's thriving. Every once in awhile there will be a growth spurt, and baby will want to nurse all day for about 1-2 days.

My baby is almost 8 mo and still nurses every 1.5-2 hours.

Congrats on your new LO!

:

 

[Llyra]

I stop waking them to eat as soon as they have established a good pattern of weight gain-- if baby has regained birthweight and is gaining at a steady rate, I figure baby will wake up when hunger strikes. Each of my kids was different-- DD1 went pretty quickly to sleeping longer stretches at night, and just tanked up by eating every half hour or so for a few hours before bed, while DS nursed every hour and a half to two hours around the clock for a whole year,and DD2 was more erratic in her patterns.

 

[hollycat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Llyra I stop waking them to eat as soon as they have established a good pattern of weight gain-- if baby has regained birthweight and is gaining at a steady rate, I figure baby will wake up when hunger strikes. Each of my kids was different-- DD1 went pretty quickly to sleeping longer stretches at night, and just tanked up by eating every half hour or so for a few hours before bed, while DS nursed every hour and a half to two hours around the clock for a whole year,and DD2 was more erratic in her patterns.

here here. mine seems to find a schedule that works for them. as long as they are gaining weight, i wouldnt wake them up.

 

[Cherry Alive]

What would be okay for weight gain?

I've read on KellyMom to shoot for 1 oz a day, but my pediatrician said that's just an average and was okay with DD only gaining .5 oz a day at her last appointment. He said some babies are just skinny/lanky and as long as she was gaining at least 1/3 an ounce a day there was no reason to worry about calling a lactation consultant or supplementing.

...But is .5 oz a day good enough to not wake her for a feeding?

 

[twinsplusone1]

my lo would always wake to eat at that age and go right back to sleep. I've always had sleepers though hes rarely awake for more than two hours at a time he'll nap a little eat play nap eat play all day its nice he sleeps 12hours at night at 4mos One LC did tell me that if you let them go too long during the day the first 3mos that they'll be up more at ngiht when youre wanting the longer stretches so you can sleep I wouldn't go over 3hours but thats bc I was so darn tired

 

[katmann]

I nurse on demand, and the first six weeks sometimes it would be every twenty minutes or so. But that makes sense since their little stomachs are so tiny and inelastic for a while. They can only take a little at a time.

Now ds is three months and I nurse roughly every couple hours. Overnight sometimes he'll go four or five hours without nursing, but then in the morning it can be more frequent.

I don't like the idea of arbitrarily scheduling him because he knows what he needs better than I do.

 

[Quinn's Mama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cherry Alive What would be okay for weight gain? I've read on KellyMom to shoot for 1 oz a day, but my pediatrician said that's just an average and was okay with DD only gaining .5 oz a day at her last appointment. He said some babies are just skinny/lanky and as long as she was gaining at least 1/3 an ounce a day there was no reason to worry about calling a lactation consultant or supplementing. ...But is .5 oz a day good enough to not wake her for a feeding?

If she is gaining and your pediatrician says she is doing okay, I'd leave well enough alone. Baby knows when she is hungry, she'll let you know.

 

[moondancer18]

My 7 month old son has been breastfeeding every three hours since he was born. When he was real young, and and would sometime sleep for a long stretch of time, I used to wake him up to feed him. But then I thought....hmmm he'll wake up when he's hungry. I then stopped interrupting his sleep because his body knows how much sleep he needs and wants. He is constantly growing.