Are you feeding on a schedule or on demand?

SoonToBeMsP · January 2012

Our ped told us to feed every three hours, so that's what we've been doing. Most of the time we have to wake DD to feed her, and I am wondering how much longer we may have to do this. I am hoping at our two week appt that he'll say "she's gained so much weight, so now you can feed on demand"... Is that wishful thinking?

DD is 11 days old, BTW.

ETA: I am BFing, if that makes a difference.

CharlieTheUnicorn · January 2012

We are feeding on demand, and usually that's about every 2 hours. If she didn't wake up for feedings I'm sure we would be having to do what you are doing.

Jess084 · January 2012

We are breastfeeding on demand but I do usually have to wake him at least once in the night to make sure he is eating every 3 hours,

BTW, I love your badge CharlietheUnicorn!

chelle_chelle5487@hotmail.com · January 2012

We are feeding on a schedule like you. At our 2 week appt the ped stretched it to no more than 4 hours btw feedings. I am also ready to feed on demand. DD has gotten a little better waking herself up for feedings but still have to wake her on occasion.

CharlieTheUnicorn · January 2012

Jess084:
We are breastfeeding on demand but I do usually have to wake him at least once in the night to make sure he is eating every 3 hours,
BTW, I love your badge CharlietheUnicorn!

Thanks! I find it a little ironic since I had a med free birth :P

Indiechixor · January 2012

I asked the BF board a while back about waking to feed...most said they stopped once baby was back to birthweight, or after 2 weeks... whichever comes first.

Court1 · January 2012

On demand. DD was over birth weight at her 5 day old weight check, so pedi said not to wake her to feed.

talitha712 · January 2012

Once DD reached her birth weight we were told we didn't have to wake to feed anymore. She still eats around every 3 hours, with a longer stretch at night.

GeekMom · January 2012

Good question! Our pedi told us this too, so I've been waking her up every 3 hours to feed. There are times though that she will wake up on her own and we'll be cluster feeding for a few hours in the early AM.

kaybe24 · January 2012

A little of both. He's not at his birth weight so I'm supposed to bf him every 2 hours but sometimes he gets fussy before then and I go ahead and feed him. And sometimes he's taking a good nap so I let him go 3 hours if he just fed shortly before.

sweets7508 · January 2012

We were told by pedi (who is also my Dr. and delivered DS) to feed every 2-3 hours during the day (usually he's ready to eat and doesn't have to be woken up), but to let him sleep up to 5 hours at night if he'd go that long. I keep an eye on the clock, but basically feed on demand. Again, DS is pretty reliable with his schedule, tho, and is ready to eat every 2-3 hrs anyway.

Ashley&Scott · January 2012

We feed on demand, which is usually every 2-4 hours. Although sometimes DS eats every hour. I'm BFing too.

FarmvilleLover · January 2012

sweets7508:
We were told by pedi (who is also my Dr. and delivered DS) to feed every 2-3 hours during the day (usually he's ready to eat and doesn't have to be woken up), but to let him sleep up to 5 hours at night if he'd go that long. I keep an eye on the clock, but basically feed on demand. Again, DS is pretty reliable with his schedule, tho, and is ready to eat every 2-3 hrs anyway.

Exactly the bolded. We sometimes have to wake him during the day to keep him eating at least every 3 or so hours. I guess it's our attempt at having DS sleep longer stretches at night. He's only about 10 days old.

hicourtneyy · January 2012

I don't particularly agree with putting my 3 week old on a schedule, so we are feeding on demand. That's just about every 30-45 minute right now, all day long. She does have a 4 hour stretch of sleep every night which I'm very thankful for.

AfterAll · January 2012

Kind of hard ot get them on a schedule this early. When they're hungry, they're hungry. My LO is 3 weeks old and is loosely on a schedule of every 2ish hours during the day and every 4 hours at night. I just follow his lead. If we end up off this "schedule", everything ends out out of whack. For instance, I usually do his last feeding before "bedtime" between 10-11, then I get woken up once around 2-3, and then he gets up around 6. Last night I fell asleep and he didn't get up until 12. I ended up getting woken up 3 times, for the first time ever.

michaelaskedlauren · January 2012

We are BF on demand as well. The hospital told us we should feed him every 3-4 hours, but also told us what his cues would be when hes hungry (trying to put his hands in his mouth, going for the breast when we hold him, etc).

He normally eats about every 2-4 hours with longer stretches at night (thank goodness).

JWSchwarz · January 2012

Mine is hungry about every 3 hours in the day (timed from beginning of feeding to beginning of next). You could almost set a clock to him. At night I have to set my alarm for every 3-4 hours because otherwise I wouldn't get 8 feedings in a day.