stretching out feeding schedules?

sara malarik

Hello. I have a 3 month old and we are following a relaxed version of the eat/play/sleep schedule. She is feeding about every 2.5 hours during the day and will only nap for 45 minutes; however she sleeps through the night. I wanted some suggestions for moving her feeding schedule back to about a 3 to 3.5 hours during the day. My first instinct is to extend "play time" but then we run the risk of being fussy and over tired. I think eventually she will space her feedings out on her own when she is ready- just wanted to see if anyone was in the same boat? Thanks!

BlondieBia21

Why would you extend the time? Feed LO when she shows her hunger cues. 

tisunge602

A word of caution... if you do this, she may stop STTN because she'll end up getting fewer calories during the day. 

My LO STTN from about 9-11 weeks old and has since majorly regressed. I realize a lot of factors play into this -- wonder week followed by growth spurt, possibly early 4MW, etc. -- but one of the things I had changed was allowing him to go longer between daytime feedings. I used to never let him go more than 3 hours, even if that meant waking him up. Recently I extended that to 4 hours if he was still sleeping.

Needless to say, I decided to switch him back to my 3 hour rule in hopes that he'll start sleeping better at night again. 

jtmomma13

We feed on demand. We follow a lose schedule and change it based on hunger cues and sleep cues. I don't get the let's schedule my baby at 3M stuff.