Feeding on Demand: Hunger Cues

justkeeptrying

EBF and trying to feed DS on demand. I watch for his hunger cues but sometimes he goes from 0 to 100 in a matter of seconds. What hunger cues does your LO give before they start crying?

Also, he's 8.5 weeks old and sometimes I worry he's not eating enough. Whenever I'm concerned, I'll offer my breast and he will always take it but doesn't show me any signs of being hungry. How many times a day are your LO's eating?

babinante

My girl will be sucking her bink and then spit it out over and over.

erinjason11

If it has been 3 - 3.5 hours, I will offer my breast and she always takes it! My LO is 11weeks today and I make sure she gets a minimum of 6 feedings a day.

erinjason11

If it has been 3 - 3.5 hours, I will offer my breast and she always takes it! My LO is 11weeks today and I make sure she gets a minimum of 6 feedings a day.

blairdavis99

We do about 7 feedings a day (but are exclusively FF.) My DD will stick the tip of her tongue out repeatedly when she is hungry and start licking her hand or anything that is nearby. My DS on the other hand doesn't really have good cues either. He just starts screaming when he is very hungry - wish I could catch it before we get to the point of screaming.

morgansWed105148

I suck at this!! He's always making mouthing faces!!

agilber3

He's starting to do the tongue thing more. But my "test" is putting him on my chest or near my boob and if he roots or bobs his head then I give it to him. Usually I can tell if it's been 1.5-3+ hours. EBF about 8-10x in 24 hours (midnight to midnight)

justkeeptrying

Thanks everyone. I typically do as @erinjason11 does offering the breast at 3-3.5 hours if he hasn't shown any signs of hunger before that. But yesterday from midnight - midnight ended up being only 5 feeds. Which seemed really low to me!! I know at about 2 months my breastfeeding timeline indicated feeds may drop to 6 and it definitely did if looking at past 24 hours rather than midnight. DS has done early bedtime (7pm) the past 2 nights which has impacted number of feeds because it eliminates one (usually at 9:30/10) and he didn't get up as frequently in the night to feed.

As long as he's gaining weight I guess I shouldn't be too worried. Just a paranoid FTM.

danibonello

chambersbaby2015 said:

Thanks everyone. I typically do as @erinjason11 does offering the breast at 3-3.5 hours if he hasn't shown any signs of hunger before that. But yesterday from midnight - midnight ended up being only 5 feeds. Which seemed really low to me!! I know at about 2 months my breastfeeding timeline indicated feeds may drop to 6 and it definitely did if looking at past 24 hours rather than midnight. DS has done early bedtime (7pm) the past 2 nights which has impacted number of feeds because it eliminates one (usually at 9:30/10) and he didn't get up as frequently in the night to feed.

As long as he's gaining weight I guess I shouldn't be too worried. Just a paranoid FTM.

For what it's worth... I bottle feed pumped BM and supplement formula, and my LO only eats 20 oz on a good day. I feed on demand and offer as often as possible. I was worried since she's 11 lbs and should probably be averaging about 27-28 oz per day. I talked with the pediatrician who agreed that 20 is low, but also reassured me that she is growing at a perfectly healthy rate and as long as her output is still good there is no need to worry. She said that some babies aren't big eaters, just like some can be little piggies. I haven't confirmed this, but my theory is just that her little body makes really good use of both the BM and formula, since she only poos 1-2 times per week.

So yes, as long as his growth and output aren't changing, I wouldn't stress.

justkeeptrying

Thanks @danibonello - that's reassuring. DS is 2 months today and I just weighed him at 12lbs 6oz (birth weight: 7lbs 11oz). So I am not concerned. He has his 2 month check up on Wednesday so we will see if he's stayed in the same range for percentiles. He seems to be happy and that's all that matters to me