When LO came home, what was your feeding schedule?

damabo80

So, it looks like we may be taking DD home in the next week (yay! but cue the freak out). Right now, they are giving her 31-40mL every three hours (BFing hasn't been a raging success yet [putting it mildly], so we'll probably be on bottles for another few weeks).

Do we follow the hospital's schedule, or do more "on demand" feedings? If we do 7 on demand feedings during the day, then do we just do one at night? Do you wake to feed?

She's a peanut...right now, she's 3lb15oz at 35w6d GA, so weight gain is pretty important.

sucrets4

Our plan was to follow the hospital's schedule (every 3 hours), but she changed it and we followed her lead.  She started spitting up a lot a few weeks after being home and preferred smaller more frequent feedings.  I was worried that she wouldn't wake up to eat so I set an alarm for the first week or so but after awhile she was hungry and woke up on her own!  She didn't sleep for more than 4 hours at a time for maaaaaaany months, so it's funny that I was so worried about night feedings for awhile.  

Personally, I saw a huge difference in her once she hit term and I was more likely to follow her lead once she was 37w and definitely once she was 40w. 

GL with taking her home!  Enjoy every second!! 

schenkertobe

My LO was born at 31.5 weeks. When he came home we fed on demand. But that ended up being pretty close to every three hours anyway. In the first few weeks, we did wake to feed (although most times he woke up anyways). He ate every three hours around the clock. Once we were sure he was gaining well, I stopped waking to feed.

Yay for LO coming home soon! Don't give up on the BF yet, it took a really long time for LO to get the hang of breatfeeding. It takes time. 

katie4253

The hospital said no more than 3 hours between eating until he is really gaining.  I doubt he'd go longer than that anyway.  He is always stirring a little before meal time.   If anything we might feed him more often. 

Natalie_may

We did on demand as soon as we got home, in fact Liam was on demand at night in the hospital. We also never woke to feed, they woke themselves up for the first month and a half that they were both home and have sttn since. A disclaimer - I have abnormally large preemies who have never had trouble with weight gain, they came home at 5lb10oz at 37w and 8lb even at 41, and have reliably put on half a pound a week. If they had weight gain issues I would wake to feed. Sorry for the formatting, on my phone.

meldoo2002

We stayed on a 3 hour feeding schedule the whole time they took bottles.. up until a year basically.  We did wake to feed them overnight until they were around 8 lbs. and got the ok to let them go longer.  During the day they always ate every 3 hours and we did wake to feed, but eventually their schedule worked around their feedings anyway.

LnR70707

He was on an on demand schedule at first in the NICU because he was 6lbs7oz at birth, then switched to every 3 hours when they became concerned about his weight loss.  We started out letting him choose his schedule, which was usually 3-4 hrs anyway, then moved back to every 3 hrs when the pedi didn't think he was gaining fast enough. 

ladybug03

My LO has been home for almost 3 weeks now and she feeds about every3 to 4 hours and has been waking herself up to feed. We were told on discharge day not to let her go longer than 4 hoours between feedings. Good Luck and Congrats on you LO coming home!!!

shanlubey

LO came home at feedings every 3 hours round the clock. Once he stopped waking up for his night feedings basically sleeping even when we tried waking him. He weighed about 8 pounds by the time we let him sleep a little longer. He's 11+ pounds and is sleeping through the night.

puppilover22

I brought my baby home on mothers day this year she was 2 weeks old and just over 4 lbs. They had her on a 3 hour schedule at the hospital so we kept that routine. After about a week she went to hAve her feedings from every 3 to every 4 hours. She is now 8 weeks and she eats about 3-4 oz every 4-5 hours. She's just about 8 lbs now! Stick to a schedule. And u will be fine!

WaitingforGrace

BostonKisses2:

We stuck with the hospital schedule for quite a few weeks until we were sure J continued to gain weight adequately.  We dropped an overnight feed and moved her to an overnight demand schedule once it was more of a battle to wake her up to eat.  We still feed her about every 3 hours during the day - I tried to allow her to go to a daytime demand schedule, but she wanted to eat every 3 hours anyway.

You can always talk to your pedi and get their input, but I doubt they'll recommend going to a demand schedule at this point because of how small she is (we didn't get the recommendation to try demand feeds until J was closer to 6 or 7 lbs.).

That's so exciting that she may be discharged very soon! 

 This exactly for us too. They came home at 4.5# and we did every 3 hours (or demand if sooner) for several weeks. Once they showed the pedi they could gain weight at home we were allowed to on demand at night (probably around 2.5 months old, or 7#). At your first weight check at the pedi (which should be within 1-2 days of discharge) they will tell you what to do.  

Now at 4 months we are completely on demand and they demand every 3 hours during the day and have a 9 hour stretch at night.

Congrats on being close to coming home! Now it's a whole new set of worries!

WaitingforGrace

Also, if you are curious, my girls came home at 4.5# and on 36ml feeds with a 25ml minimum. If they weren't taking their minimum for two feedings in a row we had instructions to call pedi.