BF Babies - How often is LO fed?
tiffyspiffy1012
member
Hi Ladies! I am reposting this from the Breastfeeding forum. My LO is just over 6 months old and she has had nothing but breastmilk all her life. She is petite and is about the 10th percentile and she "demands" to be nursed about every 1.5 hours. She is full after nursing on one side, and doesn't want to have anything to do with the other side until her next feed. She is a very happy baby and certainly doesn't seem hungry or fussy, and she goes for about 7 hours at night without needing to be fed. When she drinks from a bottle when I am at work, she drinks about 3 oz at a time and doesn't want any more at a feed. So my question is, does nursing her every 1.5 hours sound like a lot? I know breastmilk is digested within about 2 hours, so my gut tells me we're okay, but I hear so many stories about babies going 3 hours or longer (maybe they are formula-fed) that I started to wonder. What is your feeding schedule like? TIA!
Re: BF Babies - How often is LO fed?
I would just go with what your baby wants. My LO also is EBF - although he's now getting a small amount of oatmeal (mixed w/ BM) at daycare each morning.
He eats 4oz every 3 - 3.5 hours while at daycare, but with me he eats every 2 hours and pretty frequently in the hour or two before bed. He still nurses at night - probably 3 times ish.
My guy is in the 18th % for weight and my pedi is perfectly happy with his growth and didn't suggest changing his feeding schedule. I honestly do not worry about over feeding and just let him eat when he wants.
My DS is also BF. I am not too sure the exact amount he eats during each feed because gets it right from the source and usually eats every 3 hrs sometimes 4hrs. The odd time I unfreeze milk and put it in a bottle he eats anywhere from 7-10oz. He also now eats 3 meals a day ontop of that!
His 6 month appt he was only in around the 40th percentile for weight.
DS is bottle fed BM. He varies on his feedings, but eats anywhere from 3-5 oz generally, though he usually eats closer to 3-4oz. Every once in a while, he'll eat 6 oz or more, though he usually follows that with a load of spit up. He eats every 2-3 hours during the day. He usually sleeps about 4 hours for the first set at night before eating a bottle and then about another 6 hours before his next bottle. At 6m, he was 90% for height and 88% for weight. He also gets one solids meal in the evenings, followed by a bottle. I mix BM into his solids as well.
My LO is breast fed. She just started getting a tablespoon of oatmeal mixed with breast milk at daycare in the afternoon and gets about a tablespoon or so of a vegetable or fruit at dinner. DD is breast fed in the morning around 6:30 a.m., gets three 7 oz bottles of breast milk at 9:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., a tablespoon of oatmeal around noon, and a vegetable or fruit at 6:00 p.m. and then breast fed at 6:30 p.m., in bed by 7:00 p.m. and sleeps through the night. She's a little chunk though as her weight is in the 76%.
Every baby is different and if what works for you and your baby is working why change it? It sounds like she is doing well and healthy.
My LO eats about every 3 hours when with me and while he's at DC. At DC he gets 3 bottles (around 9am, 12pm, 3pm), each with 5-6 oz and he typically finishes them all and could go for more.
He's offered solid foods regularly, but he's not actually swallowing very much at all.
And he's gigantic (96%ile).
When I'm home she eats every 2-3 hours (she tends to go longer stretches in the day and gets closer towards the evening, nighttime). She eats once or twice in the night, though she's up most of the night. She gets three 5 ounce bottles (10, 1, 3:30) when I'm at work.
She eats 7-9 times/day.
She's tiny - in the 2%ile)
DD still eats about every 2 hours. Sometimes she'll go 2.5 with major distraction (car ride, toys, me carrying her around the house). She eats about 1.5-2 hours at night by the time I get home at 5 until bedtime around 9. She gets 3 or 4 oz bottles every two hours during the day, then I BF at night and once in the am and on weekends.
She is also 75%ile weight and almost off the charts, over 99% height. She's tall and skinny, but the kid can eat.
Our schedule- DS is almost 7 months
7:00 wake
7:30 BF
9:00 4 oz bottle at Daycare of breastmilk
12:00 BF
12:30 1 tablespoon solids
1:30 2-4 oz bottle of breastmilk
3:30 3 oz bottle of breastmilk
5:30 BF
6:30 solids
7:30 BF
7:45 bed
If I learned anything from being a mother, it's that every single baby is different, eats differently, and grows differently. I think there is a wide range of "normal," especially when it comes to BF babies.
My LO nurses about every 3 hours, and nurses once during the night, sometimes not at all. It works out to be about 5-6 nursing sessions each day. She also gets 2 solid meals a day of 2 tbsp cereal and fruit/vegetable. At her 6 month checkup, she had jumped in percentiles to the 75% from about the 25%. Before starting solids at about 4 1/2 months, she would nurse about 7-9 times a day, about every 2 hours during the day and was still on the small side.
Are you thinking of starting solids soon? That will probably stretch our her need for nursing as much.
dd eats every 2 hrs from 7a to 7p. sometimes she'll go 3 between a feed or 2.
Isaac is EBF and he started solids about a month ago.
Around 5 months, I put him on a 3 hour schedule. He gets 5ounces in a bottle every 3 hours. After 7p (bed time), we've weaned him down to 1.5-3 ounces in the middle of the night. This week, though, he's been skipping that bottle altogether.
When my sister's baby was first born, she would go 4 or 5 hours between feedings!!!