Feeding Schedule?
DS will be 6 weeks this Friday and there is no schedule to our feedings at all, and I'm not sure if there should be or not? My mom BF all 5 of her children, and she keeps telling me that I need to get DS on a schedule and she says that she had all of her kids mostly sleeping through the night by this point in time.
But I have been feeding on demand. Sometimes DS goes 2-3 hours between feedings, and sometimes he nurses for 5 minutes, falls asleep, wakes up 30 minutes later and wants to nurse again. Almost every night he nurses off and on from 8pm - midnight. Then he'll sleep anywhere from 2 - 5 hours. Is this normal and OK? Or should I be trying to establish some sort of feeding pattern?
Also, if I continue to feed on demand, will he eventually establish his own schedule? Nursing the way I have been works for now, but at 12 weeks I have to return to work and we'll need to have some sort of schedule by then. When and how does this get established?
Re: Feeding Schedule?
I'm not sure if it is because Henry was on bottles for the first 6 weeks of his life or not, but he is on an eat every 4 hours schedule. The only time he isn't is in the mornings after he sleeps longer than 4 hours. DH will feed him 5oz of pumped milk and then about 2 hours later I will nurse him.
Since I'm new at BFing I am nervous he's not eating enough, but he's getting enough wet/dirty diapers so I guess we are fine.
If Henry wanted to feed at different times I'd oblige. He just happens to be on a schedule.
I think feeding on demand is always best.
As for STTN - read this: https://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleep.html. It's very unusual for a 6 week old to STTN so don't feel like you are doing something wrong because your baby doesn't.
Breastfeeding Counselor with Breastfeeding USA
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