Does anyone still nurse on demand?

GavsMomAlready+Newbie · May 2011

I do. I keep seeing all this scheduling of feeding stuff up here and I'm wondering if it's for mom's sanity, or for the baby to stick to a schedule?

Also, do any other working BFing moms have babies that have reverse cycled? My DD eats very little when I'm at work but then wakes about 4 times at night to eat. I don't want to limit night time feeding, because I think she is making up for what she doesn't eat when I'm at work. Is this what you're doing? At some point do you cut them off?

welshgirl · May 2011

I do - round the clock. That will stop this weekend, and we'll feed on demand during the day, but only twice a night, around 12 and 4 I think.

No help onthe second half of yrou post, as I'm a sahm, so she just gets boob whenever, which is on average every 1.5-2hours, 24 hours a day.

julesmarie80 · May 2011

I nurse on demand, but it's still somewhat of a schedule (just one he put himself on). He ends up being around every 2 hours unless he's tired, which is when he wants to suck himself to sleep.

mamaholmes2010 · May 2011

I nurse on demand. Some days its every 2 hours and others its every 4.

He has definitely reverse cycled. He is feeding about 4-5 times a night and only 1-2 times a day when I am at work (usually about 9-10 hours apart). I will continue to feed on demand. It sucks not getting enough sleep, but I don't want to push him into early weaning. I love our nursing relationship.

On the days that I am home with him he eats a lot more during the day and usually only wakes 1-2 times per night to feed.

GrayGhost13 · May 2011

We still feed on demand, and DS is a frequent eater, wanting to eat every hour or two when he's awake. I will say though that I pump and bottle feed a lot, so it's not nearly as exhausting for me as when I was nursing 100% and doing all the feedings myself.

We haven't really run into the reverse cycling issue too much. DS never really had a strong preference for breast over bottle and he sometimes gets bottles even when I'm home, so I don't think he really associates them with me being at work. My first couple weeks back at work, DS cluster fed all evening long, but it never disrupted his sleep. Somewhere around three or four months, he hit a growth spurt and started eating a lot by day, and after that he never went back to eating as much at night.

If the reverse cycling is becoming a sleep problem, maybe you could encourage her to nurse more in the evening (before bedtime) or try having your H give a bottle to see if she's really hungry or just wants the comfort of nursing? Just a thought.

Sonadora · May 2011

Pretty much. It works out to every 2-4 hours during the day and about every 3ish at night. I don't make enough milk, so she also gets offered a 2 oz supplement of formula after every feeding.

I just went back to work today, so I don't know about that yet.

utlawgirl · May 2011

julesmarie80:
I nurse on demand, but it's still somewhat of a schedule (just one he put himself on). He ends up being around every 2 hours unless he's tired, which is when he wants to suck himself to sleep.

This for us too. Nora normally nurses when she wakes for the day, before and after naptime (two a day), once more in the late afternoon, once before bed (she gets a bottle of EBM) and once overnight. It's on demand, but she has put herself on a rough schedule. The only time she really falls out of it is if she has a shorter than usual nap or is having a growth spurt. We just started solids, though, so we'll see how that shakes things up...

Gidgetwho · May 2011

We're still whenever he wants. Usually it's every two hours, but sometimes it will be an hour and a half, sometimes even less. No reverse cycling here. He just eats ALL.THE.TIME.

curlydoglover · May 2011

Still nursing on demand. And daycare bottle feeds on demand, too. I have no desire to schedule him.

He hasn't reverse cycled. He normally takes 4 bottles during the day (sometimes only 3, depending on his nap schedule), which is about the of feedings he'd takes if he were just nursing.

In the mornings I normally just nurse one side instead of the usual two, unless he's really really fussy. This is for a few reasons. 1) I'm usually pretty engorged, so one side is generally enough 2) I need boob 2 to maintain my pumping supply. 3) It encourages him to take the bottles at daycare, which means he gets most of his food during the day, so he's not up at night. The days where he only gets 3 bottles at daycare he usually wakes up once to feed.

kj07 · May 2011

We nurse on a schedule (about every 3 hours during the day) but that's mainly because B doesn't give a lot of hunger cues. He does sometimes get a little fussy so at those times I'll offer earlier earlier just in case it's hunger fussing.

This weekend we accidentally went 4 hours between feedings. B wasn't fussy at all, but when I put him on my lap in the BFing spot, his mouth went wide open and he started looking around like, "Hey mom, why isn't your shirt up yet? Get a move on lady."

He gets bottles at daycare but has been pretty wishy-washy about taking them - we did switch daycares and that definitely helped with his bottle eating. He is reverse cycling a bit - before daycare he was only waking up once a night to feed (at 3am) and now it's twice a night (usually 12:30 and 4ish). He definitely eats a full meal at each waking so I'm reluctant to start denying those.

We started solids this weekend so we'll see what that does to the night feeds. If he goes down to only one night feed I will finally have the energy to do the most awesome happy dance ever.

heyitsme · May 2011

I BF on demand when home with DS. DS reverse-cycled when I first went back to work but lately he seems to be doing a little better. He's still up more often at night because he only gets 1, rarely 2, feedings in before bed (I get home at 6, he goes to bed at 7:30. I nurse him as soon as I can when I get home and try to force another feeding at 7:15 but he's not always wanting it.) and only 1 after he gets up in the morning (before I go to work). I'm OK with the reverse-cycling, though, because I respond terribly to the pump (I pump 5x/day and get 8oz total)... it's kept us from needing formula.

klinky · May 2011

I do. I SAH so I don't find it to be too much of a problem. She likes to eat every 1.5-2hrs and not all at once - usually a couple of 2 min sessions. It's pretty annoying but she only wakes up once at night and I am home with her all day, so I just go with it.

scrh2010 · May 2011

Yeah, we still nurse on demand, but he has put himself on a schedule (most of the time) although night-time meals are a little sporadic (some nights he wakes once, others up to four times)

No advice on reverse cycling because I am a WAHM so I am with him 90% of the time. Though I do know several women whose LOs have done that.

TripMomma · May 2011

Jericho is still nursing on demand. I wish I could get him on a schedule but he hasn't been cooperating at all.

hawaiibride04 · May 2011

I still do. He eats about every 2-3 hours all day, and then usually 3 times per night.

I'm a SAHM so I can't help you with the second part.

EVM1216 · May 2011

DD has put herself on a schedule of every feeding at (approximetly) 1:30 am, 7:00 am, 10:30 am, 1:30 pm, 3:30 pm, 6:00 pm, and 8:30 pm. With an occasional extra nighttime feeding in there around 4:30 am. We've not had any reverse cycling issues.

GavsMomAlready+Newbie · May 2011

Ok, I see that most of your LOs put themselves on a rough schedule. It's probably something that A will do when her body is ready for it. Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone in my method

TobioLovesAce:
If the reverse cycling is becoming a sleep problem, maybe you could encourage her to nurse more in the evening (before bedtime) or try having your H give a bottle to see if she's really hungry or just wants the comfort of nursing? Just a thought.

I might try that if sleep becomes a huge issue. At this point I fear messing with my supply because of past supply issues. I'll take no sleep over no milk any day. Plus I'm a total martyr.

yaeger16 · May 2011

I still do, it's usually about every 3-4 hours between feedings. As soon as he starts showing any sign of hunger then I feed him right away. He was waking up every every 1-3 hours at night, but just recently he started STTN. I'm hoping it isn't just a fluke though.

jnicolen · May 2011

i would feed on demand, but it seem i offer and he accepts before he demands (during the day). i offer whenever he wakes in the morning, or from a nap, and before bed. if he were to show hunger signs at other times i would definitely feed. i bet a lot of people would say the same. i also feed when he wakes at night. He wakes once. It ends up being about every 3-4 hours during the day (depending on when he wakes).

kat81 · May 2011

we BF on demand / constantly when I'm around, though DS is on a rough schedule with the nanny. We do not reverse cycle, though. He does eat plenty while I'm gone, and I do great with the pump.

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