XP Birth-3 mth, nursing frequency

carinamarie77 · June 2011

I'm sort of worried about the frequency of LOs nursing sessions. I feed on demand and will not stop but, holy crap, he's 3 months old and nursing every hour to hour and a half. Sometimes, he'll get done eating and be chewing his fists and rooting for more. He's not a newborn anymore so what's the deal? Anyone else experiencing this? I thought his tummy was bigger now?

Oh, and he's got the right number of wet diapers and poops every day.

(I posted this in birth to 3 months board and got a ton of responses from ladies who's babies were 2 weeks old and "dealing with the same thing." Um...)

MrsChelseaP09 · June 2011

My mother was telling me that LO should be eating 4oz and about every 4hrs right now. LO is still eating like she did the day she was born. About every 2 hrs, sometimes every hr or 3. I don't have any advice on how to change it other than to maybe talk to your Ped if you are worried about it.

abp51008 · June 2011

I am not going through the same thing currently but did this just start recently? Could it be a growth spurt? How long is he nursing during each session? Maybe he isn't taking enough per session so he needs more frequent ones. If he isn't eating for 15 mins on each side see if you can get him to do so and see if that helps. Another thing to think about is if he is really hungry or just looking for something to suck on. My son was doing the same thing constantly rooting/sucking on hands but he just wants to suck...he isn't really hungry. So I give him a pacifier and he is fine. He sucks on it for a bit and then is done. Some babies just have a really strong need to suck and that could be what is going on with your baby. Hope this helps!

amy259 · June 2011

I feed on demand and it seems like DD has her cluster times. I wouldn't be worried about your LO's eating habit but you should call the pedi if you're worried or do a weighed feeding. Do you feed 1 breast per feeding or both? DD eats for less then 5 minutes, she's a pro at eating fast she had to be I had overactive letdown and supply and still have a fast let down. Also as pp mentioned is this normal for him or did it just start? Could be a growth spurt...

Sometimes Lo's just want to be close to you too, is he really eating all these times or just sucking for a few minutes and then just non-nutritive sucking? You could hold him like you while nursing and give him a paci, he may just want to be near you.

carinamarie77 · June 2011

MrsChelseaP09:
My mother was telling me that LO should be eating 4oz and about every 4hrs right now. LO is still eating like she did the day she was born. About every 2 hrs, sometimes every hr or 3. I don't have any advice on how to change it other than to maybe talk to your Ped if you are worried about it.

My mom says the same thing! Which isn't helpful when he's crying for food.

carinamarie77 · June 2011

MrsChelseaP09:
My mother was telling me that LO should be eating 4oz and about every 4hrs right now. LO is still eating like she did the day she was born. About every 2 hrs, sometimes every hr or 3. I don't have any advice on how to change it other than to maybe talk to your Ped if you are worried about it.

My mom says the same thing! Which isn't helpful when he's crying for food.

Cristin23 · June 2011

From my first appointment my pedi recommended me getting on an eating schedule.

He said "you don't want them to get used to eating every. single. hour. because then when they're older, they'll still eat on that schedule. They get used to it." Think Pavlov's dog theory. He did say that that schedule was mostly for me and my sanity though.

So maybe she's just used to eating every hour now? Used to that comfort?

I agree with previous posts, try a pacifier-that may help. Start trying to schedule feedings a little bit...

MrsChelseaP09 · June 2011

Cristin23:
From my first appointment my pedi recommended me getting on an eating schedule.
He said "you don't want them to get used to eating every. single. hour. because then when they're older, they'll still eat on that schedule. They get used to it." Think Pavlov's dog theory. He did say that that schedule was mostly for me and my sanity though.
So maybe she's just used to eating every hour now? Used to that comfort?
I agree with previous posts, try a pacifier-that may help. Start trying to schedule feedings a little bit...

This is probably true.

Personally, it doesn't bother me feeding her so often. I have noticed that her "every hour" feedings aren't as often anymore and she has slept through the night since she was about 2-3wks old. It's mostly my fault, if DD would get fussy, I would nurse.

Bluescarf · June 2011

My son is the same. He is huge though so I figure he's just growing super fast. I have gotten him to 2.5 hours by distracting him until we get to that mark. It seems to be working now because he doesn't constantly root anymore and even went four hours once without fussing. during a growth spurt though he nurses like crazy.

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XP Birth-3 mth, nursing frequency

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