The age-old feeding/sleeping schedule question CP

MarchABC · June 2011

So.. do you have a feeding schedule?

[Poll]

DS is 3.5 months and we still don't have a feeding schedule. I'd say he eats every 2-4 hours and can go 6-7 hours at night (which is awesome). I really want to start to do every 3 hours but I know he'll either flip out because he's hungry, take a really long nap, or just be unhappy! However, mama needs some predictability here so I can schedule my days better. Have you guys mastered the art of scheduling? If so, do you have an secrets??? If not, we can commiserate!

LifetimeOfLove · June 2011

I'm a teacher and am off for the summer. But when I was at work we had a set schedule that just happened to fall into play (not planned).

I would wake him up at 6:30 to feed. He would have a bottle of BM at 10:30 and 2:30. I'd be home at 5:00 and feed again. Then he would eat at 7:00 and again at 9:00 and down for bed by 10:00. Since I'm home now and don't need to get up at a particular time, all these times are now different. I go on demand and we fly by the seat of our pants. However, the 5:00, 7:00, and 9:00 times seemed to stick.

March2011Mama · June 2011

I answered SS because she eats every three hours, but I'm not rigid with it. I bascially feed on demand, but she pretty much eats like clockwork every three hours. If she wants to eat after two or four though, I'll feed her then.

babyblues314 · June 2011

I voted SS. When he is at daycare, he usually eats every 3 hours. At home on weekends and at night, I feed on demand. It works for us.

nyrngrs1 · June 2011

I'd have to agree with you. DS seems to want to eat about every 3 hours however if he takes a longer nap (I notice that he sleeps a long time in his carrier if I'm out during the day) I just feed him when he wakes up. He can also go about 4-5 hours (5 on a really good night and btw I'm VERY jealous of 6-7!) during the night sometimes. Like tonight we finally got him down around 11pm, he woke up around 3 am, I put his binky back in and surprisingly he slept until 4am. I just fed him now and I'll put him back down and feed him again whenever he wakes up. But a part of me wanted to answer that I have no idea, because some days I feel like I have no clue if what I'm doing is right! Confused

sweetpea2718 · June 2011

LifetimeOfLove:
I'm a teacher and am off for the summer. But when I was at work we had a set schedule that just happened to fall into play (not planned).
I would wake him up at 6:30 to feed. He would have a bottle of BM at 10:30 and 2:30. I'd be home at 5:00 and feed again.

Just curious, did you pump at work around those two times? I'm going back to work for the next school year after taking the rest of this year off. I'm a little nervous about the whole pumping thing since I can't just leave my students whenever I need to.

hispenguin · June 2011

DD feeds every three hours unless she's had a nap and it's been a little longer (this happens in the afternoons). Then I just feed her when she gets up.

LifetimeOfLove · June 2011

sweetpea2718:
LifetimeOfLove:

I'm a teacher and am off for the summer. But when I was at work we had a set schedule that just happened to fall into play (not planned).

I would wake him up at 6:30 to feed. He would have a bottle of BM at 10:30 and 2:30. I'd be home at 5:00 and feed again.

Just curious, did you pump at work around those two times? I'm going back to work for the next school year after taking the rest of this year off. I'm a little nervous about the whole pumping thing since I can't just leave my students whenever I need to.

I was pumping at 10 and 3. I had the special ed teacher in my room at 10 so I was able to duck out. At 3 it is kind of like a study hall. DH and I work in the same building. He had an open period at 3 so he took my class for 15/20 so I could pump. There were a handful of days the the sp. ed. teacher wasn't in and there was no coverage for her. I just called the office and they sent an IA down. I was very lucky with my schedule this year. I'm hoping I can continue with this next school year. We shall see. Good luck to you!

lildayzees · June 2011

March2011Mama:
I answered SS because she eats every three hours, but I'm not rigid with it. I bascially feed on demand, but she pretty much eats like clockwork every three hours. If she wants to eat after two or four though, I'll feed her then.

Pretty much this exactly. She seems to have made her own schedule of every three hours, but it sometimes varies. Like now - she's taking a much longer nap than I anticipated, so it'll probably be about four hours since her last feeding.

chrissie1201 · June 2011

My DD eats 5 ounces per feeding and I feed her every four hours- 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm, and 10pm. She will then go to bed after the last feeding until 6am. She just started sleeping through the night about a week or two ago.

sweetpea2718 · June 2011

LifetimeOfLove:
sweetpea2718:
LifetimeOfLove:

I'm a teacher and am off for the summer. But when I was at work we had a set schedule that just happened to fall into play (not planned).
I would wake him up at 6:30 to feed. He would have a bottle of BM at 10:30 and 2:30. I'd be home at 5:00 and feed again.
Just curious, did you pump at work around those two times? I'm going back to work for the next school year after taking the rest of this year off. I'm a little nervous about the whole pumping thing since I can't just leave my students whenever I need to.
I was pumping at 10 and 3. I had the special ed teacher in my room at 10 so I was able to duck out. At 3 it is kind of like a study hall. DH and I work in the same building. He had an open period at 3 so he took my class for 15/20 so I could pump. There were a handful of days the the sp. ed. teacher wasn't in and there was no coverage for her. I just called the office and they sent an IA down. I was very lucky with my schedule this year. I'm hoping I can continue with this next school year. We shall see. Good luck to you!

I'll have the special ed teacher or IA in my room at some points during the day, but this past year, the teacher who worked with my kids was a guy and his schedule wasn't consistent. Hopefully this year coming up, I'll have a more understanding/ reliable partner.

QuintonsMummah · June 2011

DS will eat 6oz every 3-4 hours during the day but sleeps 7-8 hours at night

charley7 · June 2011

My LO is a little younger than everyone else b/c he was born Apr 3 but he is still eating every 2-2.5 hours...sometimes longer and of course longer stretches at night (thank goodness!) but my pedi said to try and go a little longer between feedings like every 3. BUT I figure, why make him fussy when he's simply hungry? My ob/gyn that I happened to see this week (b/c of my mastitis, argh!) said that was ridiculous and to feed him when he's hungry. That's what I'm doing until he gets more on a schedule...it's SLOWLY starting

mrsjanks · June 2011

I loosely followed Babywise/Baby Whisperer... eat, wake, sleep.

I am pretty strict with the 3 hour feeding schedule and have been since he was born. Of course, he is always off schedule in the mornings because he wakes up at different times. For the past 2 months he has been eating a roughly 5,8,11,2,5,8. Sometimes he eats at 5am, sometimes 6 or 6:30... depends on when he wakes up. So then I just stretch the feedings a little longer than 3 hours or make them a little shorter all day to get him back on schedule.

He is so used to the schedule that even if he just ate an hour before 2,5,8, or 11, he is hungry (or thinks he is). I use a paci in those cases. He doesn't need to eat if he just had 5 oz an hour ago.

He has been STTN since 3 months and 1 day old. He'll eat at 8pm, be asleep at 8:30, and wake up sometime between 5-6am usually to eat. Then I try to put him back to sleep until at least 7am so he doesn't have an insanely early wake time in the mornings. Sometimes he goes back to sleep, other times he doesn't.

In following the above, we've never had trouble getting him to go to sleep at night. Even if he's still awake after the 8pm bottle, we lay him in the crib and within 15 minutes he is asleep with no crying.

He fights naps during the day and always has. But now that he's a little older and sleeping so much at night, he rarely cries during the day- sometimes gas bothers him still.

I always try to have him nap at the same times- sometime between 9:30-11am and 3-5pm. I lay him in the PNP or crib and leave him be. Sometimes he sleeps, other times he doesn't. He'll just lay there and entertain himself. He rarely cries when I try to get him to nap. He just sleeps or doesn't. After 30 minutes if he's not asleep I will get him back up.

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