Nursing on demand after 3 months?

stemms8810 · August 2012

Is it okay to continue to nurse on demand after your LO is not a newborn? DS is almost 4 months old and evenings and weekends (when not at work) I nurse him on demand. I feel like he's not on any kind predictable schedule for feedings. While I don't mind this it would be nice to know around certain times he will need to eat to plan ahead better. Should I ease him into some kind of feeding schedule or is this bad for BF babies?

BelleWithABlade · August 2012

I still nurse my LO on demand and plan to continue. He goes longer stretches now and I occasionally try to get him to eat before we go out.

jennyann28 · August 2012

I think our LOs are right about the same age. I'm still nursing her on demand, and she's actually nursing more frequently than before every 1.5 to 2 hours. She is sleeping a long time at night though, so I'm thinking she needs to get more food in during the day, and more mommy time since we're apart longer at night. I plan to nurse on demand for the duration of our nursing relationship.

ColesMommy0606 · August 2012

I still nurse on demand but both of my LOs have created a schedule on their own. Both wanted to be fed every 2 hrs on the dot (except at nap time or at night).

bpv101283 · August 2012

To be honest, I wouldn't even know how to keep a schedule. I look at the whole day in approximations. He eats at approximately 9:30 or 12:30 or 3:30, etc. With room to budge. Don't want them to get super cranky from being hungry. Same when I go back to work. I will tell the babysitter to feed him "around" these times, but don't make him wait if he's starting to fuss.

LesleyT · August 2012

I nurse on demand and DS is 4mo. He eats about every 2hrs like clockwork. He did have a 5-6hr stretch at night that disappeared the last few weeks- but he pulled 5hrs again last night, so hopefully we're getting back to some zzzzzz's.

To answer your question: YES. It's ok to nurse on demand- as long as it works for you and for LO.

As far as an eating schedule: Do you have any kind of schedule in your daily routine? i.e., wake up, daily activities, put LO down for bed, etc? If you have somewhat of a routine, LO should fall into somewhat of a predictable routine within range.

The only time I push to feed is before we go somewhere that I prefer to manipulate or push off BFing- then I'll "top him off" before we go

desdemona39 · August 2012

I still nurse on demand at 16 months. DD did fall into a routine on her own somewhere around 5 months.

One of the greatest things about BF is that it's so convenient if DD gets hungry I can feed her anytime, anywhere, without having to worry about bottles.

00jennifer00 · August 2012

^ditto the above. My dd is almost 20mo and I still nurse her mostly on demand. I'm 12w pg, so my milk is going away, so sometimes I have her eat something or drink some milk instead or before. But she pretty much nurses whenever she wants, and I'll continue to do that until she's 2, then we'll work on cutting down some. I am nightweaning right now, so I guess she isn't getting nurse at night like she would like to.

ncbelle · August 2012

I nurse on demand at 16 months

Nursing on demand is always better if you want to breastfeed long term. The danger of a schedule is that baby is far more likely to lose interest in nursing. All babies go through distracted periods where they are less interested in sitting still to nurse. If you are on a schedule, you are less likely to catch their "interested" times.

Scheduling feedings is really a first step towards weaning. So if you aren't looking to wean anytime soon, I'd keep nursing on demand.

And honestly, it's way easier than being a slave to the clock

blu-eyedwife · August 2012

ncbelle:

Nursing on demand is always better if you want to breastfeed long term. The danger of a schedule is that baby is far more likely to lose interest in nursing. All babies go through distracted periods where they are less interested in sitting still to nurse. If you are on a schedule, you are less likely to catch their "interested" times.

It's also better if you want to breastfeed long term because feeding on a schedule puts your body on a "schedule" and can mess with supply.

We still feed on demand at 10.5 months, but he does have a fairly consistent routine as to when he wants to nurse (right now we're between 3 and 3.5 hours)

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