Schedule or On Demand?

jdveatch · April 2013

Our LO is 8 weeks old now. We are still feeding him about every 3 hours during the day & letting him go "on demand" at night. (I always pray for him to sleep til 2 a.m.!) We breastfeed and bottle feed. He usually drinks about 3-4 oz. after I BF. Are you all still on feeding schedules or have you switched to on demand? I'm in education and the teacher in me really likes a schedule and on demand might mess all that up resulting in us having to stay up later. ??? It just seems like we're waking him up to feed a lot. We don't see the pedi for another 3 weeks. Anyone know at what point we start feeding him more and seeing what happens? I don't think cereal starts til 4 months or so. ??? New mom...lotsa questions!

youenjoymyself · April 2013

We're on demand all the way, night and day. And we have a bedtime routine that's fairly strict, meaning it usually only varies by 15 to 20 minutes. We BF and supplement with formula. She's pretty consistent about eating every 2 to 2.5 hours during the day and sleeping two 4 to 5 hour stretches at night. She eats 2 to 4 oz of formula plus whatever she gets from the boob.

Annelea · April 2013

We are "on demand" our little guy will not take a bottle if he is not hungry and as far as trying to feed him more so he will sleep longer is such a fail, if he is done, he is done.

ann_jeremiah · April 2013

I've fed on demand since bringing him home.

Also... I don't start cereal til 6 months.

mnj05 · April 2013

We do on demand but its also somewhat a schedule that DS has made since day one. We feed every 3 hours sometimes 3 and a half. At night he's starting to go 4 to 5 hours at first then start back his 3 hours.

Of course there have been exceptions, he's gone up to 7 hours during the day once and a few times at night. We are formula only.

Runaway22 · April 2013

ann_jeremiah:
I've fed on demand since bringing him home.
Also... I don't start cereal til 6 months.

Yep, this. We do it all on demand, except now I have to *put* him to sleep. I got so spoiled with a baby who napped when tired for 3-4 weeks. He's just so curious these days, and fights the sleepiness so he can continue exploring.

Mrs MoJoRisin · April 2013

I never feed on a schedule, and honestly never even look at the clock when she eats. Never affected her sleep at night.

Lex703 · April 2013

I feed him in demand. He usually takes 3 to 4 oz every 3 hours. As far as cereal goes I think I read somewhere that you can start at 4 mos. but I'd have to ask the pedi.

Carol*Brady2 · April 2013

I feed on demand. I did a schedule the first couple weeks due to jaundice Docs orders but after that I just wait for cues. She eats every 3ish hours all day, cluster feeds in the evening goes for a 4 to 5 hour stretch at night.

HML5382 · April 2013

I think I do some sort of combination. I aim for a 3 hour spread between feedings but if she is fussy sooner and I can't sooth her in some other way, I'll feed her. I never wake her up to eat, so if she goes longer I just wait her out (she hasn't had any weight concerns though so I've felt comfortable doing this). I EBF so I'm not sure of the oz's but during the day she nurses every 2-3 hours and then she does 2 long stretches over night of about 4-5 hours.

As for cereal, I offered it around 4 months with DD1 but she wasn't very interested. I think it was more like 5 months when she started actually eating it and soon after that we started introducing veggies and fruits.

Andrea+David · April 2013

We do on demand unless its been over 4 hours since he's eaten during the daytime... At night its strictly on demand! Our peditrician told us that cereal can start between 4 and 6 months... I always use that as the excuse to those old ladies who keep telling me to put cereal in his bottle to help him stay full and sleep!! We will probably start around 4 months though because he really doesn't like the bottle and I unfortunately had to stop breastfeeding!

runningyogimama · April 2013

We feed on demand. Usually every 2 ish hours during the day, and then she'll sleep one 5 hour stretch and another 2 or 3 hour stretch at night. Even before she was back to birth weight, our pedi never told us to wake to feed, and I can't imagine voluntarily waking her up to eat! If she's hungry, she lets us know.

Our pedi also made a very firm point of NO CEREAL yet. I've heard you can start as young as 4 months, but cereal really has no nutritional value, so we are planning on just doing baby led weaning between 4 and 6 months, whenever she is ready.

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