LC vs. Pediatrician instructions - now confused!

xinightingale · June 2014

My Pediatrician told me to nurse my baby (now 1 week old) every 1 1/2 to 3 hours. If he is asleep, to wake him and feed. She advised me not to nurse earlier than 1 1/2 hours to avoid cluster feedings, and also because I'm still dealing with nipple pain and soreness during nursing, so this would avoid over-use. On the other hand, the LC I worked with at the hospital told me to nurse him as needed, that my baby would tell me when he is hungry, and to feed him then, just to make sure I had at least 8 nursing sessions per day. This would mean more sleep for me at night, since he has already had a few instances where he slept for 4 hours (and probably could have gone longer), but more feedings during the day when he is more alert. Even if he is looking to feed again an hour after the last session.

Naturally, after receiving conflicting information, I'm really confused. I'm probably over-thinking this, as I do with a lot of things lately. I just worry that if I only feed when my baby cries or starts looking around to suck, that he will not eat enough. But when following my pediatrician's instructions, I was setting an alarm for every 3 hours, even overnight and waking him to nurse every time. Any thoughts or experiences on the subject? Thanks so much!

vvvvvfee · June 2014

here are a couple of good articles:

https://kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing/
https://kellymom.com/bf/normal/hunger-cues/

my general advice would be to listen to the LC and watch the baby, not the clock. i think i could have saved myself a lot of grief if i just let my DS nurse as much as he wanted in those early weeks (which was nearly constantly), instead of saying "it can't be time for him to nurse again already! the pediatrician said he only needs to nurse once every X hours!" also, feedings are supposed to be measured start to start- so if your LO takes 45 minutes to nurse, that next feeding is going to be coming up really quickly!

that said, you also don't want to let your LO sleep for extremely long stretches this early, because you want to establish your supply, and you don't want to end up engorged or with clogged ducts. so i would wake your LO if it has been more than 4 hours at night or more than a couple of hours during the day, at least for the first 6 weeks or so.

Brittlamarche · June 2014

Nurse on demand. You will end up in cluster feedings but that is a good thing. Baby does that as his/her way of saying "make more milk mama!!"

flcl · June 2014

Hi there... I had the same confusion regarding conflicting advice given by the pedi and LC. What I ended up doing was feeding LO on demand but never went longer than 2-3 hours during the day, 3-4 hours at night until the pedi said I could stop waking him for meals. That was when he was back up to his birth weight. At that point, I started feeding on demand.

jesselayne8 · June 2014

Cluster feedings are not a bad thing. Nurse on demand.

xinightingale · June 2014

Thanks so much for the advice, everyone! My LO has a pediatrician appointment today so he will be weighed and hopefully be gaining sufficiently. He is definitely peeing and pooping regularly all day/night. I know I shouldn't stress too much about it, he will let me know when he's hungry, but as a new mom, my brain has to find something to worry about. I can't seem to just relax. I know that he's healthy, and eventually I will be able to ease my anxiety....or at least find something else to worry about haha

lalaith50 · June 2014

ugh... rule #1.. almost never listen to pediatrician's re: breastfeeding advice!

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LC vs. Pediatrician instructions - now confused!

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