Hunger cues in almost 4 month old

Mmk724 · August 2014

It seems as LO gets older his hunger cues are less obvious. I EBF so usually if I'm holding him he will root when hungry but he doesn't do that with anyone else so I'm at a loss as to what to tell the babysitter to look for as far as hunger cues. I feed on demand so it's also difficult for me to give her more than a general timeframe of every 2 to 3 hours. This wouldn't be so bad if he didn't go from zero to crazy if he's really hungry which makes waiting for the bottle awful. Any suggestions or maybe could he be showing signs that I'm missing?

momofmanyinthemitten · August 2014

I automatically feed after each nap-EASY routine. It's rare that she wants to nurse at times other than that.

Rrrrrachel · August 2014

Hands to mouth? Fussiness, lack of interest in play?

Dixon813 · August 2014

Liam also doesn't really show signs for hunger like he did in the beginning. He does have a pattern during the day of eating, awake for awhile then nap ranging from 30-60 minutes (not exactly EASY, but similar) and he ends up eating every 2-3 hours.

I plan on asking day care to try to follow that, but Liam also needs a lot of attention to sleep. I don't expect his naps to be great, so I think I'll end up telling them eat every 2-3 hours until we can balance the ounces and what not (if any of that makes sense.... This has been a big stuggle for me as I prep to go back to work...)

kmos816 · August 2014

At home we typically do Easy unless she has a bad nap day; at daycare they typically just feed her every 2-2.5 hours; I think she just fussed for them when she is hungry. She never really shows me hunger cues anymore it's like she just expects me to feed her after her naps.

dmosquera4 · August 2014

my LO starts talking to you a little angry its kinda funny like hello im hungry and if you wait long enough he will start being fuzzy, hand sucking its one of the cues but its different than playful hand sucking you know when he is hungry also i give time frames like 2 or 3 hours and in between those the can see if he is angry so if its earlier than 3 hrs then you know what to do.

you cant worry about everytime you leave your LO (with a trusted person) it takes time to actually start knowing what he wants for new people so they will get the hang of it once they watch him more regularly and you will worry less and less, so my advice is just take it day by day they will eventually know what to do.

Mmk724 · August 2014

Reading through the responses and thinking about it, I guess he typically does tend to eat before naps. Though naps aren't very consistent. I'm not really that worried about leaving him but I think the babysitter is a bit nervous. She wants as much info as possible with an outline of his schedule but it varies from day to day. Thanks all for sharing. I think I will really try to pay attention to his routine the next few days and see if a pattern emerges. His naps and bedtime have not been regular much like many others have talked about in the sleep threads.