Feeding schedules or on demand?

jtay85 · June 2015

my LO is 6 weeks old. My pediatrician told me to feed every 4-6 hours, but often I find my LO wanting to eat sooner than that. Friends and family have told me to feed in demand. I am currently feeding him 4 oz every 3.5-4 hours. What is everyone else doing as far as feedings? Also, any advice for getting the LO to sleep longer at night?

justkeeptrying · June 2015

I can't speak for formula feeding but I breastfeed on demand. Every 4-6 hours seems like a long time. My LO feeds every 2.5-3 hours during the day. Sometimes more than that, sometimes a bit less. At night he does longer stretches (5-6 hours). He is 5 weeks old.

As for sleeping through the night. What has worked for us:
1) White noise
2) Swaddle Me
3) Making sure he's well fed during the day (I wake him after 3.5 hours of no feed so he will save his long stretch of sleep for at night - note: since doing this consistently I now very rarely have to wake him. He does it on his own)
4) Making sure he's sleeping lots during the day. Newborns need 15-16 hours of sleep in 24 hours. If he doesn't sleep lots during the day he becomes overtired and won't sleep as long at night. Don't try to keep baby up so he will sleep at night. It has the opposite effect on babies. Last night my LO slept from 10:30-7:30 waking only once (4:30) to feed. It was glorious for mom!!!

Good luck!

borntorun17 · June 2015

FF here and we feed 4 oz every 2.5-3 hours.

Kye042 · June 2015

My LO is 5 weeks and he eats 4oz (120ml) every 2.5-4 hrs.

In terms of sleeping, he only sleeps for 3-4 hr stretches at night. I can't wait for when he sleeps for 6+ hrs in a row haha.

saric83 · June 2015

We feed on-demand (exclusive pumping), so during the day it's usually 4oz every 2-3 hours with two longer overnight stretches of 4-5 hours each.

Our pediatrician recommended not letting DS sleep longer than two hours at a time during the day, and once we started doing that, he started doing the longer stretches at night. But we definitely distinguish a nap versus bed-time sleep that seems to help a bit too.

Nap = bottle while talking to him a lot with lights on and blinds open, diaper change, and then play time for a few minutes (if he isn't already passing out) before wrapping him in light swaddle and putting him in his crib with white noise machine on.
Bed-time = half bottle, diaper, change into PJs and Halo sleep sack swaddle, other half of the bottle in his room with just the red night-light on and white noise machine

agilber3 · June 2015

I breastfeed and bottle feed and my son's eating schedule varies. He's 5 wks old and can go 1.5-3 hours. Usually he cluster feeds in the evening and has been sleeping about 5/6 hour stretches through the night. Early on we purposely fed him every 2 hours after 5 pm to fill him up- it worked! He did sleep longer during that time too. I agree 4-6 hours seems like a long time unless its overnight.

mars8k · June 2015

4 hours is too long! An ER doctor told me to put her on a 2 hour schedule but that didn't work, sometimes she wants to feed earlier other times she wants to go longer between feeds, i can't get her to feed when she doesn't want to and i can't watch her cry when and not feed her when sh's hungry!

I feed on demand now and and she usually has a new routine every few days so i would say she's fairly predictable

mamadeuce · June 2015

I breastfeed on demand. We bottle feed sometimes but it normally just if daddy wants time with LO or if we are out and about. She us 7 weeks and eats 5-6 oz. 4 at first then a burp break and finishes another 1 or 2 ounces. Never fails. I think that's because she is use to a break in between nursing when we switch breasts. Even bottle feeds are on demand. But it's usually 3-4 hours in between. I would be a little hesitant to make her wait for 5 or 6 hours in between with only a 3 or 4 oz feeding.

LadyBlood · June 2015

My 6 week old son is exclusively breastfed and it's all on demand. Sometimes he eats every hour, other times he sleeps 4-6 hours day or night and eats when he wakes up. We don't wake him to feed him.

MrsS728 · June 2015

My 7 week old is 50-50 mix formula pumped breast milk. We bottle feed about every 3 hours during the day. If she is hungry before I nurse. At night she goes 6 hours stretches and then will cluster feed first thing in the AM. More or less we are feeding on demand.

LouieHaikuie · June 2015

Breast milk, on demand! I would probably not feed on demand if I were using formula though...

shinderlea · June 2015

On demand. -but I have been able to schedule things like grocery shopping etc... Based around her. She is getting more consistent. I think soon I will be able to have her more on a "schedule" based on her consistency with her feeds.

Caileybug · June 2015

My LO is 8 weeks old and I breastfeeding on demand. During the day it could be anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours. He usually has a good 3 hour nap and that's the longest he goes between feeds during the daytime. He has many shorter naps. After he wakes up from his long nap around 5pm he likes to eat every 45 mins to an hour. I feed him often in the evenings and he goes to bed between 8-9pm and sleeps until 4-5am, eats and gives me another 2-3 hours of sleep after that.

ladyteach0505 · June 2015

dm28 said:

FF here and we feed 4 oz every 2.5-3 hours.

Yep.

jessmaydvm · June 2015

I would be extremely cautious about this doctor! The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends feeding on demand, and have found a strong link between hyper-scheduled feedings and failure to thrive. Don't do it!

Brieb33 · July 2015

On demand -
This is a great article you should read. https://www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com/twitter-and-blog/the-dangerous-game-of-the-feeding-interval-obsession

elk04a · July 2015

We do a mixture. During the day we let our LO eat on demand and our pediatrician says let him eat as much as he wants. So it varies between 3oz up to 6oz, just depends on how hungry he is. Which then varies time wise between each feeding. But at night we do a routine where we try and do his last feeding between 9pm and 9:30 and fill him up as much as possible. He then is asleep between 10pm and 10:30 and usually sleeps till 4am with a feeding then goes back to sleep till about 8am.

DMEL · July 2015

We do a mix. Every 3 hours he gets a bottle but if he needs more before that (signs of hunger or extreme fussiness) we give it.

sunnyday016 · July 2015

4-6 hours seems like waaaayyy too long in between feedings.

I BF on demand, but I would feed on demand if I were FF.

MrsS728 · July 2015

My 2 1/2 month old gets 4 oz every 3-4 hours. She was originally on 5 oz (2 oz pumped breast milk/3 oz formula) and our pediatrician told us to cut her down to 4 oz max (We do 2 oz BM and 2 oz formula). She doesn't care if she's eating every 2-3 hours, as her stomach isn't big enough to hold 5 oz. Long story short, we feed on demand as long as she is 3 hours between bottles. I think the rule of thumb is 2.5 times LO's weight.

nursej519 · July 2015

We FF on demand, 4oz usually 2-4 hours. My LO is 11 weeks. She sleeps 8-9 hours at night. I would never do scheduled feedings. someone can't make me eat if I'm not hungry (well.. Maybe if its tempting enough :-) ) so I don't expect to do this to my LO.

There is a great book called intuitive eating that is actually for adults but it talks about how as adults, we should listen to our bodies and hunger cues, just like we did when we were babies, and only eat if we feel hungry. sometimes that is two hours after eating, other times it isn't for 4-5 hours. Its the same with our babies.

DMEL · July 2015

MrsS728 said:
My 2 1/2 month old gets 4 oz every 3-4 hours. She was originally on 5 oz (2 oz pumped breast milk/3 oz formula) and our pediatrician told us to cut her down to 4 oz max (We do 2 oz BM and 2 oz formula). She doesn't care if she's eating every 2-3 hours, as her stomach isn't big enough to hold 5 oz. Long story short, we feed on demand as long as she is 3 hours between bottles. I think the rule of thumb is 2.5 times LO's weight.

Why do you say your baby stomach cant hold 5 ounces? My eight week old eats 5 ounces every three hours and handles it like a champ. Was your baby spitting up

stark01938209 · July 2015

Agree - on demand- that being said - she's pretty much created a schedule. I feed her if she sways from it- but if you do it on demand - it'll wind up becoming a schedule (except for growth spurts that will throw it off). 4 hours is a long time during the day. You should feed when she's rooting and showing other signs of hunger (not when she's screaming for it.. You're running late at that point). You may want to get a second opinion or see a lactation consultant. That is just bad advise (pediatrician or not)...

MrsS728 · July 2015

@dmel We had her 2 month check up and when asked how much she was getting, the doctor was concerned that she was eating 5 ounces at a time and explained that at 2 months old a baby's stomach isn't that big and can't handle 5 ounces. We dropped her down to the 4 ounces and she's been fine.

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