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Infant feeding

Routine for BF baby - is it possible & how?

7 replies

2plus2plus1 · 06/07/2006 09:29

Hi,

I have a 10wk dd, BF. Is it possible to have any kind of sleep/feed routine or am I being ambitious. By routine I don't want to live my life by the clock (& certainly not GF), but it would be nice to have some vague idea of when she might want feeding/sleeping day to day, as it all seems a bit random at the mo. Mornings don't tend to be too bad - she seems to do a similar thing most days (but has scuppered me today!!), but afternoons and early evenings are pretty much a free for all.
I thought I might keep a bit of a diary for a few days - look at what she does most often & try & encourage her to do this more often. I could tweak it to suit me if necessary. Will this work? Am I wasting my time?
Thanks for reading

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SoupDragon · 06/07/2006 09:50

It is possible. I nudged both DS1 & 2 onto a 3 hour feeding routine that suited me and our life. They slept regularly before each feed (and then dropped down to just a couple of naps). My goal was to feed them at the times that suited me (7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm plus an extra bedtime one when they were small) but if they were hungry before these times I fed them after ensuring it was hunger and if they were tired I let them sleep. It worked out that they fed on average every 3 hours but in reality it was between 2 and 4. I wouldn't let them sleep more than 4 hours in the day and tried not to feed them more than 2 hours apart but obviously would if they wanted to.

It's not working quite so well with BabyDragon but I do know roughly when she'll want feeding.

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SoupDragon · 06/07/2006 09:51

One of the few things that (to me) seemed a good idea from GF was when she suggests starting your day at the same time every day. You then start afresh the next day even if you've had a disaster the day before meaning it's all gone perashaped.

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Jasnem · 06/07/2006 11:07

I done something similar, too. I didn't with the dds, as I could just go with what suited them from day to day, but as they are at school, ds has fitted around their timetable. (Mostly)
Definitely not wasting your time

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Jasnem · 06/07/2006 11:08

I have done...

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2plus2plus1 · 06/07/2006 17:13

Thanks for that. Glad to know that I am not wasting my time. I guess we are 1/2 way there as the mornings look reasonably sorted. I particularly like the point about getting started at the same time each day (even if my body may complain after a hard night).
Do either of recall what age you started to establish a routine? Soupdragon did you need to put any pressure on the little dragons to get them to 3 hourly (still struggling along mostly at 2hourly at the moment), if so at what age.
Thanks.

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alison222 · 06/07/2006 18:02

I did a bit - trying to stretch feeds little by little to get to 3 hourly as DS fed for 40 mins each feed so it didn't leave long between feeds to do anything. He sucked more hungrily and went with it - I had to do it gradually as he was keen to snack more but he continued to pile on the weight and was actually much happier. I tried all sort of distraction every time he cried and some worked some didn't but looking at the tins piled up in the cupboard were fascinating. And although not living my life by GF there is a lot to be said for recognising tiredness from hunger which I probably hadn't at first.
I think he wasn't eating enough earlier in the day and then was ravenous and tired by evening so was cranky.

With DD who was much easier - I woke her to feed her every 3 hours initiallly so she didn't sleep to long in the day and keep me up all evening/night feeding. This did work to an extent and she slept well at night inbetween quick feeds. But I think she was just an easier baby.