how often should he be fed?

[asur]

my DS is 3months old and is VERY hungry. He is breastfed on demand. He was feeding about every 3hrs during the day with a 5-6hr stretch between feeds during the night.

He then went through a growth spurt where he was feeding pretty much 24hrs/day for about a week. Since then, he has not gone more than 2½hrs without a feed - day and night! He doesn't even seem to be snacking, he is taking full feeds.

I have tried expressing to see how much he is taking and it is 8oz per feed.

I don't mind continuing feeding him but is this normal? He is very active so he does obviously need the calories but is does this seem excessive? Few people (including my mum) suggesting to start weaning him or give him a bottle of formula at night. I'm not sure that is wise but it is just so exhausting doing all this feeding. Any opinions on weaning this early?

TIA

[Socci]

Message withdrawn

[NotQuiteCockney]

How long ago was the growth spurt? Things will probably settle down again.

It is very exhausting, feeding that often - are you co-sleeping? Is it an option? Getting out of bed lots of times in the night to feed a baby is really hard on your sleep, IMO.

(And as Socci says, please do stick with exclusive BF if you can - you're doing the best thing possible for him, even if it is sometimes hard work.)

[foundintranslation]

His feeding is absolutely normal! Feeding every 3 hours for a very young bf baby is actually not all that much, and atm he needs more so he's upped his feeds - it really is supply and demand. At 3 months my ds was often feeding every 1 1/2 hours, and (sorry) it took him months and months to stop waking up for a feed several times a night. Your ds might wel be different, though, ans this phase will pass.

expressing is not a reliable guide to how much your ds is taking, as a baby is much more efficient than a pump at getting the milk out. Is he happy and content? Lots of wet nappies, is he pooing? Those are the guides you need to go by.

I know it's exhausting (oh boy, I do) but 3 months is really too early to wean. (Also, it's such a faff... ). Your supply should be established by now so a bottle of formula at night would probably not affect it, but be warned, it may not help the sleeping (although if your partner feeds it will give you a break for one feed) and will negate some of the health advantages of exclusive bf. If you really want your partner to give him a bottle at night, why not express after the last feed in the evening?

HTH!

[tiktok]

Very normal pattern, asur....how often does something pass your mum's lips during the day? Probably every three hours if you inc tea, coffee, snacks and meals.

FIT is right about expressing.

You're doing just fine and weaning at this early age is pointless and could be damaging.

[hermykne]

socci do you mean wean to a bottle ?
your breastmilk is very calorific, and adequate for him, 2 1/2hrs is normal and btw bottlefeed babies can do less too, so dont think it'll greener on that side of the fence.

try to keep up the feeding there are mountains to get over but it does settle back into a very knowable routine, by that i mean , you'll know your baby very well.

[asur]

Thank you for all the help

I didn't think he did need to be weaned but I just needed a bit more reassurance I guess... My mum has breastfed 3 kids and she is usually very helpful/wise but this weaning thing keeps coming up. I was doubting whether I was right.

I will just keep going with it and hopefully he will slow down his feeds soon (ish)

As for the expressing - I was judging the amount he took from feeding him EBM not just from what I expressed. I had left him for a few hours and left a couple of bottles of EBM and was shocked when I got home and found out he took 8oz per feed. Just a boy who likes his food I guess (maybe gets that from me!)

Thanks, knew I would get the right answers on here

[tiktok]

asur, how much a baby takes when it's ebm/formula in a bottle is not a guide to how much he will take from the breasts....for a start he may suck just 'cos it's there and for another thing, he's not going to take exactly the same amount at every feed, every day!

Good to hear you feel more confident about just carrying on

[asur]

Yes, I suppose you are right Tiktok... I used to be so organised though and I although I know breastfeeding is right, I just wish it was a bit easier/more regulated... little 'oz' markings on the breasts would be so helpful

Will just let him lead the way though and provide whatever he fancies - well for the next few months anyway

thanks