Feeding cues at 3 months

[Imeg]

I am bf on demand, and have generally looked for handsucking as a guide to hunger. He has fallen into a bit of a pattern of every 4 hours during the day, and variable times at night (was sleeping for 6hrs regularly but now usually waking after 3hrs max). However he now seems to suck his hands a lot, and I think it's often for fun/exploration/comfort/tiredness rather than hunger. I've kept to the every 4 hours pattern, and he naps well during the day and is gaining weight well, so I think he's feeding enough, but I just wondered if there are any other cues which will help me tell when he's hungry?

[luckiestgirlintheworld]

My four month old constantly has his hands in his mouth, but Iv noticed that when it is accompanied with a little twist of the head sideways, that's when it's hunger. A bit like the rooting motion he did when he was littler.
Or he'll be fussy.

[fledermaus]

I offer whenever the baby is fussy/grumbly.

[mrsmugoo]

Same, I whip a boob out at the slightest whimper (that I know is neither nappy nor tiredness related)

He feeds pretty much every hour to hour and a half - he rarely refuses when offered. I think he'd be beside himself if 4 hours went without a feed.

[tiktok]

Hand sucking is only one of a number of feeding cues. By the time a baby is 3 mths, you are quite right - a lot of the time, this is exploration and doing it just 'cos he can :) Just as he puts other stuff in his mouth, to explore taste and texture and to practise hand-eye co-ordination, to enjoy the mouth sensations and so on.

Mood changes - just as fledermaus says - are as good a cue as any.

[NorahBone]

I tend to pick the baby up and if he turns his head towards my chest and opens his mouth I assume he wants to feed! Although I do offer a boob if he is whingey, hasn't fed in a while, seems sleepy and I want a nap, or if we're going out and it might be a while before I can feed him again. He also got hand-sucky at 3 months as it was the only thing he could reliably get in his mouth to chew on!

[Imeg]

Thanks everyone - I decided to try offering more often to see if it would help him sleep better at night and he slept 8-3! Could have been coincidence but he's very interested in everything around him so I think maybe he was getting distracted during the day and not really focusing on food and then making up for it at night. We'll see what happens tonight...