When should I start to stretch out feeding times?

[jojoisamum]

DS is 8 weeks old and has been fed every 3 hours. He usually takes a full bottle but sometimes will leave an ounce and may be a bit more.

When should I start to extend this to say every 3 hours and 15 minutes? He's erratic at night and can sleep 5 - 6 hours without waking but sometimes it is only 2 and he's awake again and will take a full feed.

Do I just keep going?

He's bottle fed BTW and on 6 oz per feed.

[jojoisamum]

I should say it is me who gives bottles every 3 hours and not him crying and asking for it. May be I am at fault?

[JordTyler]

hi there.

I'm should say first i'm not currently bottle feeding but my DS1 was bottle fed.

I would say start spacing them out now. He should be able to go longer than 3 hours now, you may find he will take same amount but in larger feeds, ie. make 7 oz, and he would then take 6 most feeds.

Some times i used ruffly, (and this is not to routine him, cos if he seems to want it earlier then obviouslt you would give it) would be

7 am
11 am
2 pm
6 pm
10 pm

this would mean him taking most milk in day, and a possible early morning (5ish)

I've just realised writing them down that it is 4 hourly!! Could have just said that to start with, duh.

Anyway, it worked for me. He also slept through really well at this age because of getting most feeds into day time in this way. I think so anyway.

HTH

[tiktok]

I'm not sure I understand the rationale behind saying what babies 'should' be doing by a certain age. I also don't understand any rationale behind making a baby wait until he is crying every time before feeding - babies usually give signs of readiness for a feed before they get to crying. Being responsive to an individual babies' needs means being prepared to be flexible as JordTyler suggests, and feeding more, or less, often than you might feed if you were sticking to a time table.

Having said that, jojo, your baby sounds very normal for an 8 week old - the night waking is almost always a bit erratic in the first months and 3-hourly feeding is normal too

[jojoisamum]

That's the problem (well he's not a problem but you know what I mean) is that he gives no signals to me at all. Other people have noticed it too (just in case I was being stupid). He;s just found his hands and they are in his mouth all of the time so I can't use that as a trigger. He doesn't give me routing signals either so it is hard to know when he wants fed plus being bottle fed means I do need some indication as I prepare his bottles now following current guidelines. This is why I am going on times rather than him.

May be I am missing something and sorry for using the would "should" may be I SHOULD word my threads differently.

[tiktok]

It was Jord who used the word 'should' with regard to your baby, jojo

I take your point about not really knowing when he's ready - but general extra alertness and fussiness is a feeding cue as well, and he prob does these things, yes?

[CiaraB]

I am having a similar problem. My DD is only 5 weeks old, but as I am also trying to make up bottles following current guidelines, (i.e. making up each bottle from fresh, letting kettle cool for 30 mins, etc), by the time she has given me her cues and I have prepared the bottle, she is already screaming for the food.

When she was 3 weeks she seemed to want to be fed every three hours, and I could have the bottle ready in time for her wanting it. But now she has become more erratic and sometimes wants to be fed anything from 2.5 hours to 4.5 hours.

Add this to the extreme guilt I am feeling about not breastfeeding (she stopped latching on on Day 2 and eventually I was convinced that it was the bottle or nothing - I'm a first time mum - I'll know better the next time) and I am not feeling very good at all about bottle feeding

[K999]

I have 2 dcs and have never followed the guidelines!! Yes, i will get flamed for this but they are my children and so I feel I am best placed to decide.

I have always made my feeds up in advance and it has always been fine. With dd2 (now 18 months) I made up bottles of water in the morning and added formula as I needed it. It worked well. And at 5 weeks I was bf...so it was every 2 hrs!! At 12 weeks I introduced mixed feeding and it was every 3 hours. I would wake dd2 up to feed if she was sleeping. I stuck to a rigid routine during the day and by 12 weeks she was sleeping through the night and has been ever since....

[lulumama]

ciaira, you could relactate, it would take perserverance but it is possible

re making up feeds.. if you cannot predict when she will wake, the best thing to do is to use cartons of ready made formula for a while, she is still so little and feeding little and often is the norm for little babies with tiny tummies

[madmouse]

jojo it sounds like your baby is so well fed and cared for that he feels no need to root or cry, he gets what he needs on time and he knows it.

My baby was in special care for a while and I asked a doctor 'he is no longer sedated, so why does he not cry', doctor answered 'why would he? he gets everything he needs, including a tummy full of milk every few hours '. That is why in scbu they let babies go four hours eventually, so they get hungry enough to suck well.