Feeding schedule for a hungry baby!

[Flipflop1010]

Hi

My DS is 7 and half weeks old and I want to get him started on a feeding schedule. I am exclusively expressing and he currently feeds 8 times a day. I am feeding on demand but the issue is that he is already on 4.5oz bottles each feed and the time between each feed is anytime from half an hour to 5.5 hours. He has 2 bottles in quite quick succession (usually 30mins to an hour) between 6-7.30pm so I doubt he would be able to last 3 hours without a feed on a schedule. He will have another bottle around 10pm and then sleep for around 5 and a half hours. I already know that he is feeding way more than the average but I don't think he is being overfed. He always pulls away when he's had enough and doesn't spit anything up. Should I be increasing the amount of milk I give him so that I can start a regular feeding schedule or decrease the bottle sizes but increase the number of feeds? Does anyone else have any experience of a voracious feeder? DS was in the 50th percentile when he was last weighed 10 days ago. Thanks!

Is there any reason you want him on a schedule? Feeding on demand is optimal.

I'd like to start getting a bit of routine back into our lives! And I thought that babies love routines... I'm happy to keep feeding on demand for a bit longer - how long do you recommend doing this for?

Newborns are supposed to feed between 8-12 times a day so it doesn’t sound too much to me. Read up on the fourth trimester and keep up the on demand feeding, they need it when they are so little.

Babies don't love routines, they just do what they like irrespective of what routine you try and impose on them. By all means try and have a routine if that's what you want, but don't do it just because you think you're supposed to. Feeding on demand is best :)

He is having quite a lot for a breastfed baby. How is his weight gain?

Are you doing paced bottle feeding and offering a dummy?

I always fed on demand in that I never refused a feed but I think you can encourage a bit of rhythm/routine in your day.

Feeds at 6/7pm, 10/11pm, 3/4am and 6/7am already sounds like a great night time routine. You could start by alway offering the bedtime, 10pm and morning feeds at the same times and hope that the 3am one gets dropped!

In the daytime I always offered a feed every 3 hours, usually on waking from a nap (a play-nap-feed pattern). I didn't stick strictly to it but it was good to have some predictability.

It actually sounds like he’s getting into his own routine a bit anyway - especially in the evening having two bottles close together and sleeping for 5 1/2 hours. I’d see if he’ll take any more during the day and see if you can stretch the feeds out - no harm in trying!

He will tell you if he wants a routine, and start to show you what it is

He is far too young to start trying to force into a routine of your own, I'm afraid. It's not going to end happily if you start this early, especially with a few growth spurts and sleep regressions coming

Thanks for all your responses. I'm happy to keep feeding on demand but thought I needed to introduce a routine as everyone kept asking me about one. I'll just keep on doing what I'm doing.

Important lesson: every man and his dog has an opinion on how to raise babies. And yet no-one understands your baby like you do.

It is quite an old-fashioned view to advocate a routine for such a tiny baby. 4 hours between feeds (unless at night) is not recommended for tinies like yours.