To think that breastfeeding a baby boy is more demanding than breastfeeding a baby girl?

[hairymelons]

This is my totally made up theory based on something my mum said once, what I've seen friends experience and a bit of cod-science: Breastfeeding boys (in general) is more demanding than breastfeeding girls (in general) because boys generally grow to be bigger than girls, therefore need more milk to fulfill their potential.

Please don't shout or throw things at me, I'm just wondering if others have found this to be true.

My mum BF 2 boys and 4 girls and reckons there was a big difference in appetite. My friends who BF all had girls and they seemed like 3 hourly/take it or leave it kinda babies, whereas DS was permanently attached and always seemed desperate for more. I think it's because he has tall parents and had lots of growing to do. However, I have no experience to make a comparison and so am prepared to accept that my theory is bollocks.

Thanks.

Hairymelons -as a pp has said there is no real scientific underpinning that I am aware of for the concept of "growth spurts", certainly in relation to any evidence for (a) more frequent feeding at specific ages, (b) any effect of this perceived increased frequency on milk volume/composition or (c) increased growth in the baby. There are all sorts of possible hypotheses for why babies might feed more frequently at some times than others, many of which have nothing to do with intake of calories/volume. For example, need for comfort, developmental changes, teething, hotter weather, unwell baby etc etc etc.

One possibility is that in some cases mothers expect the baby to feed more often at certain times, and hence are more responsive to their cues at these times.

Another theory might be that all babies vary their feeding frequency from week-to-week and it's easy to ascribe the highger frequency in certain weeks to a perceived 'growth spurt'.

It would be interesting to see more research.

If that's true, I want no boys.

DD fed every 2hrs at least day and night for nigh on a year. Put on a pound a week, was off the charts for weight and height, sucked for comfort, never refused a feed, fed to sleep, latched on all night and rooted constantly, head shaking, fiddling, twiddling, pulling, acrobatic feeding.

I'll show her this thread and explain that she needs to be less demanding. She's 2 though, she might just lick the screen and laugh.

am finding feeding DD much easier than feeding DS

she is very fast - 10 - 15 mins per side and less at night

DS was an hour or more to feed every hour or so (but had terrible reflux)

am sure it is all to do with the child rather than the gender

Definately not here - DD was another fussy,wanting to feed all the time baby,and DS fed efficiently and fast and went back to sleep for another 4-5 hours.Much more relaxing! (and DD was smaller - always,and they both stopped at the same age)

Yes yes yes!!!

I didn't find any particular difference between DS and DD. DD fed less at nighttime when she was newborn than DS, but this may have been me having learned between children that it is better to feed them as much as possible during the daytime if you want any chance of sleep at night.

They both fed quite a lot and slept quite a lot. Other than sore nipples at first with DS and mastitis with DD not much different IME.

No no no. I have 3 boys and 2 girls. Each of them has been different in their feeding. DD1, DS1 and DS2 self weaned at 15 months; DS3 self weaned at just under a year, and DD2 is still going strong at 2.7. If she could get me to feed her hourly she would

no. don't have a boy but in the daytime dd1 never ever went more than 1hr 45 mins without a feed as long as I was around till she was at least 10 months old. Thankfully she started to have yoghurt at 10 mos. She didn't start to wean onto solids till 13 months old.

she fed at night till i night weaned her at 2.10 yo. That child still feeds and unless I am strict with feeds she starts to ask for more feeds again.

butterfly, are we interrupting an intimate moment?

One dd and 2 ds here, all flippin enormous, all huge, all bf to about 10 months. Dd was by far and away the biggest guzzler.

Not for me, DS2 was my biggest baby (9.5lbs) and he was the quickest and easiest to feed. DS1 and DD were smaller and fed endlessly.

I can't say that I noticed this. They were all much the same.

Sorry bit of a sidestep here.. elvislives how do they self-wean? Just literally stop asking?
Thanks everyone for responding, I may possibly have to abandon my original theory..
I'm not sure about the boys being easier to nutrure than girls argument though, I don't see how that could be true?

not true in my own experience at all

Sorry, that would be nuture

No it wouldn't! Jeez. Nurture.

No I found the opposite. But then I wouldn't have believed my luck if I had a big child with a huge appetite. The reason dd was such a pain to feed was that she was too weak to suckle, so every feed took over an hour and she still wasn't getting enough.

My dd is slowly self weaning. She is 2 and a half. She's gone from feeding very regularly day and night even a couple of months ago to only having milk at bedtime and if she wakes in the night. Sometimes early morning too.

We adopted a 'never offer, never refuse' approach from aged 2 and she did start to reduce feeds gradually. About 6 weeks ago if she asked for milk during the day I always offered something else first, drink then snack and then milk if she was still asking. I expect the bedtime one to carry on for some time though. She does love it.

For what its worth I had twins - one of each and I would find it almost impossible to specify actual differences. They both had different body clocks, so there was no real routine. They both fed when they wanted and I couldn't say that there was any difference in appetite. Any differenced were more to do with their personalities rather than their gender.

They each had their own ways and routines, but that was the joy of it.

And twelve years on, BF is just a distant memory - enjoy it while it lasts.

Hard to say from my POV. DD was born, I "tried" BF, was told to only do it every 3-4 hours from birth but she screamed a lot. When I gave formula she settled for a bit then screamed a lot more. She had a dairy allergy but it was too late to go back to BF.

DS was BF constantly for the first three days and went on to refuse every formula and bottle on the market until he was a year old. It was all me until then and he still has a bit of Mummy Milk at 2.6.

Don't think that was a gender thing though.

DH however, is very demanding

Not true for mine.

Mine were similar to Haylstones' babies (except with a 2lb difference in birthweight). DD was a nuisance of a feeder; on and off all day, snacking and never filling up (partly my fault though, perhaps as she was the PFB) until I gave up on it all at 6 months.

DS was a dream; a much bigger baby but he spaced his feeds out 2 hourly from the word go and was like clockwork at night, from the very first night. He spaced the feeds out to 3 hourly within a week or so and slept through the night at 8 weeks (although this didn't last beyond 5 months, I must admit!) He was such a dream to feed that we carried on to 16 months when I was really sad to stop.

no, load of rubbish!!

LOL trickorninks,

YABU.