switching from 3 to for hourly feeds, how do you know when to do it?

[myfairlady]

hi all...my DS is 11 weeks old and weighs 6.67 kilos. he currently feeds every 3 hours during the day and 4 hrs at night. however he posits sooooo much at times that i think he may have thrown up his whole feed sometimes. there are times when circumstance stretches him to 3.5 hrs between feeds, or if he is sleeping during the day then yes he'll go to 4 or longer, but if i did want to start a 4 hourly feed routine with 6 feeds a day instead of 7 how do i know when he is ready for that, will he show me the way or do i need to train him? thanks.he's breastfed for most of those feeds by the way.

Hi MFL, how are you feeding him at the moment: on demand (ie the 3-hour gap is set by him) or every three hours on a schedule? My 16wo ds is demand-fed and I found he's stretched out the gaps between his feeds gradually himself. I guess if you wanted to make it 4 hours rather than 3, it would be worth doing it very gradually, maybe 10mins at a time, and see if he's ok with that.
Can I ask why you want to make it four-hourly? Every 3/3.5 hours at this age is pretty well spaced IMHO!

ps you might get some more (and some more expert ) responses if you post on the breast/bottle feeding boards...

My little boy is six months old and only just goes four hours in the day since being on solids, although has slept through the night for a while. All babies are different. if I were you I'd keep feeding whenever he needs it in the day, if three hours is what he's used to then he will change it when he's ready. It might feel like your always feeding him but remember, the more calories he consumes in the day, the less he'll need at night. For me (my baby was horrendous to care for in the day), my night time rest was a priority! Three hours is really good for your son's age. My son could barely go two hours without a feed but maybe cos he was so greedy during the day, he slept for twleve hours at night as he was stuffed! Don't listen to advice from people or instructions on formula packets that say babies should only have 5 or six feeds a day four hours apart, it's not the case for most! Remember this is only a guideline and if he's only feeding every 3 hours at this stage, you're doing great already!

My personal opinion is that demand feeding is best. Besides, I eat when I'm hungry so why shouldn't my children. My dd is 9 weeks old and sometimes eats every 3 hours sometimes only 1.5 hours but still generally only has 4 to 5 feeds during the day time. Let your baby dictate the feeding routine, that way you won't get prolonged crying periods because your ds is hungry. It's worked for us and my dd is sleeping right through the night already

I am so that you have an 11 week old going 3 hours between feeds and 4 hours at night!!
My two were still permenantly clamped on at that age.
Posset always looks more than it is, as it reacts with stomach acid the second it hits the stomach and sort of froths up. So its unlikely he throws up a full feed.

Hi MFL,
I breastfed DD until 7 months and was guided by the Baby Whisperer who suggested that around four months most babies should be ready to be slurping every four hours. I shifted it quite gradually from roughly every 3 to roughly every four, extending the time by about 15 mins every few days. DD adjusted fine and by 18 weeks she was eating every four hours during the day, plus dreamfeed about 10.30-11pm and then sleeping through till 6.30-7. HTH - good luck!

I remember switching from 3 to 4 hourly feeds. My twins were 5 and a half weeks old. I was nervous the first day I tried it as didn't want to push them too hard but actually they were fine with the change. If you are doing demand feeding, then I guess you have to be led by them but for me, setting their routine saved my sanity. If I were you, I'd try a day of 4 hourly feeding and if they are not ready for that you'll soon know and you can go back to every 3 hours! If they cope fine with it then you can stick with it. What have you got to lose?

About the posseting - one of my boys did this and it looked like he'd thrown up his entire feed sometimes. My HV and GP both said it looks much more than it really is and so long as he is gaining weight, don't worry. Sometimes he'd throw up at the end of a feed, sometimes at the start so I knew it wasn't just because he was too full. No advice really, just to say he has pretty much stopped doing it now (at 6 months).

hi everyone, thanks soooo so much for all your advice, I didn't log in again for a few days after I posted so it was great to read all your notes and all very helpful. I actually started a cluster / split feed thing around bath time a small bottle feed at 6 and then the boob after bath at about 6.45 or 7 and last night he fussed around 2.20 as usual and I just burped him and put him back down, and he didn't really fuss enough again until 5 am when I fed him and again at 7.30. He doesn?t cry you see in the night when he is hungry he just grunts and goes on grunting for hours unless I feed him, but he didn?t do that last night til 5 so things are looking good. I will also soon see if he still actually wants to feed every 3 hours as he is so used to it and knows he's gonna get it that he just gets a bit grumpy every 3 hrs but again doesn 't cry unless it gets really late. Anyhow, I seem to have an angel on my hands but you know what....still absolutely knackered!!!! Thanks everyone. MFL