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what's the advice about when to drop a milk feed?

5 replies

HooperMummy · 24/06/2010 22:27

My DS is 11 weeks old and has recently begun sleeping through the night (8pm-7am). We were previously waking him at 11pm to feed but he became very hard to wake up and would then drinking a little bit before falling back to sleep. As soon as we let him sleep for as long as he wanted, he started sleeping through till 4-5am which gradually stretched to 7am. Plus, he is actually drinking so much more at his remaining feeds that he is drinking more in a day than before!

My query now is whether it is harmful to a baby to let them go too long between feeds at this age? DS is starting to show signs that he may want to move down to 3 bottles a day in the near future but I'm not sure whether it is safe to go that long between feeds when he is still so young, even if he wants to?

(I don't know whether it is relevant but he was 9lb 2oz when born and whilst he has steadily gained weight since, he has dropped from the 75th percentile to just below the 50th percentile for weight. He has always drunk less that the amount recommended for his weight so the increase in the overall amount taken in a day is a really good thing.)

Any thoughts/advice would be gratefully received!

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herethereandeverywhere · 24/06/2010 23:44

Sorry, I'm not the right person to answer this, you might want to re-post in the breat and bottle feeding section.

3 feeds a day sounds too little to me, esp. at just 11 weeks but I'm no expert. Your HV should also be able to answer this one.

HTH

Seona1973 · 25/06/2010 07:56

3 bottles doesnt sound enough to me either. Mine had at least 5 or 6 at that age and werent down to 3 until around 9 months. How often is he feeding?

HooperMummy · 25/06/2010 09:48

herethereandeverywhere - thanks for your advice (I didn't realise there was a breast and bottle section!). I will repost this in the hope that someone might know. I am going to talk to my HV about it but I'm not seeing her till next week...

Seona1973 - during the day we are feeding him every 4 hours (7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm) but he doesn't seem particularly interested in the 11am feed anymore but seems to take a lot more at the 3pm feed than before. I'm not going to drop another feed just yet - it may just be him getting used to the new routine!

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BertieBasset · 25/06/2010 20:13

Hi there

Nope wouldn't worry about the night feed - just thank your lucky stars you can sleep!

Re the day feeds, I'm a big believer of feeding on demand. If he wants more give it him, if he doesn't no worries as long as he has wet nappies.

I didn't drop to 3 bottles until I started weaning, I'd keep offering him the milk every 4 hours - he may be going through a little fussy stage.

HooperMummy · 26/06/2010 22:26

Thanks BertieBasset - I must admit that I am loving the unbroken nights!

I am essentially feeding on demand during the day at the moment anyway so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing. He may well be going through a fussy stage so I'll just keep things as they are for now. He's a happy and contented baby so I'm not worried that he's not happy.

Thanks for the reassurance!

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