Should 15 week old be going longer than 2/3 hours??

[louby78]

My 15 week old DS is EBF and whilst he can go 4 hours or so if he has a really long nap or has gone 6 hours in a night (about once or twice!) sometimes he gets really fraught and despite advice I give him my breast. He doesn't have a really long feed - in fact he doesn't have long feeds generally but I just wanted to check should i be trying to space out the feeds longer?

His napping isn't great in the day. He often finds it hard to stay asleep and it takes real hard work for me to get him to have a good 2 hour stretch. COuld this be because he's snacking?

His weight gain is fine, he's on the 25th centile where he's been since he's birth but people do seem to comment on how dinky he looks which I can't help but take personally!

Who is advising you not to give him the breast if he wants it?

2-3 hours is totally normal. I have something to eat or drink every 2-3 hours and I'm a lot older than 15 weeks

My ds fed every 2.5 hours until he was weaned - remember breastfeeding is love, comfort and reassurance (plus a sleep aid) as well as food.

I think they're all different, but yours doesn't sound significantly different to mine at 15 weeks: 2 hours was a long nap, 4 hours max between feeds if he's kept interested with something else, and we had most feeds down to a quick on, suck, off

I think you'll be causing yourself misery by spacing out feeds unless you really need to.

evrrything that Rita said is spot on

Hi Louby78, I wouldnt worry its sounds perfectly normal to me. My DS was EBF until 23 weeks & up until then he fed every 2 hours, sometimes longer if we were out but more often than not he went 2 hours on the dot! At 23 weeks i introduced solids and now at almost 28weeks he has 3 meals a day with 3/4 BF. he still wakes in the night at least twice for feeds too, breast feeding on demand really is on demand isnt it!! Well done you for getting this far :)

My DD fed every 2.5hrs in the day until weaned, but slept all night from 15wks so I was happy.

Think it depends on baby tbh.

who is advising you to make him wait? You are right to ignore them.

Honestly, the others are right. It is a normal feeding pattern for a baby to eat often (although knackering for you).

I agree with Rita too :)

My 26 week old has only just this last week or two started napping longer than 40 minutes. She still looks for a feed every 2.5 hours in the daytime unless there's some exciting diversion. Getting her to settle down and take it is another thing

Sounds perfectly normal to me- ds4 was ebf and was feeding every 2 to 3 hours in the day until recently - he is now 11 months and I find it odd not to have my day so punctuated by feeding. What you describe is fine and it is probably more stressful to try to space the feeds than to follow your baby's cues and feed him.

louby78 are you me?
My 15 week DS is exactly the same, oh how I laugh when I think back to a couple of weeks ago when I was proudly telling everyone that he had started to sleep through the night! hahaha

Don't worry about the feeding, though it may be that he's getting overtired and doesn't know what he wants, but only knows that nursing comforts him - we have that situation with DD if she doesn't get enough naps! This evening she fed 5 times in a 3 hour period because she got overtired this afternoon.

If they sleep longer, feeds at other times will have to be more closely spaced to fit them in. My 14wo DD usually sleeps 8-9 hours a night without a feed, and then feeds on average every hour when she's awake (she has 2-3 naps of 45 minutes to 3 hours each a day). It doesn't bother me - I much prefer doing this to getting up at night like all my friends with babies who space their day feeds out more!

Totally normal - I agree with Rita too. Just let her feed whenever she wants.

Struggling with naps at this age is really normal - DS would never sleep for more than 45 mins at that age, although he's been a 'good' napper since 7 months.

DS fed at no more than 3 hourly intervals in the day by the time he was 11 months, although he sometimes went longer at night. He enjoyed it, I enjoyed it so everyone was happy. :)