Am I missing daytime feeding cues?

[peedieworky]

Hi all! Looking for advice/reassurance yet again.

My DS is now 7 weeks old and through his 6 week growth spurt (phew!). While I'm happy he's gone from that hourly feeding frenzy, I'm starting to worry am missing daytime feeding cues as he rarely seems hungry. When he wakes in the morning I feed him, then he plays for at least an hour and a half and really focuses and enjoys interacting with with his gym etc. He then gets a bit grouchy and at that point I put him to bed sleepy and he goes for a nap. He will sleep over 2 hours and I often have to wake him as I was keen he didn't go over 4 hours between day feeds.

At night, when he's not distracted he rarely lasts 4 hours and I just wanted to check am not missing daytime feeding cues (and that his sleepiness is cos he has no energy!). He is gaining weight at a remarkable rate and is EBF.

Thanks in advance!

peedie - this sounds like an issue with confidence, not feeding :)

A baby who is gaining weight well is definitely not lacking in energy.

It sounds like you are responsive to his needs and good at 'tuning in' to him - and very unlikely to miss any cues! This is sometimes a concern with a baby who is not thriving and who would sleep for a long time and who is difficult to feed.

You could happily try to let him wake by himself in the day - just see what happens :) Let him set the pace. My guess is he might have a nice long nap in the day, and will prob start to wake after about 2-2.5 hours anyway. Which is a nice long nap :)

I have been leaving him 2.5 hours and yes you're right - nerves/confidence get me and I end up waking him!

Hi Peedieworky, your ds sounds a bit like my dd. She never really gave any cues for hunger in the day, still doesn't. She never cried for milk either, so I don't think I was missing some obscure sign. She was just pretty easy going about it all.

In the end, I offered her feeds every 3 hours or so in the day. Like you, I used to panic if she'd ever gone more than 4 hours. With another baby I'd probably be tempted to go more with the flow (easier said than done I know!). Waiting an extra hour is hardly going to make any difference, he'll take a nice big feed when he wakes and I promise you it will all come out in the wash over the course of 24 hours anyway.