Will a healthy bf baby always self-regulate?

[ag123]

Just something I've been wondering really...do you think a healthy bf baby who generally follows their line well on the charts will always be very effective at making sure they take on just the right amount of food? It just interests me that ds can go from wanting 10 mins every 2 hours (he is a quick feeder so this is the max it ever is) in one day, to no more than about 2 mins every 4 hours the next! I always think there must be other factors at play but then he always follows his centile line so well that he must just be taking on just what he needs I suppose. But I'm always terrified when he's on one of those days where he's not eating much that something's wrong.
Anyway, just wondering if anyone has the same experience or any insights on the matter.

Answer to your question is yes :)

Don't make the mistakes of i) thinking that bf is solely about food or ii) that time on the breast equals volume of milk taken

As you say there are other factors at play here.

Please don't be 'terrified' - enjoy the loving closeness and superb effiicency of breastfeeding that's going well :)

Remember that breastfeeding isn't just about food and filling a baby up. Of course, some days he may feel more snacky, and others want big dinners, but throw the weather, teething, illness, boredom, upsets, changes in routine, sleep regressions and growth spurts and there's a whole smorgasbord of BF frequencies and amounts that he may want in any given day!

That's why 'feeding' (I find nursing a better term) works best on demand. Think of every time you want a glass of water, or a quick biscuit, you wouldn't wait 3 hours just because you'd only just had one! Similarly, if your DS is happy and healthy you can rely on him to tell you whenever he wants some boob time (for whatever reason - maybe just cos that's the closest he can be to his fave person - you :)

Yes. But don't forget to offer when he gets old enough to be distracted when he's hungry, or he may just forget to ask (or show less visible signals).

Yes and it depends on how thirsty he is (your milk will be thinner on hot days), whether he's growth spurting etc.

Yes that's true and to be honest it's far more often me trying to offer him boob time and him refusing than me trying to stick to timings or anything like that. I do feel like a bad mother sometimes for not being able to read his cues very well but I feel i should offer boob whenever he complains sort of just in case he might possibly want some more but generally he refuses and sticks very firmly to his own milk agenda!

Yes. I agree with all the above but I also heard somewhere that it's not so important what your child eats in a day, more what they eat on average over a week. I know it's hard to trust your body but it is perfectly capable of providing what is needed and if fed on demand your baby will do just fine.

Also I wouldn't worry about lines on the centile chart - I mentioned this to a very good breastfeeding counsellor when DS was small and she scoffed and said "he'll create his own line" - it really put my mind at rest and it's true, your baby doesn't know of any charts; just appetite, food and comfort.

Absolutely, my mum is an HV and always checks DD's head circumference and her weight, so long as they are roughly on the same centile then she's happy. It's more important that she's in proportion than following any particular centile over time.

On a similar nite... He's really not been feeding much these past few days so I've been thinking, oh well I'll take advantage and do some expressing to build up some stores, but could this be exacerbating the problem -i.e. could he be deliberately feeding less because my supply is too much for him at the moment so he wants it to reduce?

ag - trust the baby, trust the process, go with the flow :)

Ok tiktok I'll try!

These questions have been more out if interest really, but you've picked up on the fact i do panic very easily about all things feeding-related. As DSis tells me I've got to just 'let go' of those first couple of weeks when things were tough and just look at my big plump boy to know things are going well now! :)

When DS was under 6 months, he used to drink LOADS more when it was hot, so be aware of that. Short, snacky and frequent ones that were so annoying until I realised what was going on.

Later though, when they start solids, I'm not so sure this self-regulation is so true. I was bfing on demand and doing BLW. He never attte much and I reasoned he would make up the calories with milk. He didn't put on any weight between 7-12months. I finally stopped BLW and mixed in cream and oil into his purees. Now at 15 months he's put on half a kilo since his 7 month weigh-in, so all's well now.