Feeding cues

[PenelopeChipShop]

Just thought it might be useful to compare our babies' cues for feeds. My ds is 11 weeks and up until a couple of weeks ago had very clear signals, leaning back and opening his mouth! But he's stopped doing that. I suppose I've been sort of going on instinct and sometimes just offering after 2 or 3 hours if he hasn't 'asked' - but he is also only feeding for about 5 mins at a time now so I'm wondering if I'm actually feeding too often and he's not that hungry... Maybe I'm not 'letting' him give me a cue. But if he seems grizzly or if I position him for nursing and he looks keen (widened eyes, a sort of coughing grunt as though he's impatiently waiting for it) I feed him. Does that sound right? How does everyone else 'know' beyond the obvious newborn stage? TIA x

Good question would like to know too

I found the poking the tongue in & out to be the feeding cue that has stood the test if time. DS is five months now & still does it. Totally confused me when he starting putting his hand in his mouth all the time at around 14 weeks!

They become much more efficient feeders around the three month mark. DS can polish a boob off in about three minutes flat now

I stuck a nipple in anytime there was a noise. Possibly why both DCs ended up on 98th centile.

Lol the above! Totally same here too. Every time dd makes coz noise or movement nipple is shoved in mouth!

smack lips more and more frequently, suck fist, clench fists, wave arms, head bang, cries 'ma!, thumped me, sucken fontanelle; few months older gets more vocal, fidgety, all objects in mouth fowolled by frustration, dribbles! says 'muma' cries 'bra' ! there was a time around 3 months when i had no idea as things seemed to change all the time.
dd also a 5 min. feeder but every 1-3 hours made no difference.

Ok at least I'm not the only one who does this then! seriously mine does the hand in mouth thing too but I think sometimes it's s tiredness thing... Could be wrong though! It's that baby whisperer book that's got me doubting myself as it said something about women commonly mistaking other cues for hunger. Better to be safe though and offer it surely?

They all say 'neh' or 'aneh' when hungry. It's the sucking reflex that causes it. more here it was certainly true of my baby. He still says 'aneh' now at 10 mo when he's tired and hungry

Don't listen to the Baby Whisperer! She says mad things like 'don't feed to sleep' which is literally the best thing ever invented for babies.

Baby Whisperer has hardly anything in it about breastfeeding that's correct or helpful....just ignore :)

dd did switch to hand sucking when tired and this progressed to random hand sucking and thumb sucking when tired. then eye rubbing when tired. then just before and when she feeds she did the open close hand thing (twinkle twinkle) that i think is baby sign for hungry/thirsty/milk or sth (i've never done it to her for milk). will listen for 'neh'. trying to reinforce 'muma' by responding really fast cos i like it

I'm listening out for 'neh' now! Can't wait til he can say mama though, I will melt! Still haven't spotted anything concrete, though the coughing sounds seem to be consistent.

Oh and I always feed to sleep before bed, why on earth wouldn't you?

Hiccups. My DD gets hiccups when she is starving. She was hiccup-y in the womb, nothing changes!

Hiccups. My DD gets hiccups when she is starving. She was hiccup-y in the womb, nothing changes!

It took me a while to spot the 'neh' pre cry sound but once I'd tuned in to listening for it, it was definitely the most reliable cue. Easy to miss though because it happens just before proper crying which is always pretty much the same.

Forgot to add, at 10 mo DS mostly just pulls down my top and helps himself when he wants milk or crawls off to the kitchen when he wants food. Doesn't take so much skill to work out what he wants these days!