3 wk old mix fed ds only hungry every 4-5 hours

[1978andallthat]

But everyone says should eat every 3 hours or so. But he doesn't want to, except late afternoon when he cluster feeds for a few hours. Should I worry? He has big bf and a 90ml bottle when he does feed.

What is your baby's weight?

What does HV say?

How much formula does he have over 24 hours?

My ds the same. Mixed feeding and happy to go ages, but last hv weigh revealed he had dropped off the charts and he wad sleeping to conserve energy. Make sure you get him weighed regularly so you know he isn't dropping centiles.

Just to add I switched to ff and he put on 12oz in one week, instead of 2 oz the week before

My DS3 is 18 days old and exactly the same.

He sleeps 3-5 hours between feeds apart from cluster feeding at around 9pm. He's putting on weight and has plenty of wet/poo nappies so I'm not worried. apart from checking he's breathing regularly!
I've no doubt this will change as he gets older!

Ah yes I know it's good for a 3 week old. Had no sleep for 18 months with dd except at beginning when she was both sleepy and losing weight.

Ds lost lots of weight in first week hence mix feeding. Think he's getting about half and half now. Hope to continue doing this for a while - did for 18 months with dd.

So if midwives to be believed I should wake him every three hours for feed. But no point as he just isn't interested until four and a half hours or so. But when he does feed he has breast for ages - I stop or after about 30 mins each side. Then he seems satisfied but when offered 120ml top up has 90ml-120ml of it. So has about 400ml top up a day and breastfeeds every 4 and a half hours or so, except at night when he wakes up after three hours and then feeds for two.

Sorry first para of that meant for another thread!

I hate to say it but sounds like he's not getting enough breast milk hence taking so much bottle. But you will know best as you can see him. How often are you getting him weighed. My ds only put on 2 oz last week with mixed feeding, but this week did ff all week and put on 12oz. Big difference. He didn't seem unhappy last week, so only showed a problem when weighed.

1978, hope you can get good real life advice and support on this.

Breastfeeding that infrequently (I calculate about 5-6 times in 24 hrs plus a cluster?) is nowhere near enough for most mothers to build up and maintain a milk supply - to build up and maintain, you would need to be removing milk at the very minimum 10-12 x in 24 hours - expressing if the baby won't co-operate. Ff babies usually feed far more often than this, too.

If you want to keep up any bf, as part of mixed feeding, you will need to find a way to feed more often, reducing the formula with the midwife/HV's support so you do it safely.

Not able to give more info, really, as you don't say if your baby is growing well, and that's part of your decision making.

Hope you find good help soon.

Baby now putting on weight. Not at birth weight yet though at three weeks so getting weighed again later. Fingers' crossed.

Tiktok you posted on my thread with almost exact problem last week. Since switching to ff he gained 12oz so all good.

He's at birthweight. Hooray! Plan now is to offer less ff (60 or 90 ml) as top up and see if he is hungry more often and can increase my supply.