Number of feeds for 11 week old?

[louloubelle]

Hi..I am new to this board, but have read a lot of the posts and am very impressed with the advice! I have an 11 week old baby, breastfed (which I thoroughly enjoy)who sleeps very well at night, anything between 8 and 10 hours at a stretch. She feeds nearly every 2 hours during the day, with her first feed from between the hours of 5am and 7am (depending on when she wakes) and then she will sleep again til about 9am (marvellous!) Does 7 feeds in 24 hours sound about right? Whilst I love the sleeping at night, it does mean a lot of feeding during the day(she feeds for 30-40 mins at a time, one breast only usually) Is it worth trying to cut a feed out, or might it disrupt the night time sleep? Thanks

Whow - ditto!! My wee man also 11 weeks and doing EXACTLY as yours. If it ain't broke - don't fix it!!! I just figure they are making up the calories they need during the day instead of the night If I offer him a boob when he's not hungry he simply lies back and grins at me. When he starts to do his Thunderbirds impression it means "feed me!!!". I guess as they get older they will take more at each feed and may start to want the other boob as well, then maybe the times between feeds will lengthen. For now though I would just go with her flow and enjoy that lushous sleep we are getting in the evenings

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Wow!! My 6 1/2 month old ds still feeds every 2 hours or so during the night so I'm very jealous...

Completely agree with kiwicath & twiglett, it's working for you so why change things? It sounds like you've got things sorted, congratulations!

Dream baby or what?

Oooh, I'm envious! Enjoy it and like the others say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

I agree, every 2 hours isn't unusually often during the day and the night sleep is fantastic. My ds2 is 15 weeks and he has about 7 feeds in 24 hours too - but 2 of those are at night! I know when I'd prefer them....I also almost always have to give both breasts.

Hi louloubelle, agree with the others that it sounds like she needs/prefers to have the feeds in the day. At 11wks-ish with my ds he would have around 7 feeds in a day (two at night) so it sounds about right. He too used to take a long time but that was mainly because he was 'sleeping on the job' and I had to keep tickling him to make sure he was actually sucking & swallowing and not just comfort sucking. Over the next couple of months the times reduced to about 20min per feed, and now at 9mo he takes only 8-10mins (expert feeder)

Why do you want to cut out a day feed? I know it can feel quite demanding on you, especially when you can only get out of the house by yourself for an hour or so at a time, and constantly looking at the watch. Will your dd take a bottle of EBM? It seems like ages away, but things do get easier once they're on solids and feeds drop down to 3 or 4 (the boobs aren't so much in demand!)

Hi..thanks for your replies. The reason I was considering cutting out a feed was purely because of the difficulty in leaving her for more than an hour during the day....I wanted reassurance that 7 feeds was about right, as my HV had indicated that 6 in 24 hours was more normal. I have been giving her a tiny bit of EBM in the evening every few days in order to get her used to a bottle (since 3 weeks), and she has no problem drinking out of it. However I can only express about an ounce at the most, so have started to build a frozen supply for a night out in a month or so! Forward planning, although not sure how much to plan on giving her...will 5-6 oz be enough?

On the rare occasion ds took a bottle he would always take a couple of ounces less than what I put in the bottle, which was great, but also depressing to see some of that precious milk go to waste! I think he took at 4-5oz at 4months, so you could make up 6 and see how she goes. Or you could give her 4 (or whatever) and offer her the breast afterwards if you think she's still hungry. Then you know to make up a bit more next time.

As for expressing I found first thing in the morning the best time, you need to be relaxed, drink lots of water, and have a pic of baby nearby (or the real thing!). By the evening I found my supply dipped (or rather less would come out when expressing). Remember to always express when you give a bottle. HTH.

Hi Louloubelle. Seems we are on the same wave length. I too started with a bottle of EBM at the 10.30 feed at about 3 weeks (since stopped - too lazy). I found even in the evening I could still express 3-4oz within about 10 minutes. He would down that plus turn towards boob for some more and drink steadily for another 10-15 minutes. I'm guessing he would be getting another 3-4oz from the boob so 6-8oz sounds about right???. Two batches of 4 might be less wastefull just incase she doesn't take it all. I'm getting a baby sitter in for the 1st time tomorrow night but planning to be back for 10.30 feed. Can't quite bring myself to leave him with stranger and the bottle - my problem, not his. As our littlins are the same age and have the same sleep habits, just wondering... are your boobs the size of honey dews in the morning??? He's not had a night feed (other than 10.30pm) for the past 4 weeks but boobs still haven't adjusted. He's sleeping till 7 but my boobs are waking me at 5!!!! Still, perfect time for milking

my ds (now nearly 16 weeks) normally has about 6oz EBM at a feed. Remember even if you don't quite leave enough (i.e. she would happily eat more) she only needs to get through to when you come home and feed her.
Your HV's advice is pants btw - why do people persist in giving advice about bf that assumes it works like the bottle? When ds1 was that age he would have 9 feeds in 24 hours - for whatever reason,he needed them.

HV doesn't know what she is talking about, clearly....and what would be the big deal about giving 7 feeds in 24 hours instead of 6 anyway??