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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Breastfeeding every 2-3 hours

29 replies

LilahRose · 12/09/2006 17:52

Hi - is it normal for a 9 week old baby to need feeding every 2-3 hours during the day? Am exclusively breastfeeding. She used to go every 3-4 but seems to have regressed over the last few weeks. I don't mind feeding her - I'm not working at the moment - but wondered how long it takes to go a bit longer, say every 4 hours, between feeds?

OP posts:

WigWamBam · 12/09/2006 17:56

It's normal. She only has a tiny tummy so can't hold enough milk to keep her going for longer. It will probably be a little while yet before she can go for 4 hours.

motherinferior · 12/09/2006 17:57

Yes, I'm afraid it is. My two both seemed to feed constantly at ages when everyone else claimed their babies were going for four hours between feeds.

It does sort out later, honestly it does. Remember that even though nine weeks seems like a looooooooooong time when you're going through it, she's still absolutely minute.

PannsPeopleQV · 12/09/2006 18:03

Yep, normal. Enjoy...DS has reduced his feeds to twice a day and I kinda miss it (he is 16 months though....)

USAUKMum · 12/09/2006 18:26

By 6mths both mine feeding at roughly 7ish, 12ish, 4ish, 6ish, then bedtime.

Sounds as if you are doing good !

Waswondering · 12/09/2006 18:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CantSleepWontSleep · 12/09/2006 18:45

My 7 month old still feeds every 3 hours or less, so sounds perfectly normal at 9 weeks!

bodenbetty · 12/09/2006 18:48

mine is 10wks tomorrwo & goes
7am/10am/1pm/4pm/6.30 & then at least twice in the night. (all timings very -'ish'!)
so sounds about right to me.

sorrell · 12/09/2006 18:50

Do you go four hours without a cup of tea or meal? I don't! Perfectly normal.

Original poster

LilahRose · 13/09/2006 08:23

Thanks - just wanted some reassurance that I didn't have a low milk supply really.

OP posts:

moondog · 13/09/2006 08:26

It will space out gradually.
In the meantime,make the most of the chance to sit down because that will stop very soon.

Piffle · 13/09/2006 08:29

Sounds pretty normal from emory of both of mine
Growth spurts can lead to increased feeding in the short term as well.
I caqnnot remember when they settled down to 4 + hours by 4-5 mths I think. They both went 6 hours or more at night from about 10 weeks

lemonaid · 13/09/2006 08:53

Yes, normal. I think it was 4-5 months before DS was going 4 hours between feeds consistently.

hunkermunker · 13/09/2006 09:07

Yep, normal. Think about how often you have something to eat or a drink - won't be much less than every two or three hours, I bet.

amijee · 13/09/2006 10:09

god - how depressing. My LO is doing 2 -2.5 hrs and all thru the night - I was hoping it would improve by 3 mths.

Doesn't it depend on weigt and size as well? Presumably, the bigger they are the largeer their stomachs?? Just a guess...mine was born at 6 pounds 4 oz.

why is is that there are so many conflicting messages about feeding frequency? All the books seem to say that they should be on 3-4 hourly feeds if they are feeding properly ( including a very good breast feeding book) yet the experience of MN is very different.

I would really like to have more space between the feeds but not if it is bad for him. Any suggestions?

lilymolly · 13/09/2006 10:24

hi, dd fed every 2 hours during the day when I bf (till she was 17weeks) but went much longer 5- 6hours in the night, so my theory is that they stock up during the day so they can get thru the night iyswim.
my dd was/is very petite 6lb15oz born, and obviously could only hold a small amount of milk in her tummy. Think you lo is prefectly normal, take no notice of the books ect, I think you should be led by your baby, they are all different and feed differently. The only way to get more time between feeds so you get a rest would be to either give bottle of expressed milk or formula- I know I will be shot for saying that!! If anyone has any other advice please listen to it, because one of the reasons I gave up bf at 17 weeks is because it was every 2 hours and I felt like a cow!!, so would hate you to give it up becasue of this. one word of warning though, even when dd went onto formula she only lasted 3 hours between feeds, so thats not always a miracle cure either. I am sure there are far more experienced bf out there who can help you. Good luck

WigWamBam · 13/09/2006 10:54

Amijee, the problem with believing what "all the books" tell you is that your baby hasn't read the books. All he knows is that when he's hungry he wants feeding.

I'm sorry that you find feeding so often depressing, but try looking at it another way. Look at the size of your baby's fist - that's the size of his stomach. Tiny, isn't it - and won't hold a huge amount of milk. And that's why he physically can't go for longer than a couple of hours without being fed.

The only consolation is that it does get better - he won't always be feeding every two hours. Gradually the feeds will space themselves further apart until you're getting four hours between them ... but don't expect that to happen for a couple of months yet.

lemonaid · 13/09/2006 11:00

Doesn't it depend on weigt and size as well? Presumably, the bigger they are the largeer their stomachs?? Just a guess...mine was born at 6 pounds 4 oz.

Mine was born at 10lb 5.5oz.

"Oh, a big baby like that will sleep through early" said the community midwife.

Hahahahahahahahaha.

I have revenge fantasies about tracking her down...

I did try spacing DS's feeds out to 4-hourly earlier, as per the books, but he wasn't happy and if he wasn't happy he made sure I wasn't happy. After a couple of weeks I gave up, went with the flow (which at the time was about 3-hourly feeds), and things worked much better.

tiktok · 13/09/2006 11:36

aimijee - you say 'All the books seem to say that they should be on 3-4 hourly feeds if they are feeding properly ( including a very good breast feeding book)'.....which book is that? It's just not true that 'all' the books say that, and if a book does say it, then by definition is it not a very good breastfeeding book!!

Daisymoo · 13/09/2006 11:44

Is the 'very good breastfeeding book' the 'What to expect when you're breastfeeding' or another offering by Claire Byam-Cook? Because they're NOT good breastfeeding books, and are full of inaccuracies based on her own opinions rather than good researched evidence. It is absolutely normal to be feeding this frequently. My last baby used to feed at least every 2 hours, if not more and was growing just fine. It's a bit of a pain at times, but it's a good excuse to sit down. Have you tried a sling which you can feed in and/or co-sleeping at night if you're finding it tiring?

lazycow · 13/09/2006 11:57

I really don't want to put anyone off breastfeeding but ds never went more than 2-3 hours between feeds until he was safely on solids at around 8 months old.

Most of the breastfed babies I know rarely go more than 3 hours between feeds much before 6 months old and most of them were a lot older than that before the feeds spaced out more. A lot depends on how well they take to solids later on etc. In the meantime at this age I would say 2-3 hrly is pretty average - many babies of this age feed even more frequently than that for periods of time.

DS did feed much more quickly at around 3 months old (it took up to an hour to feed him before this) so it seemed like they spaced out more IYSWIM as I had more free time in between feeds.

The problem with spacing feeds in the day too much is the baby can wake more at night to make up for what they are missing during the day. I'd encourage as much feeding as possible during the day (within reason of course).

Also if your dd went longer between feeds before she may be having a growth spurt and settle down a bit more later.

amijee · 13/09/2006 12:36

Thanks for all the advice - very helpful as so honest.

Yes - the book is what to expect when breast feeding - I found it very useful on the whole.

As for co- sleeping - I'd rather not! When does it stop? And I don't want him to get into the habit of going for my boob when he may need something else. I also don't think it's a very good way of them learning how to sleep on their own.

To be honest, if this carries on beyond 3 mths...i'm afraid i'm gonna introduce formula. I have to go back to work and can't express every 2 hrs owing to my job ( I know the employment rights etc) If my supply keeps up - fine, if not, well..i've done 3 mths!

tiktok · 13/09/2006 12:54

Don't want to get poor old MN into another battle, but the What to expect book....is indeed lacking in evidence and research (though bits of it may well be helpful to some people) and some of the info in it is plain wrong.

Babies who are a little older can certainly learn to go longer than 2 hours when circumstances arise that mean they have to, and there does not have to be any grief in teaching this, either (I stress this is babies who are older than a few weeks).

A baby of 3 mths who is still feeding 2 hrly can stretch the gap between his feeds in the time mum is away, if his mum/carer helps him to do so, and this does not mean leaving him to scream or to be hungry.

Bf is not some sort of endurance test! And I don't think I know anyone who has expressed 2 hrly when at work.....and has kept it up! It's simply not necessary.

Piffle · 13/09/2006 13:07

exactly tiktok
my tiny dd at 6 weeks had to have feeds 3-4 hours apart due to reflux (she would bring up feeds any closer together) and low weight gain linked to a heart condition.
We used a dummy (was tough choice for me have always been anti dummy) for 7 weeks to help space out the feeds and it did improve things. Then as she got bigger we were able to lose the dummy and continue as normal... feeds every 2 hours

On the other hand my larger healthy ds, fed willy nilly round the clock for most of his first year. AS a larger baby he needed MORE not less feeding
My philosophy is
Baby is as baby does

singersgirl · 13/09/2006 13:10

DS2 was another one who fed 2-hourly, but he slept long hours at night from really early on: 5-6 hours by 3 weeks, gradually increasing to 12 hours at 10.5 weeks. He just crammed all his feeding into the 12 daytime hours.

DS1, who didn't sleep through the night at all early, fed every 3 or so hours until weaned.

lazycow · 13/09/2006 17:23

I think the thing to remember is that the feeding gets easier so although every 3 hours seems a lot now you get used to it.

When are you going back to work? I went back when ds was 10 months old and went back part time and I didn't express at all. I provided a bottle of formula for the day but ds just ate more food, drank water and waited for me to get back as was not keen on the formula, so although he fed every 3 hours with me, he also waited for 10 hrs on the days when I was at work.

Obviously if your baby is a lot younger you may want to express while at work but honestly most people only do this 1-2 a day maximum.

Don't worry about it yet. I do remember that in the early weeks I really believed things would not improve with breastfeeding and that I would get to 3 months, (then 6 months) and stop but tbh by then breastfeeding was so much easier than bottles I continued and ds still breastfeeds a couple of times a day now at 21 months.

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