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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Breastfeeders - random poll! What sort of pattern did your feeds fall into?

32 replies

lunavix · 19/10/2006 14:06

Just curiousity here.

A friend who bf until 10.5 months says by 6 months her dd was having six feeds a day one first thing in the am, one after breakfast lunch and dinner and one around 8pm. This then dropped after the meals to first thing in the morning and last thing at night until 10.5 months when she started giving milk in a beaker.

This doesn't sound like the average to me though (I definately know of a friend who was still feeding during the night at one year)

What sort of pattern did your feeding fall into? Say at 6 months when weaning and by a year?

OP posts:
FrayedKnot · 19/10/2006 14:23

It;s a bit hazy but at 6 months DS was having feeds / meals at the approx times:

6 am - BF
9am - BF
10.30 am - BF
Midday - lunch
12.30pm - BF
2.30pm - BF
5pm - tea
5.30pm - sometimes BF
7pm - BF (bedtime)
9pm - occasional feed
Between 1am - 6am - usually one feed

So that's up to 9 feeds a day & 2 meals

At a year:

5.30am - BF
7am - Breakfast
10.30am - milk in beaker if out / BF if home
12 midday - lunch
2.30 pm - BF
5pm - tea
7pm - BF
Between 7pm - 5.30am - usually one feed

So that's a maximum of 5 feeds a day + 3 meals

His feeds rapidly dropped after 12 months & by 14 months was mostly down to one feed a day (bedtime).

HTH

BipolarBear · 19/10/2006 14:28

DS2 is 9mo and bfeeds

first thing
about 10ish (for a sleep)
about 2ish (for a sleep)
about 4.30ish
bedtime (usually about 7.30ish)
then if he wakes during the evening (he often does)
then a dreamfeed about midnight
then usually once in the night - about 4ish

So about 8 feeds in a day, plus three meals (tis Hunker, btw - think I'll swap away from this bear name now)

blueshoes · 19/10/2006 14:29

There was never any real pattern to dd's feeds. If anything, dd's routine was governed by her naps/sleep. Feeding took place in between. Even at 17 months, when I finally weaned her off the breat, she was nursing all night long and as frequently as every hour during the day, but short feeds.

The only difference as she got older was she nursed less for nutrition and more for comfort (she teethed badly) and if bored and the opportunity presented itself.

But then again, my dd is a cuddly comfort snacker!

Tinker · 19/10/2006 14:42

Mine is 17 months old now and I could have posted exactly what blueshoes just said.

USAUKMum · 19/10/2006 14:51

At 6 mths both DD & DS:

on waking / breakfast (7:30 for DD, 6am DS)
lunch (12ish)
mid afternoon (4 ish)
dinner (6 for DD, 5 for DS)
pre-bed (7ish)
then once in night.

Neither went without at night until 10.5 mths.

At a year we were, breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner & prebed for DS, DD was down to bedtime only as had returned to work (but that was reluctantly).

all4ghoulz · 19/10/2006 15:05

blushoes and tinker --I am in exactly the same position with my dd who is 17m old
she feeds during the night and at random intervals during the day just depends where we are and what she is doing --i am not stopping though she too hs just had a bad time with 4 dteeth all once poor thing!!

QueenQuootieSpookypieBee · 19/10/2006 15:17

6 months -

7am, 8am, 10am, 12.30pm, 3pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm, 11.30pm, 1.30am, 4am, 5.30am, 6am, 6.30am

Thats pretty average, but some feeds are quite short.

SCARErenity · 19/10/2006 15:30

Roughly (very roughly as my youngest is nearly 3!)

6 mths - first thing (maybe 6.30/7ish?)
10.30/11ish (just before nursery pick up)
1.30/2ish (after lunch, just before nap)
5ish (just before I went to start dinner)
7.30/8ish (winding down for bed)
then during the night 11/1/4ish

Didn't aim for a routine, just happened because of school pickups etc but iirc DS1 and 2 (when I had no school run) did roughly the same thing

By 1,
Early morning one before we got up,
11ish, 3ish, bedtime and one at about 1 or 2 am when she'd come into our bed

Does that make any sense?

WriggleJiggle · 19/10/2006 20:51

Wow thats scarey! Here I was thinking the little wriggler fed non stop, when by the other postings I'm practically starving her. Doesn't seem to be doing any harm though, she's a portly little thing and I b/f on demand.

6.00/7.00am
8am snack
10am
12pm snack
2pm
4pm snack
6pm 7pm 10pm/11pm dream feed

jasnDISMemBERED · 19/10/2006 22:06

DS is almont 8 months, and I feed at
5am bf
7am (sometimes)bf
8am - breakfast
11am-12md bf
1-2 - lunch
4.30 - tea
6pm bf
7.30 bf
At least one bf overnight

CastsSpellsWitchySpells · 19/10/2006 22:18

DD 8 and a bit months. Very roughly..

6:30am bf
7:30am breakfast (but generally plays with it instead of eating, has a few slurps of milk from a cup, and then has another bf instead!)
8:30am bf
9:30am bf She's a bit hungry/thirst in the mornings!
12/12:30ish lunch with bf afterwards
2:30/3:00ish bf
sometimes another bf during the afternoon
5:30/6ish dinner with bf afterwards
sometimes another quick suck during evening
8 bf just before bed.

Just got rid of night feeds a couple of weeks ago.

So that's 3 meals plus about 9 bfs a day. Sounds a lot when I put it like that, but some of her bfs are very short.

Flamebat · 19/10/2006 22:28

8 months. Pattern has just changed.

6.30am-7amish... BF
Between 9 & 11am... breakfast
12pm BF
1pm Lunch
4-5ish BF
6.30pm Dinner
7.30pm BF
11pm BF

Nights vary - if I am in the room, it is 3am, 5am, 6.30am... if not, it is pretty much sod all until 6.30am [amgry]

More if he is poorly because he comfort feeds... more if I am poorly because I comfort feed him!!!

FrannyandZooey · 19/10/2006 22:29

Never any pattern at all. I can only base my experiences on having breastfed one child who never really stopped, and so am always completely gobsmacked when other people explain how they were only feeding a couple of times a day when their baby was 1 year old. HOW?????

Lact8HisLiverWithANiceChianti · 19/10/2006 22:38

Lol Franny, I've just read this thread amazed that some people acually know this and their babies do it( if that makes sense)

DD 10 mths feeds when she wants. She has had quite a feedy day today, 5am, 8am, 9am, 10am, 1pm,2pm,7pm but on Tuesday she just had a morning feed and a feed before bedtime, she just wasn't interested in between.

And I can't remember at all what the ds's did

moondog · 19/10/2006 22:39

suck suck suck suck scream sleep suck suck suck scream scream scream suck

QueenQuootieSpookypieBee · 19/10/2006 22:39

im just taking a guess at times...

CastsSpellsWitchySpells · 19/10/2006 22:40

Know what you mean Franny. It's hard to imagine how we could get from where we are now to just a couple of bfs in less than 4 months time. But do people who only do a couple by then do so because they use bottles the rest of the time, or do their babies just not drink milk - never sure on that.

littlepiggieneedssomesleep · 19/10/2006 22:46

just 6 months,
every 1-2 hours in the day (7-7)
cut down night feeds to 11pm and around 4am (fed every 2 hours but habit rather than hunger)

Lact8HisLiverWithANiceChianti · 19/10/2006 22:50

Qs well your lo seems to have nearly every hour of the day covered!

CastSpells, dd has water in a beaker but I've never tried her with a bottle. She is just too concerned that she's going to miss DS2's antics to feed some days. And when I try to go somewhere quiet he just follows us which she finds even more amusing

Flamebat · 19/10/2006 22:50

I was feeding constantly, and was feeling drained and can't think of the word... not used, but ykwim.

I decided that I had to start working out when he was actually needing feeding, and when I was feeding him because I wasn't sure what he wanted... started setting a timer every 3 hours. I knew he wasn't actually hungry before the 3 hours, and it helped me work out his signs slightly more. It seemed to sort of get him out of the habit of wanting it too. He then started lengthening the gaps himself.

QueenQuootieSpookypieBee · 19/10/2006 22:53

hes a greedy bugger... but its 2nd nature now... during the night I plug on and sleep, during the day I plug on and go on MN! Some of those feeds only last about 4/5 mins though...

Lact8HisLiverWithANiceChianti · 19/10/2006 22:59

DD just wants to play with the keyboard now so can't escape on MN when feeding anymore

I know what you mean about the night feeds, life felt so much easier when I stopped trying to get her not to sleep in our bed and just went with it. And Dp would always get up and bring her to me so never had to leave the warmth of my lovely bed either!

she's been s.l.e.e.p.i.n.g t.h.r.o.u.g.h but scared to tell anyone in case it all goes wrong

Lact8HisLiverWithANiceChianti · 19/10/2006 23:48

I musn't have whispered quietly enough becuase she just woke up for first late night feed in ages!

lemonAIIEEE · 20/10/2006 00:07

At 6 months - 7am, 11am, 3pm, 5pm, 7pm and once or twice overnight (all timings approximate)

At one year - first thing in the morning and last thing at night only (I'd gone back to work). Generally sleeping through the night although waking up 5.30am 6am. He actually stepped up the frequency of feeds between a year and eighteen months.

mamamaaargh · 20/10/2006 00:43

All these routines - never managed that! At 13 months I'm still feeding on demand, which at the moment seems to be ALL the time...

At a guess, I'd say every 3 hours or so, more when teething or sick, less when we're out & busy! DS also has milk in a beaker but just for novelty value - when we're home he think it's atoy and still comes to mummy for his milk