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

[lunavix]

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?

[Mojomummy]

at 6mths I was feeding about 7-8am, then 12, 2:30pm, usually 5pm & then a good feed before bed at 7-7:30ish, so 5 feeds.

At 1 yr, generally 3 times, morning, 2:30 & then bedtime. DD1 did have a bottle at 2:30pm sometimes as I worked 3 days a week.

No night-time feeds since I weaned at 24 weeks.

[DetentionGrrrl]

Son is 17wks. He feeds every 2-4 hours depending on time of day and his mood. Usually wakes for 2 short feeds during the night.

[dennya]

DD (15 weeks) demand feeds and up untill recently there seems to have been no pattern. In the last two weeks it has settled down more and we are now feeding every 3 hours in the day and finally a longer stretch in the night .

[belgo]

No pattern! She's now 13 months and bf loads because she's ill.

[FillyjonkthePumpkinEater]

htf do you all remeber this?

dd still no predictable pattern at 15 months. ah well.

[jasnDISMemBERED]

I shouldn't have said anything either...he was up at 11, 1, 3, and 4.30, now up for the day at 5.30. [tired]

Between now and 6pm he'll only have one small bf tthough (too much other stuff going on. He just wriggles and bites if I try more) so I don't feel I can try and cut down at night yet.

[WriggleJiggle]

I still feed 'on demand', its just that her demands have started to fit into a routine

[mamamaaargh]

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

[lemonAIIEEE]

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.

[Lact8HisLiverWithANiceChianti]

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

[Lact8HisLiverWithANiceChianti]

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

[QueenQuootieSpookypieBee]

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...

[Flamebat]

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.

[Lact8HisLiverWithANiceChianti]

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

[littlepiggieneedssomesleep]

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)

[CastsSpellsWitchySpells]

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.

[QueenQuootieSpookypieBee]

im just taking a guess at times...

[moondog]

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

[Lact8HisLiverWithANiceChianti]

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

[FrannyandZooey]

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?????

[Flamebat]

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!!!

[CastsSpellsWitchySpells]

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.

[jasnDISMemBERED]

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

[WriggleJiggle]

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

[SCARErenity]

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?