3 week old only leaves 2hrs between feeds

[Gingernut81]

I just wondered if this is normal? HV implied DD could go longer between feeds if I kept her on the breast longer however she'll generally only stay on 10-12 mins & even then I have to change her half way through as she falls asleep. I'd love for her to go 3-4 hours but wondered if I'm being unrealistic yet?

2 hours sounds great.

Her stomach is tiny, she can only take a bit at a time. Neither of my boys regularly went 4 hours between feeds until they were much older, around 5 months.

Just follow what your DD wants, and ignore the HV. Most know very little about breastfeeding in my experience.

I don't think mine ever went more than 2 hrs during the day. At 3 weeks more like 1hr-90mins. I think your hv is being unrealistic

Mine did 4-6hrs overnight though from about a month

Completely normal.

Depends on the baby I think. A friend's DD fell into a 3 hourly feeding routine quite easily. Her second wants feeding wants feeding every 1-2 hours at 6 weeks old. My DD was the same, would feed for 45-60 minutes, then I would struggle to get her to wait 1.5 hours for another! The whole 3 hour routine people go on about, stressed me out beyond belief. At 3 weeks, if baby is crying, has a clean nappy and wants to go on the boob, let them. Don't tie yourself in knots trying to keep an arbitrary schedule that no-one seems to inform babies about!

Congratulations on your new arrival

It's a bit early for babies to start going 3-4 hours between feeds, their tummies are tiny! Just feed your baby when she needs/wants feeding, not when the HV says she 'should' be feeding! Only now at 7 months with the introduction of solids can my DD go 4 hours in between bf (she is a boob monster lol) x

2 hours sounds totally normal. My dd was 2 hours from start of one feed to start of the next one, until about 5 months. It did sometimes feel like the whole day revolved around feeding, BUT she ate so much in the day she didn't need much at night. She's now 9 months and down to 3 feeds a day - it does get better!

Mine once demanded 4 feeds in the time it took me to travel from Essex to south London (about 90 minutes). She fed hourly at that age.

Unfortunately I think you are being unrealistic. I was still feeding that frequently at that age. And at two months I remember doing a week of every 45-90 mins. I say remember. People tell me about it. I apparently looked quite ill. Stick with it, they do go longer and it gets easier! I would highly recommend feeding lying down if you're able to, it honestly changed my life and I started to feel more human as I was actually getting some sleep at night.

Thanks for all the replies, she's my first & I have no idea what's 'normal'!

My dd usually goes around two hours during the day and she's 12 weeks.She might go longer if we're out and about and she's in the buggy or sling ( she tends to sleep better in them) and sometimes she has a drink/snack feed every hour if we're just sat about at home or it's hot. I really don't mind the unpredictable/frequent feeding though because she sleeps well at night and her feeds are usually short and efficient.

Completely normal. And if it's early evening, every ten minutes was more common!
You're doing great

All three of mine only went about two hours between feeds, and didn't start going longer until they had solids. When the feeds are only 10 minutes you get used to it and it's fine. It's perfectly normal.

Not many breastfed babies go four hours between feeds btw. That's very much an expectation set by routine led maternity nurses and bottle fed babies (and not even most of them in the early days...)

My ds is 14 weeks and still eats every 2 hours like clockwork! I think at 3 weeks it was more like every 20 minutes with him! You're doing great and you're lucky to get that long. I've never heard of a bf baby going 4 hours between feeds at 3 weeks old. You get used to the 2 hour gap. It's really not that bad. It's enough time to get most things done.

DS is 11 weeks and generally goes 2 hours between feeds, sometimes 3. He was feeding every hour constantly at 3 weeks.

I saw a different MW and HV each time and got different advice each time. It ended up really upsetting me. (DS lost weight up to 3 weeks despite constant feeding) Some HV don't have a great manner, and don't seem to realise they are seeing you at your most vulnerable.

Same here. DD was 7 months before she did more than 2 hourly during the day.

Evenings when they cluster feed, it is is more like every five minutes with a 3 second break.

Completely and utterly normal. In fact, far more common than such a tiny baby doing 3-4 hours between feeds. I rarely go for 3 or 4 hours without a drink either and I'm 34.

Both ds1 and ds2 fed 1-2 hrs up until around 6 months! Dd is 17 weeks and following same pattern. Short feeds but lots of them. As others have said totally normal and is good for building your supply. I would be questioning your HV's knowledge about breastfeeding!

At 3 weeks I was tied to the sofa. I think dd was feeding roughly every 45-90 mins for about 30 mins a go

She's 3 months now and feeds roughly every 3 hours during the day and 3-5 at night.

I'm surprised hv have you that advice.

I rarely go for 3 or 4 hours without a drink either and I'm 34

I'm so trotting out a version of that if my PIL ever question my hungry baby again. We're on DC3 now so they might have got the idea. ..

My ds was lucky to go an hour between feeds! Sounds normal to me.

You're doing great! It might be like this for a little while, but not forever. My DD is a fast efficient but frequent bf baby. She's 4 months now and she'll go a few hours between feeds, but I just know when she's hungry and go with it. Sometimes there is an hour or less between feeds. I'm happy to do this as it had meNt a gradual reduction in night feeds (but still on 3 quick feeds during 12 hour night period).