How often does your 4/5 mo bf?

[Smoochyschmoo]

DS is 4 months and still wants fed every 1.5-2 hours during the day. At night it is generally 2-3 hours.

He is having some issues with slow weight gain and has tt (I’m trying to get a referral for that) but I’m not sure if these issues are causing the frequent feeding or that’s just how often some babies feed?

HV was very surprised by how often he is still wanting fed. He feeds for a very short time but is gulping away non stop so I think he’s getting a good amount of milk while he’s on.

Hi, if your baby has tongue tie that can make feeding really difficult and mean he has to work harder to get the milk so that will be making a massive difference. Once you get that corrected I think you'll see a huge change.
My little man didn't have tongue tie but did feed lots to the point I was exhausted and had to stop at 6 months as it got to point where he was feeding 12 times a day and even thought I i was about to introduce food I felt i was just too tired to go on and ready to stop completely.

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Little man now 9 months old and has 3 full meals a day (solids) and an additional pot of yoghurt and 2 x 8oz bottles of milk and I couldn't be happier I know what he needs and when. I don't miss the old days and things will get better for you.
You do have the added complication of tt though and I know it can vary in severity case by case basis. Hope you manage to get that referral asap esp seeing as how your little one has slow weight gain but at least no weight loss which is the main thing and all babies are different.

I’m annoyed as mentioned the tt to HV a couple of times to be told it wasn’t affecting feeding as he could open his mouth wide to feed...

My other 2dc both had tt also but it never got snippee as they fed fine and put on weight ok etc. It’s strange though as he put on weight very quickly at first so must’ve been feeding efficiently and his latch still seems the same. He takes expressed milk occasionally and will drink a full bottle and still want fed 2 hours later, which makes me think he’s feeding ok?

There's different severities of tongue tie so I'd think if the health visitor has checked it and I presume a gp then your little one's sounds mild. If baby is a healthy weight than everything is probably fine. They do feed more when going through growth spurts and developmental leaps. Could this maybe be the case possibly?

He’s never had it checked at all, I told HV about it and she said he seems to be feeding fine so it’s ok 🤔, it’s quite near the front but he can stick his tongue out so I don’t think it’s severe.

He’s gone from above 99.6th to above 50th, he still looks big and healthy they are just unsure why he’s barely putting anything on.

He’s never fed any less than 2 hours during the day so don’t think it’s due to growth spurt, never know though! I wondered if it was maybe just habit rather than hunger but he’s definitely hungry.

Another idea is if I only give him expressed milk for a day to monitor how much he takes, although this may not reflect what he takes from the breast of course.

I know all babies weight is different and they all gain at different levels; does your lhealth visitor think your little ones weight is okay? I guess I'd there were any concerns they'd let you know. All I can think of is your little man fully emptying one breast before switching sides? Is he getting too much fore milk a and not enough of the fatty hind milk? This would also explain why he's feeding so frequently as foremilk is more like a drink and doesn't fill them for long where as hind milk is more like the main meal so to speak and much more calorific.

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She’s not happy with his weight so that’s why we’ve been referred to peads.

At first I though it was cause he was only getting foremilk but his nappies don’t reflect that and when he comes off it’s proper milk that’s there. He only really takes 1 breast per feed.

I wonder if he just likes to snack 😁 - I wish there were little gauges when they feed so it can tell how much they’ve had - maybe I should take that to dragons den!

Haha dragons den?? I'm thinking straight to Alan sugar?
I know it's very difficult to tell. He's getting to the hind milk but is he fully emptying the breast as I remember when my son used to feed there would be nothing left. But as you say you can only be guided by your baby. And you may produce more milk than some women. Also babies empty the breast much quicker than others and are known as efficient feeders so timing is really of no relevance either. I guess if you're really not sure you could offer a bottle of expressed milk straight after breast feeding and see if your baby takes it.

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