can u do routine

[softmusk]

am ttc number 3 and thinking about bf this time first 2 were bottle

but i am big on routine and knowing where i am at and when baby needs feeding

my dd's both feed every 3 hours in the day and where going through the night a 3 weeks

i just find if u try and to talk to any one in health proffesion or normal people imo they all just try and push u towards bf like ur a bad mother if you bottle feed

I think it is ultimately up to you whether you bf or bottlefeed.

I bf both of mine and in the early weeks there was no routine!!!They feed on demand sometimes hourly,sometimes every 2.Sometimes they "cluster" feed for what seems like hours,especially when on a growth spurt!!!

Though it is hard work in the early days once I had got feeding established I did enjoy the closeness.

There is a lot of good advice and support on here if you do decide to breastfeed,but you should not feel guilty if it does not turn out to be your thing.

Good luck with no 3.HTH

breastfeeding works best if you feed on demand. yes after the first few weeks you might find you fall into a 3 hourly feeding pattern, but the best thing is to be guided by your baby, ie no set times.

look at kellymom.com for good info.

No reason why you can't follow a routine if you are bf - but probably good to be flexible about these things however you choose to feed!

IME modern formula doesn't mean babies can go any longer between feeds anyway - we used to give ds a bottle before bed for a time but actually found that he slept longer and went to sleep better after a good bf.

You do have to 'go with the flow' with breastfeeding. I think most babies and mums fall into a rhythmn fairly quickly, (With DD about 3 months). Not sure about routine, but BM is the ultimate convenience food .

I, like you bottle fed dd1 (early failed attempt at bf - lasted 3 days), and was into a routine early on - slept through from a week and fed 4 hourly from about the same time (her lead not mine). This time round - dd2 is 15 weeks we have managed to breastfeed though have only in the last few weeks kind of fallen into a routine. Though some days she feeds 2 hourly, some 3 and some 4 - though I must add that mostly 3-4 horuly. I found it easier when I stopped clockwatching all the time and took her lead to feed when she wanted rather than when I though she should be looking for a feed and we are getting on great now.
There is loads of great support and advice on here but if its not right for you then dont be pressurised into it.
Good luck in whatever you choose.

depeniding on your baby, I think a certain routine is possible from about six weeks - so long as you're prepared to be flexible at times (e.g growth spurts).

You'd do well to get in touch with a local bf group to get a sense of what 'average' babies tend to do.

The trick is to love the portability. Take the whole brood out to the park. Whack the baby on the boob for a feed on a bench; feed him a little more if he's getting grumpy if the other kids are taking their time- even when it's way out of rhythm it doesn't have to be too intrusive.