quick question re: timing

[bumperlicious]

When you time between feeds do go from the beginning of the feed or the end of the feed?

I always went from the beg.

beginning - but mostly I just feed him whenever he wants

is this for breastfeeding? if so then no need to time feeds. has someone said you should be timing them?

yes for bf. just so i know really, and in ahn effort to establish if not a routine then a pattern. thanks for the replies.

I was told beginning of the feed to the start of the next feed, so in the early days although ds was going "3 hours" (roughly) between feeds, as each feed lasted around 4 mins it was actually about 2 hours that I wasn't feeding iyswim.

40 mins (4 mins - in my dreams )

If you are feeding to a schedule then it's usual to time from the beginning of feeds.

I'm not sure if you are aware bumperlicious, but timing is not really recommended for either ff or bf babies...it's best for them to be fed on demand, so they don't over feed and strech their stomach too much. If you are breastfeeding its particularly important to feed on demand so it don't interfere with/effect your milk supply. There are instances when feeding to a schedule are useful - for example if the baby isn't gaining weight well or is sleepy & not waking for feeds often, or in the case of a bfing mum, if her supply is reduced.

DS was fed on demand, however the m/w did like me to know roughly esp once he got to a few weeks and was with the h/v - she was more fussy about him being fed more often than every 2 hours iycwim.

Like I said, it's not so much a schedule, just trying to establish a pattern to see if I can predict feeds and more imnportantly (for me!) sleeps! She usually does one 5-6 hour stint, just not always when I want her too!

Just out of interest if anyone is still reading, sometimes she will feed at 8 then go through till 3 in the morning when I actually expect (and would prefer) if she had another feed at 11/12 before going down. Should I wake her and feed her then put her down?

[;ease don't time, just feed on demand...

If you want to time, well...it doesn't matter what you time, as long as you time it the same all the time...
to much time and timing in there

bumper this used to get me with dd1 - and i honestly used to stress so much about it i was probably needing medical help and treatment! I would write down what time she fed and for how long! BAD BAD BAD PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS

This time with dd2 i dont even know what the time is.. i made a mental block with time and it is far far better. I feel like i have enjoyed the early stages so much more. Feed on demand. It will be better for the baby, better for your supply and mentally beneficial for you too

honestly, I'm not stressing about it I just like to know where I am with her, and I need some sort of pattern for instance I drove to my mum's this week, 2-3 hours drive and I like to know that I can make the journey between feeds. I can't demand feed her on the M25 I promise I'm not stressing about it.

thing is...there often isn't a pattern, and once there is they change it...Baby's who'd have them, eh ;)

For things like long journeys it would probably take less time & effort to look up all the possible places you could stop & feed than try to predict when she needs to feed. If you get caught in the middle of possible service areas then pulling off the motorway & finding a layby is usually possible before the crying gets too much to bear. I remember feeling the same way when DS was little as we used to travel to see relatives oat least every week...got very good at finding places we could pull over & feed.

Honestly, babies change so rapidly during the first year - growth spurts, developmental leaps, teething, colds & illness etc all affect feeding patterns...not to mention the distraction issue as they get older & find looking around more interesting than feeding

when travelling with dd on long trips as i did a few times in the early days, i packed everything in advance. gave her a big feed, put her in teh car seat and drove. The hum of the engine makes them drop off like majic.

i would deffo not recommend waking her for a feed. One thing i do regularly, is go to bed earlyish and wake up at these unholy hrs and MN. tonight dh went to the pub. I fed dd to sleep and while admiring her and listening to her little snores, i fell asleep myself. it is a great way to bank some sleep time.