Breastfeeding

[Shel2020]

Hi all, I'm new to the group. I am just looking for some advice. My boy is now 11 weeks +3 and when he was newborn he would sleep 5 hours at night and nap a lot in the day, but he wasn't latching on right so I was advised to wake him to feed every 3 hours, I did this but not gradually over the past 9 weeks he's been eating more and more frequently, sometimes every 30 minuites. He is latching on right and I have enough milk but I just wonder why it is every day and night like this now? It seems too much? And people say they should be sleeping through and waking for one feed in the night and eating every 3-4 hours by now. Pleas if anyone can give any advice!! Thank you ☺️

At 4 months it's definitely not normal for them to sleep through. There's a sleep regression around this time which means their sleep goes to shit.

You can try and get him to take more at each feed (breast compressions, making sure he doesn't fall asleep) but it's probably just a phase. He might be going through a growth spurt or developmental leap. Their sleep and feeding habits change all the time so don't get too hung up on thinking he's in a routine.

And people say they should be sleeping through and waking for one feed in the night and eating every 3-4 hours by now.
Rubbish.
Some might and some will be still feeding 3/4 times a night for over a year

"And people say they should be sleeping through and waking for one feed in the night and eating every 3-4 hours by now"

The chances are people who told you this formula fed. Breastfeeding is a completely different thing but because in the uk the vast majority of people formula feed, messages of going for ages without feeds etc get promoted as 'the norm' or what you should be aiming for with your baby.

I honestly think this is why some women give up breastfeeding- they get the impression they are doing things 'wrong' by feeding often etc.

Your baby is still very young and it's completely ok and normal for him to wake frequently at night and feed very frequently. Please don't forget this!

My newborn breastfed 10-20 times in a 24 hour period for many weeks. It gradually decreased as he got older but I really did feed him a lot - very normal -and also babies breastfeed for all sorts of reasons other than hunger e.g comfort, security, bonding, thirst. I'm not going to lie it was bloody hard work mentally and physically to feed so much but after about 3 or 4 months or so I was really enjoying breastfeeding and as I said earlier the frequency of feeds did go down. By age 1 he only fed 4 times per 24 hours.

Have you tried phoning the National breastfeeding helpline for some support?

I hope things improve for you soon