When can you demand feed?

[SassyPants87]

Currently waking my 3 week old every 3 hours to feed. The lack of sleep is killing me!

When can I start feeding on demand and letting her sleep as long as she needs to?

How heavy is she? Is she following her centile (are you even able to get her weighed)?

Unless there are weight problems I'd do 3 hours in your waking hours and stretch to 4 hours overnight?

Depends if they've regained birth weight and are continuing to gain

Why are you doing this?

I was told (both mine lost a lot of weight after birth) when they had regained their birth weight. I actually left my second linger between feeds at night if she didn’t want wake up because I was knackered and she cluster fed in the evening and early morning

@RandomMess

How heavy is she? Is she following her centile (are you even able to get her weighed)?

She's definitely gaining good weight

Birth weight - 2.88kg
Week 1 - 3kg
Week 2 - 3.2kg
Week 3 - 3.6kg

I bought some baby scales so I could keep an eye on weight

Also forgot to mention she is exclusively breast fed

3 weeks feels a little young. I think daytime feeds at that age shouldn't be more than 2 hours apart, timed from the start of each feed.
I totally get the sleep deprivation, it can be utterly grim.

I don't think I ever woke mine to feed, she cued and I fed her and we co-slept. She was an hourly feeder though, she's nearly and only just doing 3-4 hours at night (I'm used to it and she still partly co sleeps so she helps herself)

Mine were whoppers from birth wouldn't dream feed or wake easily STBH I always demand fed. I was militant about feeding regularly and often during the day though.

Does she never wake for feeds during the day, mine certainly did...

I only woke ds2 who lost a big chunk of birth weight for feeds, my other two I fed on demand from day 1.

I was told recently by the midwife that as long as baby has returned to birth weight it's fine to leave them. I slept a 5 hour stretch that night!

Maybe give them a quick call as we had no complications and baby was 9lb at birth etc.

Wouldn’t dream of waking a baby to feed unless there were clear medical concerns about weight gain!

I had no idea this had a name... Or that people woke their babies up!
I fed my babies when they were hungry/cried. I never once woke them up... Mind you they were all big and never lost much weight in their first week (first gained).
However, I also slept with them in the bed next to the boob half the night, so...

You wake your baby to feed them?! Jesus hope my baby number 2 is like this, my first never slept long enough without having to be stuck on the boob for me to have to wake. I’d let them sleep tbh

I am EBF dd and was waking every 3 hours until she was 4 weeks old, once she regained the weight she lost, I ditched the alarms and it was the best thing I could have done. She usually wakes for one feed during the night. But sometimes she doesn't but she tends to cluster feed in the mornings.

I never woke my dd to feed during the night. She was breast fed.

We went to 3/4 hourly during the day quite quickly as well

I'm another who never heard of this! But I did have 3 good weight babies who fed a lot. So I'd no worries. All EBF.

But it seems mad - they will all have their own way of feeding. My first fed so much at night, and took ages to settle that it felt like I was feeding all night long.

But my second was basically sleeping through the night by 3 weeks😳 I was a bit freaked out but he fed nearly continuously during the day. He just loved his sleep & still does! (& lucky me!)

By my 3rd I hardly knew when I fed him I was so exhausted with a baby & 2 small children. But he was a very variable sleeper & a savage feeder & I would never have woken him no matter what.

Why is it recommended?

My midwife recommended feeding on demand from birth

Now as she is at her birth weight. I would try and feed as often as you can during the day in the hope she sleeps longer at night.

Thanks all for your responses, so strange how everyone gets told different things!

My health visitor had advised feeding every 3 hours but she's never lost any weight in fact she's putting it on continually quite well. Average weight gain should be 50g a week and she's putting on between 200 - 400g a week so far!

I think I'll give the health visitor a call on Monday to get some guidance but it's good to know some of you have been demand feeding from the start

I had a baby back in May, my HV advised to feed every 2hours in the day and every 4 at night

Stop waking your baby. Unless there are concerns then just feed on demand. I truly believe that waking my son up to feed as a newborn led to shit sleep for months years. He was sleeping up to 6 hours and the HV said I had to wake him so I did. He was 18 months before he slept a 6 hour stretch after that!

You can feed on demand as soon as they have regained birth weight.

Don't wake a sleeping baby!!

I demand fed from birth. DS only woke once a night between 10pm and 7am.

Definitely ok to feed on demand now. If weight gain is good and no other concerns it’s fine to be led by your baby! Trainee breastfeeding counsellor here.