3 month old EBF..a couple of questions :)

[ItsJustMoo]

Would like to hear your opinions 😊 my LO feeds every 1.5 - 3 hours. Mainly 1.5 - 2 hours in the day, sometimes 3 hours overnight.
He has a slight tongue tie, which the gp wouldnt refer for. Reason being he puts on weight well, no pain when feeding, latch is good. I wanted to see if the tongue tie might be making him feed more often in comparison to other ebf babies of the same age. I know every baby is different though!
He also makes loud sucking sounds during the let down. I'm pretty certain its not clicking. The latch doesn't seem to be broken though when he's sucking, so not sure if this is just his little noises when he drinks? 😊I'd love to hear your thoughts, thank you. 💕

Frequency seems similar to mine at that age I think. It ebbs and flows loads as they have growth spurts etc.

I found my HV was better for tongue ties referring than GP. My baby had a very small one, we did have it snipped and it definitely improved things. Although not sure I'd do it at 3 months.

The loud sucking could either be responding to a fast let down, or sucking hard to stimulate milk flow. Mine does the latter on my "slow" boob. In a couple of months, your LO will probably start hitting your boobs to for let down!

And honestly, feeding just gets easier as they grow and become stronger and more experienced. Solves loads of problems, just keep chugging on, it sounds like you're doing a great job!

I would have thought it's unlikely that a GP is at qualified to diagnose a tongue tie and on the NHS you could be waiting months so most people go private for this as you'll be seen within a few days. Worth reading the La Leche League page about tongue ties as it may be helpful.

Also babies feed on average anything between 8 and 12 times but some a lot more so every 1.5 hrs doesn't sound that much but I know it's really overwhelming. I gave up timing or counting just so I didn't get frustrated by the frequency!

Well done for getting this far, you're doing an incredible job

Mine both def fed this frequently

Babies differ in their eating patterns so it could be something or nothing. What you're describing sounds well within the range of "normal" and if it's not causing any problems why worry

Mine is 8 months, on 3 meals a day (although doesn't always eat much/anything at them) and still feeds around this often! No tongue tie.

@Butterflyfern When did you get your LO's tongue tie clipped?
Thank you 😊

My baby is almost three months old, and feeds about five times in 24h, so every 4-6h in the day, with an extra long feed at bedtime, then one feed in the night. I think this is quite infrequent, and what your baby is doing also sounds totally normal!

None have mine have fed that often, but the eldest had tongue tie and he was really struggling to latch, feeding was painful, and each feed lasted absolutely ages. He didn’t gain weight and didn’t thrive until it was snipped.

@Milksnack wow! That sounds like a dream 😆 My LO has been cluster feeding this evening. One feed in the night would be amazing! But I may be glued to the sofa tonight 🫣

The frequency seems normal. Does it hurt at all when you feed? I think my second DD had a
slight tongue tie and by 3 months the only symptom was I couldn’t feed her lying down. She’s never had any speech issues so I think it sorted itself out.

I’m pretty sure the night feeds will ramp up soon! Middle baby slept through the night at three months and then very much did NOT from four months on! 😂

OP I had four babies and they were all EBF for years.

Three of them were pretty much the same pattern as you've described at 3 months.

The fourth one, who was the only one with a tongue-tie, fed every four hours and slept through the night from six weeks. So I wouldn't worry too much about your baby's tongue-tie!

@user2848502016 The only pain I've had is a bit of pinching at the nipples. It only happened for a few days, then disappeared for weeks. Came back for a couple of days recently and seems to be going back to normal now. That's interesting, I didnt realise it could sort itself out tbh!

@Milksnack oh really 🙈 let's hope things will be easier for you this time around!

My three month old had a tongue tie diagnosed a couple of weeks ago by an IBCLC. We decided not to snip it as he’s happy, gaining weight well and I’m not experiencing any pain. He’s daytime feeds are about every 2-3 hours but are super variable. Sometimes he can go over four hours, sometimes he feeds every half hours. At about two months he started doing longer stretches at night and now most nights he sleeps 5-7 hours, sometimes longer and sometimes much less. I think it’s really individual and not because of a tongue tie.

@TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne I find that so interesting! Thank you 😊
And breastfeeding 4 babies for years! Wow, you're superwoman!

@toastofthetown that's reassuring to hear 😊

Nobody had anything done about tongue-ties years ago.

My baby's just eventually ceased to be a problem. I'm fact the only problem it caused was that she couldn't keep her latch for long. I had to re-fix her every twenty seconds or so for a while, then it gradually got better.

Yep that's how mine fed. He's 10 months and still feeds every 1.5 - 2 hours (not only milk obviously, he has 3 meals a day). I know some babies can guzzle loads of milk or food and not need anything for 3 - 3.5 hours but mine never did that.

I posted about something else parenting related on MN when my baby was 6 months and some posters were adamant that at 6 months my baby should go 4 hours in the day without feeding. LOL. Literally never did that.