4 week-old excl BF, does this feeding pattern sound normal?

[laumiere]

Sorry if this is a bit elementary, I'm a mum of 2 but DS2 is my first non-SN baby (DS1 was born at 31w and has cerebral palsy) so I'm not sure if this is normal or not!

DS1's CP meant that he couldn't get enough BM to sustain him, so we switched to formula at 8 weeks (so 1 week early if you adjust for the prematurity) after he lost a lot of weight and I had a nightmare week of him feeding for half an hour every hour day and night.

DS2 was born at 37+4, took to the breast straight away and hasn't looked back. He didn't lose any birthweight and typically gains at least 4oz a week. He feeds every 1.5-2 hours for about 15-20 min a time and sleeps well between feeds, but doesn't want more than 1 breast and has only managed a 3 hour stretch between feeds once.

Luckily I'm coping ok on this much sleep for the time being but wanted some advice on whether this is typical for a 4-week old. He did feed for an hour last night, but I put that down to needing comfort as he's got a cold at the moment.

First, many congrats on your new arrival.

Second - that sounds very normal to me, having had two excl BF boys. It's early days yet and he's very little. Can you co-sleep to make it all a little easier on yourself?

That's why i think I'm coping ok compared to DS1, DS2 is in the cot sidecaring with our bed so can drop off when possible(can't fully co-sleep, DH smokes). Also DH works nights (19.00-7am) so is on the phone (and awake!) when I have those bad moments. He also gets up DS1 for me.

Think I'm just wondering as on my PN thread lots of mums seem to have kids sleeping through more than 5 hrs already! To be fair though both our boys seem to be fast growers, DS1 is already in 3-4 height clothes at 2.5.

Bumping for you.

IME it's best to avoid anyone whose child sleeps better than yours! There will be other mums around whose children share the same feeding pattern as yours I'm sure! They are probably just catching up on sleep and not posting much.

Bumping for you.

IME it's best to avoid anyone whose child sleeps better than yours! There will be other mums around whose children share the same feeding pattern as yours I'm sure! They are probably just catching up on sleep and not posting much.

I have a five month old with the same night time feeding pattern some nights! Sometimes he feeds like this because he has a cold and sometimes I think he is having one of those 'growth spurts' people keep mentioning. He's my third and this pattern is absolutely 'normal for us'. There again, I know (from trying to express) that I have very slow let down so I suspect the poor babies just get exhausted before they get enough milk to last more than a couple of hours!

More seriously, the first time the baby comes off the breast, try putting him back on again if you can just to see if he will take a bit more of the richer milk that comes through at the end of a feed.

Good luck. And remember, you WILL sleep again sometime!

That all sounds really normal - I think DS weighed about 11lbs before he started to space his feeds a bit more, and even now at 8 months it's rare for him to go more than 3/4 hours during the day without any breastmilk.

The cold will prevent him from drinking and breathing at once so efficiently - I've noticed that DS feeds more slowly when he's bunged up too.

Sounds like you are doing really well

Thanks for all the supportive messages, it's not as bad as it sounds to non-mums I think! DS2 is obviously thriving on the milk (I had an osteopaths appointment today and he took well over 5oz in a bottle in my absence).

I will try to coax him into taking more hindmilk and see if that helps .