8wk DD, number of feeds reduced - is this normal?

[GYo]

Hello

After some issues at the start DD and I are getting on really well with BFing.

She was previously feeding (up to 7.5wksish) like this:

3am, 7am, 9.30am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, 11pm - so about 7 feeds a day, each feed about 1 hr each.

In the last week, (she is 8wks today) she has been feeding differently, clearly showing signs of longer stretches at night so;
1am, 5.30am, 9am, 11.30am, 2.30pm, 5pm (half feed), 6pm. So still 7 feeds but the 5pm is really an extra i'm offering to ensure she isnt too fractious for her bath at 6pm and is only 1 breast.

After the 6pm she will go sleep 7pm til 1am ishm, which is great (shame its not in the second half of the night!)

Does this seem normal? she isnt screaming out for food at all, I usually feed her before she needs to yell for it. It seems odd that she probably now needs more but is seemingly feeding less.

She hasnt been weighed for a week so I dont know what her wt is doing.

Could she be more efficient now and getting more per feed?

TIA Gyo

Bumping for you (and out of interest!)

It sounds like she's finding her own rhythm now and she's obviously getting enough from you if she can sleep from 6pm until 1am.

Just to give you an idea, my DD is 8 weeks old and formula fed - she feeds at roughly 3/4am 7am, 10am, 2pm, 5pm (with a top-up at 7pm).

Well done you on doing so well with the breast feeding - I failed miserably at it!!

Sounds as though it's all going great at the mo - congratulations!

She won't need ever increasing amounts of milk as she grows - there is not a definite relationship between size of feed, weight and age (even in bottle fed babies).

Sometimes she'll want big meals, sometimes smaller. Just like us in fact.

She may well be more efficient - or your supply and her demand are in complete synch for a while (it won't last...)

No real need to have her weighed weekly now things are settled down - why not switch to every other week and then move to once a month?

Littledawley - My ds2 is goonna be 8 weks on Wed and is also botttle fed. Did you set those timings or did he naturally fall into that rythm? Mine feeds roughly every 3 hours in the day - sometimes can't go that long and sometimes can go longer and has starting doing one stretch of 6-8 hours at night in the last couple of days once I started doing a top-up feed after bath at bedtime - trying to get him to go sleep at same time as ds1.

Sounds normal and pretty much what ds did at that age.

We used to get him up at 10.30/11pm for a feed then he'd sleep through til 6.30/7am.

If we didn't get him up he'd wake at 1am for a feed so it might be worth a try as she can obviously go for one long stretch without a feed, she needs a little encouragement to do it at the right time!

Ds is now 13 weeks and feeds 7am,11am,2pm, 6pm and a top up at 7pm (i'm breast feeding).

He then sleeps through til 7am. Got him weighed last week as was concerned he wasn't having enough feeds but he's growing perfectly.

Sorry it's a bit long but this my favourite subject!

HTH

Oh and regarding the length of feeds they do get a lot quicker.

Ds used to take an hour at each feed but his biggest morning feed now only takes 30mins, 45 at the most.

I will be quiet now!

Shis - DD is similar to that. I started out aiming for a 7, 11, 3 routine. For the past few days I've fed her at 7am, again at 10am but then she's happy until 3ish and I have to hold her off until 6ish - that way she will sleep though until 4am which is great. I've found if I feed her at 5 she doesn't take enough at 7 to last her any length of time.

Am shattered tonight though and am considering giving her a dream feed... Will let you know how I get on.

Littledawley - How are you stretching out the feeds?? My ds is 8 weeks old today. I'm still feeding on demand and topping up where I need to - eg if feed will clash with picking up ds1. He doesn't start the day at the same time everyday - that's why I can't forn a routine

I get baby up at 7 every morning, I guess just because the rest of us are up (she's generally awake then anyway). I am quite flexible through the day but, doing school run etc can bugger things up. It's generally only in late afternoon that I will make her wait - I have a brilliant sling which she is always happy in so I just pop her in there and go for a walk around the garden with my other two.