when does a breast feeding pattern start?

[missytequila]

My baby girl is 6 weeks old and I am breast feeding. It is going well and she is gaining weight and seems happy...

but there still does not seem to be a pattern as such.
Some times she goes for 5 hours between feeds and sometimes only 2 hours.

She sleeps at night, but goes to bed at a different times (8,9, or 10pm) and wakes up (1,2,3,4 am) at different times.

I was just wondering when a more distinct pattern settles in...when do the feeds start spreading out more?

I don't think a pattern ever emerges if you do true demand feeding, but from 6 weeks or so the babies begin to distinguish day from night a bit, until their crazy developmental nonsense at 4-6months when they wake in the night again crazy hungry coz they were too busy in the day to feed. Once past that though then things definately settle down.

hth

Congratulations on your new baby!
sounds like things are going well for you.

We followed the boys patterns and I believe that by 10 - 12 weeks things were more predictable, mostly being able to say if we had just fed that I had a few hours before I needed to feed again.
However, I would say the think I have found in the last 6 years of being a parent, just as you think you have it cracked, it will change, so the more at eas you are with chaos the calmer your life will be

DS is 4.5 months old now and I've finally stopped waiting for any pattern - have just put it down as yet another of those parenting ideas that appears in books but not real life.

I would agree that hopefully by the 10-12 week mark you might find something of a pattern emerging. With DS1 he started to go 3 hours roughly, which is the norm if you believe all the parenting books! What they often don't tell you is that a pattern may emerge but that might be feeding every 1.5 to 2 hours, as seems to be with DS2 right now!!!

Also agree with powerofgreyskull, just when you thought you've got it cracked your baby gets other ideas anyway!!!

I never found a regular pattern with either DD but there again I wasn't bothered about having one.

dd is 14 weeks - there is no pattern. i agree with chocolatebourbon - ignore books

ds is 13 weeks today and the pattern seems to be every two hours though having said that yesterday he fed every hour! So really no real pattern and I agree with others, with bf on demand don't expect a routine - makes life easier in some ways.

I feed my 12 week old on demand and there is no strict pattern during the day, however you could almost set the clock by her at night. I expect every baby is different and if you are feeding on demand, dont expect to be able to predict when they will be hungry.

Never!

my ds is 13 days and seems to want to feed 2 hourly all day, then solid 3 hours in eve and then goes 4 hours from 10pm - 2am and then anything goes, usually hour and halfly until early am. there is a vague pattern and he is very "new"

lengths of feed vary from 15 mins to 3 hours though