Baby feeds on demand

[neawal]

Trying to get my 3 m old into a routine and the problem being she has been demand fed - feed anything from 1-3 hourly on the breast this leading to multiple night waking - wondering if there any tips to make her go longer. Someone suggested cooled boiled water in between feeds?

Any help appreciated - thanks!

The advice Is now to feed on demand.
She will go longer. She's Tiny right now still and you can't make them wait for food.

You can try a dummy if she's just comfort sucking though

I wouldn't give water, it isn't needed for breastfed babies and will potentially just replace a milk feed with something that will give her zero nutrition.

I haven't tried to space out feeds, rather waited for feeds to space out naturally. But you could try feeding more often in the evening to try and fill her up before night time. You could also try doing breast compressions whilst feeding to increase the amount of milk she's taking.

Water fills then up temporarily and provides zero nutrition which is why they advise not to give water until six months. I fed on demand until I stopped breastfeeding at eight months, she did space out her feeds herself over that time. At three months she's still tiny and will take what she needs.

Trying to get a 3 month old into a routine is a sure fire way to go stark raving mad in my opinion. They don't want to be in a routine. They want to eat and sleep when they need it. In a month or two from now you might start noticing a pattern to her needs and that can form the basis of a routine.

Around this age they start clusterfeeding which feels just like cluster something elsing when you are in the middle of it for the first time. They are preparing for a big growth spurt and feed more regularly and seem more unsettled as they wake A LOT and feed FOREVER. It will pass.

Best of luck with your precious new person.

Thanks for the advice! I haven't got much luck spacing things out. But agree best to let her lead me. We have a rough feeding and napping routine which has helped.

I'm
Managing to get her to take both breasts by offering her the second 5 mins later- this seems to work.

We shall see!

Thanks for the advice! I haven't got much luck spacing things out. But agree best to let her lead me. We have a rough feeding and napping routine which has helped.

I'm
Managing to get her to take both breasts by offering her the second 5 mins later- this seems to work.

We shall see!

I think you're doing the right thing by offering both breasts - my 6m old has always been fed on demand but it's always been a battle to get him to take both breasts at one feed, so we often end up feeding every 1.5hrs (nights are generally much better than that though). This has spaced out a bit recently though, and I'm glad I didn't try and force it earlier. I k ow it feels like forever but beige eking you'll notice you're naturally in a bit of a routine, without even trying.

I've found a dummy has helped to space out feeds with both my 9wk old baby and my pfb. If you're not opposed to them, it might be worth a go? I know advice is to feed on demand, but I think you can encourage going a bit longer (rather than enforcing a routine) and still be responding to your baby's cues. Personally I feel very suffocated if they are/were constantly on me, so my compromise is boob for food, dummy (and cuddles!) for comfort. I bf for 9mo with pfb, and I wouldn't have made anywhere near that if she'd been using me as a dummy too, so it worked for us.