Feed on demand or every 3 hours?

[chloem93]

Hi, ftm here.

My daughter is 2 weeks old and was born 7lbs 10, when she was last weighed she gained 3 ounces and only lost one ounce straight after birth which midwife said was good, so she's a healthy weight.
Anyway, I was feeding every 3 hours and keeping to a strict schedule where I'd even wake her for a feed but I've had the health visitor round and she said I should feed on demand instead...which is the complete opposite to what the midwifes have told me! So now I'm confused, if she doesn't wake and demand feeding, do I just let her sleep? Today she fed at 2-3pm (90ml of formula) and then went to sleep, she woke at 7pm and had another 90ml. When I was sticking to every 2-3 hours, she was on 60ml but I chose to increase to 90 as she was always hungry for more at the end of feeds. Plus I was feeding her hungrier baby formula but decided two days ago to go back to first (cow and gate) as she seemed to be getting constipated... she still gets constipated often.
So should I be letting her sleep for 5-6 hours without feeds or waking her at 3? I'm still a little confused how much she should be feeding, it doesn't help I get different information from different people and when I look online for info, one page says every 3 hours and the next it says feed on demand. I don't want her to not get enough and drop weight but I always get told by my mother to 'not wake a sleeping baby.'
Also is it normal for a 2 week old to sleep for that long and not want a feed? I will ask the midwife on Sunday for more clarification but I'm sure I'll be told different info again

TBH, do whatever works for you and your baby

You sound like you are both doing well - congratulations on your LO!

Demand. A tiny baby needs to be that close to its mum and know that 'food' is available. He or she will be more content in the long run. It's not forever, cherish these times.

She'll sleep when she needs to. It sounds as though she does that well enough so you are doing it right. You can grab a bit of extra kip while she sleeps.

Health professionals are like anyone else, their opinions differ; they also draw information from their own parenting experiences if they have children, plus 'fashions' in infant feeding changes with the moon, or so it seems. Just follow your instincts, you're the mother and your baby is an individual.

My dd is breastfed so I pretty much had to feed on demand but I was told for the first two weeks make sure she feeds at least every two hours so I was having to set alarms though the night to feed her. When I met the health visitor she told me baby had shown significant weight gain that she was happy for me to just begin feeding on demand so I could let her go as long as she was happy at night or in the day because she would let me know when she was hungry. I think it's just at the start to ensure they gain enough weight back from what they loose.

Feeding on demand only works if the baby is awake enough to ask for food. At that age I wouldn't let them go more than 3 hours between feeds during the day. Don't use hungry milk, it's not suitable for new born babies

I studied child dev in uni and I learned its best for the baby to respect their natural feeding clock and feed on demand. Which is what I did with my son. Made him a much more content baby than people who force their child to eat every 3 hours

You don't want your baby sleeping in 5 and 6 hour chunks during the day and then being awake all night. I'd wake to feed tbh

Congratulations on your DD OP!

I demand fed DS until he was 6 months. Once we started weaning I set him up with a proper schedule.

But whatever you decide to do will be right for you and your baby so go with whatever makes you most comfortable!

At night time I'd just feed on demand,baby will wake you when it's hungry.

During the day I'd also feed on demand but I wouldn't want baby sleeping for 5 hours, so if it got to around 3 hours since the last feed and baby was asleep then I'd give baby 15 mins or so then wake them.

If the baby wants to feed more often than 3 hours then obviously go with that.

Mine generally wanted fed every 2.5 hours as a newborn so he wouldn't have coped with waiting 3 hours.

Also I think the advise of not letting baby go more than 3 hours without eating is for very young babies and babies that are losing or not gaining weight. I don't think it's meant to be a long term thing, more just advise to follow for a couple of weeks until they are back to a good weight.

Nighttime let them sleep. Daytime every three hours or so and wake them up. This route will help gradually instil day vs night distinction.

When DD1 was born, I was told to feed on demand. But I didn't know what 'demand' meant as she never cried. I didn't realise that her opening and closing her mouth was a demand. I didn't feed her enough. I.e. Sometimes she went 6 hours. She lost a lot of weight and became really jaundiced. A midwife came and shouted at me and told me to feed her every three hours. That got my milk in, and DD1 gained weight. After that I couldn't manage with the inconsistent info, so I did just feed her every 3 hours. It worked for me. DD1 was really quite chunky looking back on baby photos, and the advantage was that some nights she did sleep for 6 hours and I didn't worry about it, as I knew she'd had plenty. I think that feeding every 3 hours in the early weeks might help your milk supply, give you a good few readings of good weight gain, and you might feel more able to relax about feeding on demand? But that's just an opinion based on my experience. Congratulations on your little one. X

Feed on demand. If you are formula feeding you know how much baby is getting. If breast you only know by baby being weighed if they are getting enough. Shouldn’t wake a sleeping baby to feed but obviously common sense would apply if not fed for significant time

Wake to feed only if she's losing weight or not gaining enough. If they don't get enough they sleep more and then don't demand food and you get into a vicious cycle

My LO has fed on demand from day 1 and has never lost weight, sometimes she went 2 hours, sometimes 5 hours. Growth spurts she seemed to have 2 feeds back to back on occasion. she started development a pattern by around 5 weeks, started sleeping through at 12, and now is pretty predictable for feeds and naps throughout the day. The only feeds we tried to 'force' were dream feeds just as we were going to bed, to get the most sleep time possible..

I'd feed on demand but not allow them to go longer than 3-3.5 hours during the day. During the night I'd let them sleep (unless you find that she doesn't put enough on then reevaluate)

Don't use hungry baby milk it isn't suitable for a newborn, it can cause constipation, it also fills them up for longer so could cause lack of weight gain because they don't feed often enough.

The amount of formula on the box is a guide (mine takes much more than is suggested) As a general rule if she is finishing the bottles off regularly, up the bottles by an oz.

I got told to not let DD go longer than four hours between feeds, day or night. But then once she was back above birth weight and gaining well, to just be led by her. I think when they're teeny weeny you need to be careful that they're getting enough, but once they've got the hang of feeding and are putting on weight you can afford to trust their appetite. At least that's the message I got!

We formula fed on demand from the off and it worked out to be roughly every 2 hours after 8 weeks or so then every 3 hours after that. Before 8 weeks it was any time! I never woke him for feeds during the night, he was pretty good at letting me know when he was hungry! She need hungry milk, she's doing exactly what babies do.

Should say doesn't need hungry milk. Fat fingers!

I am formula feeding my dd and started off on demand and I've found now that she has got herself into a routine of a bottle every 3ish hours and sleeping 12 hours at night (she's almost 6 months now)

Feed on demand. If baby doesn’t demand a feed for 3 hours then offer one, even if it means waking the baby up. It’s perfectly possible for a baby’s blood sugar to fall really low while they’re asleep without them waking up. A baby who’s starving won’t necessarily cry - they’re more likely to be weak, quiet and sleepy, and not demanding to be fed.

I read an article where is was explained this way...

Having a feeding schedual isn't ideal. Main reason being, we were hungry or thirsty we can just pop to the kitchen, and we do! So why should we be making growing babies stick to a schedule? On demand is the more natural way of breastfeeding 😊

On demand only works if the baby is awake enough to demand feeds. If the baby is sleepy then it's best not to let them go too long between feeds especially in the early days

I wouldnt go more than 3 hours from the beginning of the last feed in the day but at night I think it’s fine to let her go for longer and just feed on demand.

feed on demand, i also dont think there is a need to wake a baby to feed

I’m not a medical professional but work with mums and babies alongside medical professionals and I think under a month they would say not to go longer than five hours at night. But they can start going longer from 4-6 weeks as long as they’re gaining well.