Breastfeeding... how often

[Hyggeandhugs]

Hello everyone

So I'm attending NCT classes and asked the question 'how often should I expect to feed in the first few days and after a few weeks?'.

My wonderful teacher believes in responsive feeding and so wouldn't be drawn on even a ballpark figure and so that's why I've come here. It's my first baby and I know absolutely no one else with babies and so I genuinely don't know. In terms of getting my head around what to expect it would be good to know if it's likely to be every 15 minutes or every three hours as I have literally no concept of it.

I totally understand that every baby is going to be different, but maybe you could just let me know for maybe the first 4-days and maybe 4 weeks + how often did your babies feed and for how long?

@BertieBotts

Yes it's because they don't want to freak you out so you decide to go straight to formula :o which is a bit silly really, since you might as well be prepared. Although I think our NCT teacher might have been a bit full on because I remember all the other women being worried by the BF session that we had whereas I found it helpful and informative. They said it was really negative and scary. I can't even remember what was said now TBH.

I do remember them saying breastfeeding is harder than bottle feeding for about the first six weeks and after that breastfeeding is easier so it's well worth persevering through the "boot camp"bit.

A stretchy wrap sling is a great investment if you'll be on your own. Also places to put the baby down that are safe, so you can have a wee, make a tea or a sandwich, grab a shower. Even if they do scream for ten minutes, it's not the end of the world.

I'm totally with you on knowing the truth warts and all... I'll prepare for the worst and then if it's any easier than that, whoopee!

Still so glad I asked on here, the potential length of a feed and introducing me to cluster feeds has been so helpful. Yes it's sort of added a bit of dread right now (I was way too rose-tinted), but I've got time to get my head round it, prep and hopefully be more chilled about it by the time she's here. It's also nice to feel other mums want to share helpful advice with me

Sounds like I shouldn't expect to be doing much else

I think this is why people aren't that willing to be drawn on the topic because maybe? Maybe not?

You hear far more bad stories about breastfeeding than good, but mine never cluster fed, gained weight in the days after birth and never fed for more than 10ish minutes. It was all very easy and didn't take up much of my life.

I was also on my own for much of it, you'll be grand. Try and not fret too much. You can't plan any of it and everyone is just muddling through.

Well I followed Gina Fords contented little baby routine on both mine - more 'strictly' on my first - and certainly did no where near the amount of feeds or length of feeds described by most here (apart from my son in the early days who did cluster feed from 7 in the evening in the very early days). The gaps between feeds were certainly longer from memory. One thing that I took from her and other research I did at the time was the importance of giving the baby the opportunity of getting to the hind milk, the denser richer milk which is more nutritious and satisfies them more. If baby is constantly nipping on and off the whole time, that may not be happening. Both babies slept well, gained weight as expected etc. I know many on here consider GF the devil but all I can say is that coincidentally or not, I did indeed have contented little babies and crucially, I also felt relatively well rested and able to take care of the other business of my life. This is especially important with subsequent babies where few have the luxury of sitting under a baby for the majority of the day.

@theleafandnotthetree

Well I followed Gina Fords contented little baby routine on both mine - more 'strictly' on my first - and certainly did no where near the amount of feeds or length of feeds described by most here (apart from my son in the early days who did cluster feed from 7 in the evening in the very early days). The gaps between feeds were certainly longer from memory. One thing that I took from her and other research I did at the time was the importance of giving the baby the opportunity of getting to the hind milk, the denser richer milk which is more nutritious and satisfies them more. If baby is constantly nipping on and off the whole time, that may not be happening. Both babies slept well, gained weight as expected etc. I know many on here consider GF the devil but all I can say is that coincidentally or not, I did indeed have contented little babies and crucially, I also felt relatively well rested and able to take care of the other business of my life. This is especially important with subsequent babies where few have the luxury of sitting under a baby for the majority of the day.

This is similar to Charmian Mead - really focuses on getting a full feed rather than snacking so that baby is full, has time to digest between feeds and Mum has some time to herself (mostly 😅). OP it sounds like you want to go feed on demand but it's good to know about the other options just in case you find it a bit overwhelming.

I really needed structure, but I can see the benefits of both ways. 💐

That’s not quite true about hind milk - hind milk is just milk with a higher fat content that comes from a less “full” breast. A baby might get it from first getting lots of watery milk from a full breast and staying on until the breast is “empty” (big infrequent feeds) or they equally get fatty milk from feeding frequently from “empty” breasts or swapping sides often within a feed.

Basically, hind milk isn’t something you have to engineer - if you feed frequently on demand, swap sides when the baby wants, it works itself out.

“Nipping on and off the whole time” is nuts biologically normal for us as a species, but it’s fine to work or what works best for the mother and baby as individuals.

Exactly, there's many ways to skin a cat as they say 😊 just good to know the options and figure out what works for you.

Good luck OP!

The first few weeks do end up being a bit of a blur.

I always say to new mums that there are only 4 things you need to do every day, anything else is a super bonus and be proud of yourself for doing it.

1. have a shower - first nap of the day, have a shower, get a baby bouncer that fits in your bathroom and put baby there. They may cry but they are ok and it's important you clean yourself

2. eat 3 meals a day. Stock your cupboards and freezer with lots of easy to prep meals. Have DP do all cooking when they are home. Both mine had terrible witching hours where they'd cry and feed non stop from 7-9pm. It helped if I'd eaten before this.

3. drink lots of water. Breastfeeding makes you very thirsty.

4. do something for yourself that make you feel good. For me that was putting my make up on, it might be going for a walk, it might be having a nice coffee whatever it is, it's for you.

Even though DP is away he can help by organising a cleaner or some kind of home help / meal delivery service for the times he's gone.

With my first, he fed pretty much every hour during the day until he was over a year old. My second goes longer between feeds, usually about two hours, but surprised me by feeding literally every minute of the first night of her life. I couldn't put her down even once (a bit of a shock after a very placid first baby!), but she then calmed down a lot and has done much less cluster feeding.

I say this only to reiterate what everyone else has said: they're all different, and it's all normal! Don't worry if yours seems different from other people's; basically, if they're gaining weight and having wet and dirty nappies, it's all good.

Good luck!

@busyeatingbiscuits

That’s not quite true about hind milk - hind milk is just milk with a higher fat content that comes from a less “full” breast. A baby might get it from first getting lots of watery milk from a full breast and staying on until the breast is “empty” (big infrequent feeds) or they equally get fatty milk from feeding frequently from “empty” breasts or swapping sides often within a feed.

Basically, hind milk isn’t something you have to engineer - if you feed frequently on demand, swap sides when the baby wants, it works itself out.

“Nipping on and off the whole time” is nuts biologically normal for us as a species, but it’s fine to work or what works best for the mother and baby as individuals.

And, the key to weight gain is total volume taken in anyway....