How many feeds?

[Maud]

Sorry for another of these threads...

I was wondering how often other people's babies feed and whether they have any sort of routine?

My little one is fed on demand. She eats about 10 times a day; every 1-3 hours during the day and usually 3-4 at night. I don't mind feeding her often in the day if it gets us a reasonable nights sleep, but the complete lack of routine makes it very hard to make any plans or go out for very long as we never know when she is going to get hungry (and she screams when she wants food!). She is only 6 weeks old so I'm not sure if she will develop more of a routine as she gets older or if it will always be this way...?

 

[T84]

Do you express hon or solely bf? Maybe trying a bottle at night so you know what she is getting and that it's enough to keep her going for a while. I know it's not for everyone if you don't wanna use a bottle tho x x

 

[Maud]

We're solely breastfeeding. It'd just be nice to know if she's likely to settle herself into a routine or if we should be introducing one or if we just continue to let her choose when she wants to eat until she weans.

 

[HL28]

If I want to go anywhere or do anything I'd feed before we left! Bf babies rarely refuse a feed so I'd top them up before we went. Do you feed in public? I'd feed in the car before we got out etc too. I'd kinda make it work round me as well as feed on demand. We never had a feeding routine. But my second and third learnt to be quick feeders lol. Xxx

 

[Becky1]

I did the same as HL28, top ups before leaving the house. If I was going into town I'd plan my shopping around John Lewis and their feeding room. I also didn't mind feeding in public but would want a quiet corner of a cafe rather than a seat in the middle of a busy shopping centre!

In terms of routine - we didn't really have one until lo was on 3 meals a day. xx

 

[Melanie3103]

My LO is the same (hes almost 3wks old) - he goes 3-4 hrs at night (occasionally longer!!) and during the day he feeds every 2hrs i guess often more frequently but i dont mind as he gives us longer at nights then.

I demand feed but also try feed him to suit us too. If we are going out i give him a feed to top him up, same at night - i feed him before i go bed to try top him up before i retire. Most of the time it works, not always, cant really expect a routine wgen hes so young but we try make it work.

 

[Maud]

Thanks for the replies, although not what I wanted to hear. We visited family the other day. Fed her just before we left but she demanded more halfway home. Had to stop and feed her in a lay-by! I can't imagine taking her out shopping or for a meal knowing she might want hour!y feeds the whole time...

 

[Becky1]

She'll slowly be able to go for longer between feeds. My friend formula fed and used to get really stressed about going out with her lo as she would want tons of bottles and used to take a good 45mins to take each one! So it's not just us bfeeders that stress about feeds! xx

 

[cam]

She will eventually find her own routine, my son is now 5 mths he fed the same as your lo in the beginning it didnt make a difference if i tried to feed him loads before we left the house, he would still demand to be fed at an akward time lol. He now feeds every 3hours and sleeps most of the night i can usually work shopping around feeds and he will wait for a feed unless hes really hungry then he lets me know!

 

[ScotchEgg]

I'd say 6-8 weeks is the toughest time with bf. They're having a growth spurt as well as everything else. I found SR's feeding started to settle a bit after that dropping down to every couple of hours by 2-3 months. We feed on demand but like others we top up before we go out or long car journeys.

Feeds also start getting quicker as your baby gets better at it. SR mostly feeds in about 10 minutes now which makes stopping for a feed when you're out much easier.