Can anyone please give me some advice

[happy1]

Hi my daughter is 7 weeks old, I breastfeed her all very feeds but one. Usually the evening feed. My OH gives her a bottle of formula or expressed milk at around 10 pm so I can get some sleep.

My question is she is in no kind of routine with feeding. The only time I can guarantee she will want a feed is between 2.30 and 3.00 am. Sometimes she will go 1 hour between feeds, sometimes 2 but never quite 3. Is this normal for her age? The girls from my antenatal group are starting to find their babies are getting into regular patterns and going 3-4 hours between feeds.

Am I doing something wrong? I let her empty one breast and always burp her and try to get her on the other one. I also wake her if she falls asleep very quickly when feeding. She is putting on weight, but I am so exhausted.

Is there a average age that they stop feeding so frequently?
Sorry for the long post and lots of questions, advice would be gratefully received.

 

[BunnyN]

My LO still feeds like this at almost 4 months. Though she goes 3 to 4 hrs at night now. Feeds started getting much shorter at about 8 weeks which made it MUCH easier, before that one feed often almost turned into the next so some days it seemed like I was constantly feeding. She still feeds very often but some feeds are more for comfort than food. If it bothers you could try using a dummy, distraction or delay feeds as long as possible. I find LO is less likely to ask to be fed if OH holds her. On the whole though she knows what she needs and will ask for it when she needs it. Our bodies, milk supply and babies are all different so we cant expect things to work the same for everyone. I don't think it's anything you are doing wrong, it sounds like you are doing a great job. Unfortunately so many mums loose their confidence in BFing because their LO's don't follow 'normal' and they assume or are told it's because there is something wrong. It sounds like your LO is doing well though and gaining weight so all is good, it's just kind of hard work for you :/.

 

[dollyemi]

Sounds normal. I wouldn't worry about a routine at this stage, its easy to feel pressure if others are comparing routines etc (were they all bf? Their experiences with ff would be very different). Regardless of whether the others are bf their little ones, just feed on demand as you are now and baby will eventually settle into a regular pattern. I had exactly the same thing and felt worried when at 8 weeks old we were nowhere near a set routine. Keep it up x

 

[NurseSooz]

Yup we're at 18 weeks and shrs only starting to show signs of routine so don't worry! Just go with it =)