how often does your 8 week old feed?

[catty]

I am breastfeeding my daughter she was 8lb 10oz and a quarter at birth and went down to 8lb3 but was back to birthweight at her 2 week appointment.
At her 6 week check up she was only 9lb10oz so had dropped almost 2 centiles on the chart.
I have just weighed her on my home scales so not fully accurate and seems she is now 10lbs (8 weeks tomo)
I have a doctors appointment on thurs for her (just a standard 8 week appointment not due to the weight gain) and i really want to get her weight up a bit as cant be bothered with any comments and also i obviously want her to be gaining steadily and healthily.

Im going to start counting the amount she feeds but as far as i can see all if fine? The norm for her would be to go every 3 hours during the day but if shes a bit tired/cold/gets a little scare/just out the bath il also feed her so sometimes 2/3 times in that period.
roughly id say she feeds every 2.5/3 hours in the day and goes 6 hours at nightime. I dont want to wake her to feed her as im really against doing that.

What is the norm for your baby? Any tips? Maybe shes just fine and a slow gainer?

 

[OnErth&InHvn]

CALL La leche league!!! its FREE help!!!

 

[xdxxtx]

Wow, all of my babies fed constantly for the first 3 months!!!! That might be because of my body - I have hypothyroidism, so I don't make that much milk. Months of clusterfeeding.

A breastfed baby should gain 5-7 oz/week until they're about 4 weeks old, when their growth slows down a little bit. With her 6-week weight, she's only gained 2.7 oz/week... When my baby had this same problem, I was told to wake them and never go more than 3 hours without a feed. When it still didn't work out, I was told by the pediatrician to supplement. Now. I did supplement, but I also did some pumping BOOT CAMPs and got my milk supply UP. The first step, however, is to get that baby fed.

Do you have a pump? You'll be instructed to breastfeed, then bottle. A pumping boot camp is 20 minutes on, 10 minutes off, 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off, 10 minutes off... 3 times a day. That will make your supply go way up and help you feed that baby more.

 

[catty]

Oh god that sounds intense!! I have a 2 & 3 year old and with nursery, plaugroup pick ups and drop offs i just cant manage to feed her too much in the mornings norm would be 5 or 6am big feed (maybe 30-40 mins) smaller feed at 8 (maybe 15/20mins) then iv to go to nursery playgroup (she sleeps this whole time) and at 10am we sit for ages and i let her feed as much or little as she wants until iv to go out again at 11.20am she then feeds on and off in the afternoon but does sleep alot. Im getting a bit worried maybe she doesnt get enough but she doesnt really cry either :/

I will definately look into the pumping thank you! I just feel my day is so busy i do forget to pump and then straight after a feed iv barely any milk to pump im lucky to get an oz

 

[catty]

CALL La leche league!!! its FREE help!!!

Il have a look at there website thank you! havnt heard of them before

 

[xdxxtx]

Oh god that sounds intense!! I have a 2 & 3 year old and with nursery, plaugroup pick ups and drop offs i just cant manage to feed her too much in the mornings norm would be 5 or 6am big feed (maybe 30-40 mins) smaller feed at 8 (maybe 15/20mins) then iv to go to nursery playgroup (she sleeps this whole time) and at 10am we sit for ages and i let her feed as much or little as she wants until iv to go out again at 11.20am she then feeds on and off in the afternoon but does sleep alot. Im getting a bit worried maybe she doesnt get enough but she doesnt really cry either :/

I will definately look into the pumping thank you! I just feel my day is so busy i do forget to pump and then straight after a feed iv barely any milk to pump im lucky to get an oz

You might not get any milk during the pumping session at all. That is okay! The point of the pumping is to stimulate your body to tell it to make more milk by making it think your baby is going through a growth spurt and needs more to eat. You should be producing more milk in 3 days, and you might notice your LO become more alert or less fussy or just different - in a good way.

 

[Teri7489]

It is possible she is slow to gain weight. Does she stop feeding herself and seem settled after it? If so then maybe you could try to offer a feed a few extra times a day, you won't get her to feed if she isn't hungry but she might just take a snack feed.

Do you feed tIll one breast is empty then move to the other? The fat filled milk comes second so she needs to get that milk to help her gain weight. For my son I feed one side til it was empty then offered the other but he usually didn't take much. I would then start with that side the next time and so on.

Best time of day to boost milk production is at night so even if you don't want to wake her you could pump for 10 minutes each breast and store what you get in the freezer for the future x

 

[catty]

I normally put her on one boob and she will stay on quite awhile, she will then come on and off towards the end and seem fussy so i switch her over to the other boob, at the end i put her back on the first boob again to get any of the fattier milk. Sometimes she is satisfied after just one side and then the next feed il begin on the opposite side.

Last night was my friends birthday so i was drinking(such a rare event these days haha) , Alexa had bottles and was downing 4oz bottles and seeming like she was looking for more. She fed every 3 hours (apart from overnight was 5 hours) i was so engorged so pumped alot in that time and one time i actually pumped 9oz!! I was really shocked at that. What i have noticed is my boob that i had mastitis in i always fed off that one first to relieve the pain and it has always been a bit fuller, well i got 7oz from that one and only 2 from the other one! I think il keep pumping after feeds on that side to hopefully produce more milk

 

[Boo44]

I think all the advice about pumping etc is great but isn't that for babies who are failing to thrive? Sounds like Alexa is happy and content and having wet and dirty nappies etc. I was given strict advice to supplement when my baby was born small and didn't gain, I pumped after every feed. It was a nightmare trying to fit everything in! And as soon as he became more settled and content I was told to stop and demand feed.

If you have time to pump and store then fab, but if not I wouldn't worry she sounds content and well! Hope the drs are also happy with her xx she's gorgeous!

 

[catty]

I have just been to my appointment and got her weighed. She is now 10lb 2 oz. Not a big gain and shes now on the 25th centile but she has grown 5cm!!
She is 25th centile for weight, 91st for length and 50th for head circumference.
The doctor did say it is poor weight gain but she was happy with everything else.

 

[catty]

Just updating this so that i remember really. 10 weeks today and weighs 11lb 2oz. Still seems to be on the 25th centile.
On looking back at my daughters red book she weighs literally the exact same at the same age and is still 25th centile at 2.5 years.
Im just going to presume that her original birth weight was just not the actual weight/centile that she was going to follow as thats her been on the 25th for 3 weeks now rather than almost 91st.

She sleeps from 10.30pm - 6am!! Then feeds pretty much every 3 hours in the day and has a 6oz formula bottle at around 5pm when im making the dinner. Im happy with her but i can garuantee at my next appointment they will have issues with her gain.

 

[noon_child]

If she is stable on the 25th centile then she is still gaining weight and it should not be a concern unless you have other problems or she drops centiles again.

Pumping and supplementing can cause problems of their own, so if baby is content then I'd just go with the flow till you see what has happened at next appointment.

 

[smileyfaces]

Sounds like she has settled on the 25th. My baby started out on the 98th and now seems to have settled nicely on the 75th. He bf's every hour sometimes...other times he can go three hours. Just depends! I feed on demand so i don't really count how many feeds he does. As long as your LO is gaining weight, is happy, is having plenty of wet nappies etc then she is fine