How often to feed?

AthenaPlusOne

Trying for Bean #2
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My 3 month old is quickly approaching 20lbs and has been EBF from the start. He's currently eating every 3 hours. However, every nap he takes after his first nap of the day is a MAX of 30 minutes. He used to be the kind of kid that would just eat and eat and eat until you forced him to stop. Now he pulls off about about 15 minutes (usually 10-12 minutes on one side and 3-5 on the other). Is this a sign that he's eating too often? Should I move him back to every 3.5hrs or every 4?
 
There's really no set time or frequency to breastfeeding 'on demand'. There's lots of strange advice out there about ways to get your bf infant to sleep longer, but really I think most 3mo olds just aren't in a developmental place to easily take consolidated naps. I believe the "norm" for that age is 30min-2h naps 1-2h apart during the day. It's rough, but not really indicative of something wrong, and development is so rapid and variable at 3 months that the range of "normal" is enormous.
Nor is high weight gain an indicator of how often they 'should' be eating. Ebf infants fed on demand will basically drink milk when they're hungry/thirsty until they're not anymore; unless there's an illness, they're quite good at self-regulation.
At 3mo, I would say that feeding every 3h is lucky and that 2h is closer to "average". It's a rare bf baby that can actually go 4h between feeds; trying to force or too strongly encourage that if they're asking to nurse more often can cause problems such as failure to thrive. Give it time. Mine went through a lot of crap-nap stages, but he eventually naturally consolidated them and is sleeping longer stretches now. (And now that I've typed that, I just know we're in for a crazy night, lol.)
 
They do reduce the amount of time they feed as they get older and more efficient at feeding. My LO used to feed every 2 hours until he was about 10 months old. He now has slightly longer feeds again, about 20 minutes, but he only feeds 3 or 4 times in 24 hours.
 
Feeding on demand is best. Babies know what they need when it comes to milk.
 
You're doing fine! 30 minute naps are incredibly normal at that age. So is reducing nursing time per session. Every 3 hours seems perfect. Don't change a thing!
 

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