Must get 8 feeds per day???

[Mabv812]

My pedi told me to feed my 1 month old 8 times a day. Since he has longer stretches at night (4 hours ,sometimes more), does that mean I should wake him up every 3 hours during the day? He last ate at 12 and it's 330 now, so it's been 3.5 hours. It seems to go against the whole "feed on demand" idea to wake them from sleep to eat.

Thoughts?

 

[Katteh]

It depends on weight gain. If weight gain is fine then I wouldn't wake the baby to feed, but if it is a little on the low side I would. The reason they say 8 feeds a day is because an average feed for a breastfed baby is 3 ounces and they take on average 24oz a day, so they need 8 feeds to fulfil that. Obviously it will vary from one baby to the next though as some babies take more and some less

 

[crossedfinger]

I had exactly the same question! My one-month-old doesn't eat 8 times a day, but she definitely has a lot of full diapers and seems happy. So I guess this is not an issue?

 

[FAB mama]

I had the opposite problem... I didn't have a sleepy baby and my pediatrician said to let him go longer between feeds. I didn't really listen though, I pretty much fed on demand. He's small and needs the food anyway. Sorry not much help! Maybe just offer often while LO is awake.

 

[Nicolalove353]

My Ped told me that it was only important to do that the first week. He tells me now to let my baby sleep. I bf and ff so I don't know if that makes any different. If your baby is gaining, I would think it would be ok.

 

[MommyJogger]

If they've regained their birth weight and are having plenty of wet and dirty diapers, it's 'on demand' and you don't need to worry about meeting a quota. 8-12 is about average at that age, but there will always be outliers; just make sure you're recognizing early hunger signals and you're good to go. I offered a boob pretty much any time my son moved or made a peep at that age, but wake a sleeping baby? Uh-uh.
He might decide he wants to nurse 12 times in a day a few days from now anyway, they change so much in such short periods of time.

 

[J22]

I've never been told an amount of feeds a day and have never counted them either! It's just all on demand and sometimes baby feeds longer or less time so I don't understand how it can be set to an amount. I certainly wouldn't wake baby to feed - they'll let you know when they're hungry. You'll have regular checks for weight anyway. I'm on week 11 of bf and that's the way I've done it xxx

 

[Mabv812]

If they've regained their birth weight and are having plenty of wet and dirty diapers, it's 'on demand' and you don't need to worry about meeting a quota. 8-12 is about average at that age, but there will always be outliers; just make sure you're recognizing early hunger signals and you're good to go. I offered a boob pretty much any time my son moved or made a peep at that age, but wake a sleeping baby? Uh-uh.
He might decide he wants to nurse 12 times in a day a few days from now anyway, they change so much in such short periods of time.

Yea when I'm home alone with LO I pretty much put him on the breast any time he is fussy. Otherwise I'd be holding him for hours on end. Luckily family comes over and gices me a brwak.

 

[Mabv812]

If they've regained their birth weight and are having plenty of wet and dirty diapers, it's 'on demand' and you don't need to worry about meeting a quota. 8-12 is about average at that age, but there will always be outliers; just make sure you're recognizing early hunger signals and you're good to go. I offered a boob pretty much any time my son moved or made a peep at that age, but wake a sleeping baby? Uh-uh.
He might decide he wants to nurse 12 times in a day a few days from now anyway, they change so much in such short periods of time.

Yea when I'm home alone with LO I pretty much put him on the breast any time he is fussy. Otherwise I'd be holding him for hours on end. Luckily family comes over and gices me a brwak.

 

[Dk1234]

I was a lot more confident this time around so never woke my son at night. I knew he was a good nurse though and he had plenty of wet diapers I'm glad I did this because he has done 5 hr stretches from the beginning and consistently done 8-10 hrs from like a month old. He has also stayed 75th percentile for weight

 

[Dk1234]

I made sure to feed him about every 2-3 hrs during the day though. I put him on the same routine as my 16m old and thank god it's worked. He eats about 2 times in a 3 hr period then sleeps for 3 hours then does that over. Then sttn