Not the "typical" pattern

[LotusFlwr]

Hi all,

I haven't posted on this forum in quite some time, since my soon to be 4 yr old was a newborn.

We'll now I have an 8 week old little boy who is EBF.

In the beginning he was nursing constantly, every hour. The time between nursing has increased to 3-4 hours. So that means some days he only nurses 6-7 times. It makes me nervous so I wake him up from naps because if I let him sleep he will go over 4 hrs between feeds during the day. He also only wakes 1-2 times at night to nurse.

I guess I'm just looking for reassurance or someone else who has LO this young who feeds less than 8-12 times that is recommended.

Don't know how his weight is have appt next week but he has plenty of wet and dirty diapers.

Thank you for reading if you got this far!!!

 

[sheldonsmommy]

Maybe you're just making more milk now and he's satisfied for longer? Those early days of constant nursing are so brutal but they do pay off in the end at establishing a good supply.

I would say since wet and dirty diapers are plentiful, and assuming he's gained weight, I wouldn't worry about typical patterns.

I do remember vaguely a little growth spurt or something around 2.5 to 3 months where ds nursed more frequently for a short period, but as long as you're feeding on demand baby will naturally build your supply to what he needs

 

[hakunamatata]

I let my lo sleep longer than the recommended 3 hours, up to about 6 hours at night. He experienced no detrimental effects, had plenty of wet and soiled diapers, and he's in the 75th percentile for weight. So I'm all for letting them sleep when they're sleepy and eat when hungry.

 

[LotusFlwr]

Thank you for replying!

My instinct tells me that's the case but I can't help but worry since I can't see how much he's getting. If I try to feed him more frequently he gets so mad lol! Pulls off and screams.

 

[LotusFlwr]

Thank you. I don't wake him at night just during the day if it looks like he's going to go more than 4 hours between feeds. I'm tempted to see what happen if I don't wake him up. My guess it he will make up for it at night.

 

[hakunamatata]

I personally wouldn't worry about it. I know it caused me a bit of anxiety too, but I talked to a nurse who had kids of her own as well as 30 years of nursing experience and she said it was ok, which helped me worry less.

 

[misspriss]

As far as I recall, I was told if my LO had been term, there would be no reason to wake him for feeds - they wake when they are hungry. Trust your body and your baby. You said it yourself, he's having plenty of wet and dirty diapers. It is hard when you can't see it, but trust me, if he's refusing to nurse more, and having plenty of output, he has enough input!