How often should a newborn feed? So confused!!

I have a 10 day old bub, we have been breastfeeding and so far I feel as if its going really well. However I am concerned that she does not feed enough, and with her last two weigh in's she lost weight. I know babies usually lose weight after birth and can take a couple of weeks to start gaining again. I was hoping to ease my mind today with a visit from the health nurse, but she forgot her scales.

Bub seems to be a good sleeper at the moment, and can stretch 5/6 hours between feeds. I think this may be too long to let her go, yet the nurse said as long as she is getting in 6 decent feeds in 24 hours all is ok.

So today I kept track. She fed at 7am, 10.30am, 1.30pm and 6pm. Its now 8pm. I am thinking I will wake her to feed again before I go to bed, so 9ish, to get in that 5th feed. And then she will have a early morning feed sometime and probably stretch through to 6/7am. She really seems to be able to stretch herself between feeds and is very content.

Do I need to feed her more often than this? Sounds silly but I feel mean waking her and it sounds a bit nuts to wake a sleeping baby!

Also I am worried about keeping up my supply....how can I tell if it is low? She feeds for anywhere between 20-30 mins and most feeds I manage to give her both sides.

Hmmm, it's tricky huh! What are the feeds like? Does she have nice big ones that she stays awake for? How are her nappies? Is she having 6-8 wet ones in 24hrs? Was she jaundiced at all or any other birth issues? When is the nurse going to check her weight again?

Most of all, congratulations on your gorgeous girl!

from what i can remember from the MW she said feed on demand when ever she wants to eat, also the sleeping she said wake her every2hrs or so and feed druing the day but let her sleep at night... you need rest too.

as for you rmilk she is obviously getting what she needs cause she is one content bubs.. :)
your doing a great job babe.. be very proud..

:hug: hun. Your post just brought back all of that early feeding anxiety that I used to feel with DS. It's hard when they're so brand new and you don't know them very well yet and I think that the feeding of a newborn can be all over the show for a little while.

If it were me, I would not be waking her just yet. I *think* 2-4 hourly is normal/average but they can have one longer stretch in the 24 hour period. I guess you're lucky that she's doing it overnight at this stage. What was her birth weight? and how far off her birth weight is she now? Are there lots of wet and dirty nappies each day? How is her skin colour?

If she's been checked by the health nurse and she seems ok to you then all is probably well (btw grrrr at forgetting her scales! who does that? and how frustrating!).
When is the nurse coming back? If she's not that far from birth weight and there are plenty of wet/dirty nappies, I would probably give her another 4-5 days and weigh again at 2 weeks to check her weight is coming back up.

You sound like you're doing an amazing job! Congrats on the birth of your DD. xx

If it were me, I'd be waking her to feed. She sounds like a sleepy bub and often this can create a vicious cycle with feeding. it is so tempting to let them sleep, especially if it is at night, but it can mess around with your supply. She should be feeding more than *just* 6 times a day because she may not be having fantastic feeds all the time to just be happy with that amount kwim? You might notice too that in another few days she is all of a sudden awake and becoming a lot more demanding for feeds too, but you should try to help that along by waking her to feed and feeding her every 3ish hours at this stage to encourage her to feed more if that makes sense.

Hi,
To be honest, just in these early days, and until you are sure she is on track and gaining weight I would tend to wake her and feed her every 3 hours (if she wants more feeds than that, that's OK - but don't let her go more than 3 hours) For most people, babies included, 6 *feeds* in 24 hours wouldn't be enough to grow on (think of every time we put food or drink in our mouth). There can be a number of reasons newborns don't feed enough, and they haven't got too many reserves of energy to fall back on. The general rule of thumb is that babies lose around 10% of their birthweight and you would usually expect them to be back at birthweight by 2 weeks. The key to imput is often output. What are her wet and dirty nappies like? By this age she should be having several poos a day - and they should have transitioned through black meconium/green/brown to mustardy yellow.
Pretty soon you'll be able to let her do her own thing

I'd be waking her too, hun :hug:
Prob don't let her go past the 4hr mark - so where you said she fed last at 1.30pm I would maybe wake her around the 5pm at the latest? Then feed again around 8-9pm and see how she goes overnight from there.

Of course, I'm not a LC, just going on what I've done with both bubs and what has been recommended to me :hug:
Hopefully Barb will see your post soon xoxo

Thanks everyone for the speedy responses!!!

I know I was spewing that she forgot her scales! But I am going to to drop in day next Tues to have her weighed.

Definately plenty of wet and dirty nappies throughout the day and night. And yellow/mustard in colour.

Trill thats what I have been thinking. I am liking the idea of waking every 2/3 hours for feeds during the day and if she goes a tad longer at night that may be ok.

As much as I am enjoying having a decent nights sleep, its worrying because in my mind I'm thinking hmmm should you not be feeding more? Sounds crazy huh?!

I am enjoying breast feeding (never thought I would say that considering two days into it I was ready to get that formula tin) but its also hard to know if I'm on the right track and if she's getting enough.....

Lol... Barb and I posted at the same time :lol: xxx

hun if it's worrying you and you feel it's not quite right then go with that and wake her. Plus Barb and Trillian know what they're talking about here......

DD was sleepy at the start but she is now feeding every 2 hours during the day cluster feeds in the evening and an 8 hour stretch at night I don't think I even count feeds anymore
I used to just wake her every 4 if it gets to that far but at night I left her plus I was sleeping anyway hopefully after a few weeks bub will get into a rhythm and give u some piece of mind :hug:

:hugs: my firstborn had failure to thrive for 6 weeks :( my lactation consultant said that my newborn should have at least a min of 8 feeds if not more. I eventually have to supp with formula as my supply lessened and I couldnt get it back.

With my 2nd baby, I demand fed, I was determined not to go through this again. Tara fed every 2 to 2 1/2 hours. at night she cluster fed from 5pm, 6pm, 9pm, 10pm then 12pm then 3am then 6am

Yeah, I would say 6 may not be enough for such a little baby - 8-12 is probably more like it. Aiming for 2 hourly during the day, and maybe longer overnight could be a good way to go. As Barb says, till you're on track and you know she's gaining weight well, I wouldn't let her go more than 3 hours between feeds (at least on average).
My DD was sleepy at first and I started waking her 2 hourly to feed - after a few days of that she started waking herself to feed more often and now is going 3-4 hourly overnight.
Lots of wet & dirty nappies is very good!

I ahgree with MadB - i would wake her during the day and give her a feed (i found the boys sometimes fed even better when i woke them as they kind of just fed in reflex - and sleepy feeds are gorgeous!).I think mine had around 10 feeds a day.... i reckon you could leave it a biyt longer at nihgt i she is content and has had lots of feeds during the day... i had not distinction b/n day and night at that age - in terms of sleeping, feeds etc from the bubs. plenty of wet and dirty (mustard yellow sounds perfect) nappies sounds good! you are doinga fabulous job! xxx

Thank you everyone. Must say I am feeling pretty over whelmed at the moment. In the end I have decided to let her go no longer than 3 hours. If she sleeps a tad longer at night I wont wake her. Today she fed at 6am (only on one side) 8am (probably to top up from the 6am?), 11am, 2pm and I am planning the next around 5pm. I seem to have enough milk, I'm forever leaking and there is always alot still coming after she pulls herself away. So really hoping I am on the right track here. I dont know, I have no idea about breastfeeding....

You said lots of wet & dirty nappies, right? That's the best indicator of supply, so sounds good.
It's still really, really early days yet, so you're both figuring things out. That's ok :hug:

You are doing so awesomely well!! I can understand the overwhelmed feeling but truely, it sounds like you have a content little bubba there. If you have decided that feeding every 3 hours is right for you then fabulous and from my understanding if she has the wet and poo nappies during the day then it's all good. The weight is another factor but you could totally be worried about nothing. Just wait and see what the scales say but my guess is if your CHN forgot her scales and didn't tell you to get her weighed asap or anything like that, she isn't too worried.

Thanks girls. DH has told me to relax and go with the flow. He pointed out that she is content and feeding really well on both sides during the day every 3 hours. I am just gonna stick with that and see what comes of it next Tues when I weigh her.

Bless your dh

Honestly if it wasnt for DH's support right from day one I would have chucked it in by day 3, he kept me going and I'm so glad

Yay for your DH!

Yay for your lovely dh and for you.... Well done honey xxx

Just a follow up to this thread for anyone else in the same position. I took DD along to the health nurse drop in clinic today and they weighed her at just over 4 kgs, so she has gained back her birth weight and some. So I am VERY pleased and relieved to know that so far she is healthy and content on her 6-7 feeds per day.

Great stuff!