"She should be sleeping longer by now......."

I just had my 6 week appt at the OB, and/ despite the fact that all is well with Emma, when he asked me how often she feeds, i told him 3 hourly (and the truth is it is often less than that - ie 2.5 hourly) and he said 'oh thats really too often". he wasnt worried and said no more about it, but now i feel like - well what can i do - if she is hungry i feed her. and we are both doing well, i feel that i am still getting enough sleep (well as enough as you can with a newborn) and she is doing great.

Does it really matter if she feeds this often? I cant really see the harm, she will eventually feed less often as she gets older i'm sure, but i would rather her get enough. i guess i just need some reassurance to know that i am doing the right thing.

Lidna - I say do whatever she wants to. As I am quickly learning, every baby is different, and they don't know what they 'should' be doing - they haven't read the books!

I say ignore him!!! :D

Jo

I don't think 3-hourly is too often at - especially for a BF baby! Some BF babies need to be fed every 2 hours... and theres still nothing wrong with that either.
Like you said, as she gets older she will probably have longer intervals between feeds.

Thanks guys. i really do feel that it shouldnt be a problem, and to me.....well it doesnt worry me so why get bothered by it? i guess i jsut wasnt sure if there were any other reasons to worry.

I can't really remember how long it took for me to stretch out the time between feeds.
I'm sure that Angus was 3 hourly until he was sleeping through at about 11 weeks.
Talk to your MCHN about that one.

Thanks Shannon!! I am happy to keep going on, it doesnt worry me at all!

Hannah is almost 6 months and is only just starting to stretch out to 3 hourly feeds. Up until recently she'd been feeding two hourly - around the clock! All babies are different, but it's pretty common for a bf baby to feed 2-3 hourly during the day especially.

In the last couple of weeks Matthew has just stretched out to 3 plus hours for a Breastfeed, before this I`d be feeding him every 1.5 - 2.5 hours and at times hourly.

I`d ignore the OB, your doing a great job

Edited to say Matthew is 6.5 months old now

Kynan still does 3 hourly feeds most days and he's almost 6 months old LOL!!

See Linda, have trust in yourself... Your doing a terrific job! =D> =D>

Yep - I agree. When was the last time that OB breastfed a baby!!! Besides - wouldn't you more rely on a paedeatrician than an OB for this stuff??

Dont worry about it all - do what feels right, until it feels wrong, adn then try something new. Your baby may change its ways in a few weeks, and its good to keep an open mind about it! Thats the biggest killer, just when you get used to something they go and change on ya!!

You're doing brilliantly!

Hi Linda,

I would ignore him as well, I used to stress myself so much about the "should's" Babies are little individuals and think many people forget that

Astrid

Don't worry Linda, what would "HE" know about it ;) My paed told me the same thing but I ignore it.

I totally believe in infant-led feeding, they know when they are hungry and thirsty - would anyone tell a thirsty person to wait an extra hour or two for a drink on a hot day, because they just had a drink an hour or so ago?

Good on you for following your instinct as a mother - it's always right ;)

Thanks so much everyone. I will totally continue feeding as we are. tou're right Kelly, who would tell someone to waitf they were thirsty....

You're doing a fantastic job, Linda! You're probably going to come up against a lot of "well meaning" people (both professionally and personally) trying to tell you that you are over-feeding your child (or under-feeding - depending on their 'opinion'). Either way, their comments can definitely make you freak out a little as to whether you are doing the right thing.
One thing I had to learn how to do is just listen to my baby. Was she happy? Yep... tick that box. Were there plenty of wet nappies? Yep. Poos ok (as poos go?), yep. Was she sleeping ok (within reason... all babies vary but you know yours the best).
If all these things are ok, your baby is growing etc. etc. then these people can stick their opinions where the sun don't shine!
Ok... I'll get off my soap-box now!

Keep up the fantastic work!!

I BF Nicola every 3 hours for 10 months ( I went back to IVF and work). Sometimes more often if she was in a growth spurt which caused cluster feeds. I think the key is... if you and baby are happy and the baby are growing then all is good. Just make sure you get enough sleep, I slept whenever she did. She is now a healthy and happy 3 year old who regularly sleeps 10-11 hours at night and still has an afternoon nap.

Thanks Deb and Magic. Yep - all those boxes are ticked!! So we will just continue on our merry way! :D

Linda - Louis varies his feeds all over the place. Sometimes he can go for 4 - 6 hours overnight but then usually in the morning he only last 2-2.5h. I'm sort of thinking he catches up for going so long overnight.

We can only do what we think is right!

Kristie - you'll probably find it will happen that way. As he sleeps longer and longer overnight, his feeds during the day will be more frequent because he's trying to get in all those calories in a shorter space of time.
After a couple of months, you'll have a good routine going - and a lot of babies sleep right through (10-12 hours) without a feed! Mind you, Gabby has only really started to sleep that long since she was about 6 months old. Still, I was getting at least 8 hours out of her before.