How do you know baby is hungry??

Question

I have been EBF, baby is 3 months old. She feeds every 1.5-2 hours during the day, and only for about 5 minutes total each feed. Since she started putting her hands in her mouth all the time I feel like I don’t know when she is hungry and am afraid that maybe she is eating for a short time because she is not even hungry. How do you know when your baby is hungry? I don’t want to wait until she cries for food because then she doesn’t breastfeed well and screams and cries until letdown happens.

Answer

I can usually tell by stroking her cheeks and seeing if she turns towards my finger. Or ill place her near my chest and if shes hungry she usually takes her hand away and starts to try and find a boob.

Answer

I have read at 3 months babies eat every 4 hours or so during the day and 6 hours at night. Hunger cues are fists clinched and rooting. At this age baby should be going longer then 2 hours, mine goes 3 to 4 but not all babies are the same. Also around 3 months babies stop nursing as long bc they become more efficient at breast feeding. I would try going 3 hours to see how she does.

Answer

I bring him close and he will
Root for boobs. He also gets fussy and cranky when hungry before the full on meltdown

Answer

Ya, that sounds like she's just snacking because she's not quite hungry. I am continually forgetting that my girl is growing and is able to go longer and longer with every new month. She's had trouble gaining weight (bad reflux), so it is a huge source of fear to let her get too hungry. My girl is 3.5 months and started eating every three hours for the last week or two. I've noticed a great change in that she eats MUCH longer (20 mins instead of 10) and is able to have longer wake times and easier/longer naptimes. It just took the initiative of me trying out longer times. Of course if she was crying and not from tiredness, I would feed her, no matter the time. The book "Baby Wise" helped me so much!

Answer

I can tell by how aggressive my daughter chews her hands. When she began to smack and suck on her hands then I'll rub her cheek. If she turns and roots towards the rub I know she's hungry, which is about ever 2.5-3 hours.

Answer

I'm in the same boat. Feeding every hour to two hours. My theory is if he isn't hungry he won't feed. Boob is my first port of call. Also the older the baby gets the better they are at extracting milk efficiently so feeds should be shorter as far as I know. I know you might think you should go longer between feeds but it kind of depends on a lot of things. I for one don't think my boobs have great storage capacity and that's why we feed more frequently. Also comfort. If they are teething or going through a developmental leap they tend to boob just for comfort.

How do you know baby is hungry??

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