When to feed

Question

So when my son came home from the nicu we were told to feed every 3 hours, no longer then 4 hours. However just had his first pediatrician appt and my alarm went off and i mentioned it was time for his feeding, and she said not to feed every 3-4 hrs but to wait until he shows signs he is hungry. He was born at 31 weeks, he will be a month old on the 12th.

Answer

I always fed on demand but my second daughter was underweight and if she went past 3 hours I would feed her. I’m surprised a pediatrician would suggest something like that for a preemie.￼

Answer

Get a new pediatrician. I can’t believe theyd tell you not to feed your kid. Especially since you’re going 3-4 hours not every hour or something crazy. 
I will say tho - don’t follow the same timeline at night bc if you feed enough in the day you might get lucky and your LO will sleep 4-6 hour stretches at night. Then just feed when they wake up to eat.

Answer

First question is: are you breastfeeding feeding or formula feeding? Secondly, babies can sleep up to 20 hrs a day, wth. As a mom of a kiddo who was underweight as an infant (lactose intolerant we found out later on), there's no way in hell I'd wait ONLY for cues. Let's say you wait and they get upset because they're so hungry and it's harder for them to calm down, thus burning off more calories and getting you all in a tizzy. (That may have been a butttt exaggerated, but still haha)

Answer

I don’t have any experience with a preemie but I do know that most have complications with weight and development and most have to be on a strict feeding schedule but i would get a second opinion to be on the safe side I mean I never woke my baby up to feed I always waited for her to wake up herself but she was born at 38 weeks 🤷🏼‍♀️

When to feed

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