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Personally I'll never put my baby on a feeding schedule. What about when baby needs to cluster feed because of a growth spurt? They cluster feed to boost your supply. If theyre not doing that, your boobs will continue to make the same ammount of milk because they're not being told by baby to increase the ammount. It's not just for cluster feeding, baby may simply add an extra feeding here and there to boost your supply just a little if needed.Everyone is different. Take the opinions here and from friends and family with a grain of salt. You know your baby's needs. Good luck
3 month old eating schedule
I'm getting sleep and scheduling advice from a friend who has 4 babies and swears by her technique. Anyway, she recommends that I breastfeed my daughter every 3 hours during the day. Like 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, then 9pm and bed. Then do whatever during the night and eventually she will start going longer stretches. Is every 3 hours during the day reasonable? I feel like I would feed her all day long so going 3 hours seems a little rough, but she's not screaming in hunger, but I do have to distract her more since she is used to being on the boob every 2-2 1/2 hours or more often. My daughter is slmost 15 weeks and I'd say 13-14 lbs. Also, do I need to worry about my supply, since I won't be breastfeeding as often, or will she just eat more when she does eat?
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No, no, please do not do this! Some babies will be okay every three hours but many will not. She will not be able to eat more at the three hours mark because your boobs only hold a certain amount of milk, and so it is very likely there will not be enough milk. It will cause your supply to drop as well. This is the babywise/pfp method and it is associated with early drying up of milk supply and infant dehydration, malnutrition, and failure to thrive in many babies. It is the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics and of the IBCLC that you ALWAYS feed your baby when they are hungry.
Jo
Yes, but as her post states her baby is hungry every 2-2.5 hours. Keeping babies at the strict 3 hours when they're hungry more often is what leads to milk supply problems and FTT. A 3 hour schedule wouldn't be a good fit for her baby.
Re
Also, Babywise very clearly states that you should feed your baby when they are hungry - even if it's not according to the schedule.
Re
We've done Babywise and my milk supply is abundant, my baby is growing perfectly, she sleeps through the night at 6 weeks, and our family is so happy! And I have lots of friends and family who have done the same and had great success!
This is what we had to do due to her reflux issues. Now, some days and especially when she cluster feeds we don't. But since she gained her birth weight back we feed every 3 hours or later. I try not to go longer than 3 hours during the day for supply issues and she won't sleeping longer during the night if I don't wake her. We found that after getting her used to 3 hours or longer (recommended by her GI Doctor) her fussiness dramatically dropped. We learned that if she doesn't fully allow her stomach to empty before another feed it cause her reflux to become more severe which cause an extremely unhappy baby! Every baby is different, but for us. We had to do a 3 hour feed schedule, and now she is thriving!!
I've followed a similar pattern. Every 3-4 hours since week two. She was past whe birth weight at that point and that's about when she woke up hungry anyway. My baby went four hours between feedings at night from day four until she started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. I read Babywise and it has been awesome. The biggest key is following a pattern of eat, wake, sleep. Also focusing on feeding full feedings, not just a snack. It promotes good feeding and sleeping, which results in a happier, more alert baby during wake times. 😊
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