6 weeks still nurses every 2-3hrs

Allison - posted on 07/20/2009

My son is six months old and still nurses every 3 hours. Sometimes every two and he is a little peanut. he only ways 16 pounds and will be 7 months in a week and a half.

Tess - posted on 07/20/2009

It doesn't get better than breastmilk, let the little sucker feed as much as he wants, your milk is the best for him...nothing else like it ;)

Lori - posted on 07/20/2009

Like everyone said, that's completely normal - you can't over breastfeed a baby, and the weight gain is excellent.
My son gained about a pound a week for the first 4 to 6 weeks, then his weight gain slowed... then his height took off, and he is now super tall. They eat when they need it, don't try to reduce his nursing.
As to a 4 week old only gaining 7 oz - that seems quite low. I believe the expected weight gain is at least 8 oz per week for the first month at least.

Angela - posted on 07/19/2009

I'm pretty sure you cant nurse too much.

Aylin - posted on 07/19/2009

My baby girl is 2 months old and there were times that I had to fed her in less than 1 1/2 hours. She gained 5 pounds the first month! I realized that she was using me as her pacifier so started using one and it works! Now she "ask" for her milk at least every 2/3 hours during the day and 3/4 hours at night!

Anne - posted on 07/19/2009

i have a 7 month old baby who still nurses every 2-3 hours. her weight gain is fine... :)

Patricia - posted on 07/18/2009

You know your baby's schedule better than anyone. They go through growth spurts early on. I nursed every 2-3 hours up until she was 4 months.

Tanya - posted on 07/18/2009

My 6 month old son eats every 2-3 hours at least, sometimes every hour.

At 6 wks he'd be eating a few times an hour, he grew so fast during the

time.

Nicole - posted on 07/18/2009

My daughter is 5 1/2 months and still eats every 2 hrs.

Aleks - posted on 07/18/2009

Every baby is different. My baby at 6 weeks still very much fed anywhere between 1.5 hours to 4 hours.... and even now she sometimes ( usually during growth spurts) nurses every 2 or 2.5 hours.. its all ok... and every baby is different. Besides, at 6 weeks your baby is still establishing breastfeeding... It's all ok... don't fret. At about 8 weeks they tend to slow down... but only to about every 3 hours or so... but again, it depends on baby and growth spurts.

Samantha - posted on 07/18/2009

perfectly normal.. 6 weeks is practically still a newborn.

Melissa - posted on 07/18/2009

You are doing great! Yes, every two to three hours is normal. I am nursing my nine-month-old twin boys, and they ate every two to three hours until just recently. I found when they went through growth spurts the feedings in the evenings would be every two hours. Since your baby is gaining weight, just keep doing what you're doing. Let your baby be your guide. Great job!

Ashley - posted on 07/18/2009

My 6 month old nurses that often... when he was 6 weeks he ate every hour. My feeling is, when he's hungry, feed him. My boys is big, but not overly. And I feel like if you try to limit it, you'll only affect your milk supply and he'll probably still try to nurse as often.

Lucy - posted on 07/18/2009

My daughter is 14wks and nurses anything between every half an hour to every 3 hours, feed your baby on demand and you wont go wrong!

Sarah - posted on 07/18/2009

I nursed usually every 2hours until 4/5 months. He is now around 4 hours between feeds at 10 months

Rebekah - posted on 07/18/2009

My DD is 6 weeks old and nurses every 2-3 hours too. From what I understand, a nursing newborn can not eat "too much." He'll eat when he's hungry and refuse when he's full. In my opinion, I think your sister's child is the one that needs to be examined by a doctor.

Teresa - posted on 07/17/2009

Totally normal to nurse that much. In the second 3 days of my son's life he gained 12 ounces!! He intially lost 8, so by 6 days was 4 ounces heavier than he was at birth. :) His rate of growth slowed a bit after that, but he still gained quickly for several months. At almost 16 months now he is only about 23 pounds (big, but not quite AS big), so even though he still nurses ALL the time he doesn't continue to gain weight quite as quickly.



Personally I'd be more concerned w/ your nephew's slower rate of growth. Once they regain their birth weight I 'think' they are supposed to gain about a half a pound a week... on average anyway.

User - posted on 07/17/2009

That is true too. I always let my son nurse however long he wanted to on the side I would start with and never timed it. Once he popped off I would offer the other side to him and let him eat for how long he wanted on that side as well. At 6 weeks he would usually do 20 minutes on the first side and 10 on the second side.

Amber - posted on 07/17/2009

Sounds like he's probably having a growth spurt. Are you only letting him nurse for a certain amount of time on each breast? It could be that he's only getting foremilk and not hindmillk, so he's hungry more frequently.

Shanda - posted on 07/17/2009

no, your baby is fine! Don't worry, the weight gain will slow down. My LO gained 4.5 lbs and 4 inches in the first 4 weeks, but don't worry, he hasn't continued to gain at that weight, LOL!



I think 2-3 hours between sounds totally normal. My 7 month old still nurses that often! Just keep doing what you're doing!

Dana - posted on 07/17/2009

Totally normal. My son, Ethan, is 11 months old and he nurses quite frequently still. I don't think it's even possible to nurse too much. I can relate though,Ethan, would nurse for 45 min to an hour at that age then he had to burp or he'd spit up a ton but, I had a heck of a time getting him to burp so by time he did I'd have a half hour before he was hungry again. At that age it's like you have time to feed them, then feed yourself, then feed them again, then it's time to feed yourself again. You might be able to get a flooor swept or a load of laundry done in between. You'll get into the groove of things again! And really who doesn't love a chubby baby!

Trina - posted on 07/17/2009

Yup, it's normal. My bub nursed like that until he was about 6 months old before going to about 4 hours between feedings.

Nicole - posted on 07/17/2009

Yep, totally normal. My son who is 2.5 probably nurses this much. Now often it's just taking a quick pull, but every 2-3 hours he's "checking in" to see if he can nurse if he wants. My daughter, 14w, nurses probably every 1-2 hours except her long night time stretch, we're lucky. She is an awesome sleeper, just always has been, so far.

User - posted on 07/17/2009

This is completely normal for a baby of this age to be nursing every 2-3 hours. My son came out only wanting to nurse every 3 hours except when he would go through a growth spurt. He eventually started stretching his feedings out to every 4 hours as well. Every baby is different, but this is completely normal time frame for a 6 wk old.

Minnie - posted on 07/17/2009

I've nursed two children and neither went more than an hour without nursing. My nine month old still nurses, on average, twice an hour. At 6 weeks she was probably nursing 3-4 times an hour. Which is normal.