How often does your baby feed, either breastfeeding or bottle feeding?

Kelly - posted on 04/16/2010

Babyies dont just nurse when they are hungry they also use it as comfort it makes them happy my little baby went through the same thing. still does occaisionally. or she could be going through a growth spurt as long as she is growing and making wet diapers you have nothing to worry about. I am bfing baby nimber 5 and all have done the same thing.

Tara - posted on 04/15/2010

If you have been breast feeding the whole time, you are doing great. My daughter s cluster feeding too at 3 months. It is a growth spurt, thats all. She will feed every 1 1/2 hours during the day, taking around 5 oz (yes from breastfeeding), and she sleeps 10-11 hours through the night. My doc says its very normal, and it will pass. Good luck.

Gabrielle - posted on 04/14/2010

I am breastfeeding my 15 week daughter and she has gone through these phases too. It usually lasted about 3 days, but then she would go back to her "schedule". I think they go through growth spurts, and need the extra milk.

Shelley - posted on 04/14/2010

My little guy is 14 weeks and eats every two to three hours through the day (6oz) and then he will sleep after his bottle at supper time until around 8 or 9 then we feed him again then he sleeps from 10pm-6 or 7am. Worried that I am feeding him too much though.

Lindsey - posted on 04/14/2010

are you breastfeeding or bottle feeding? if you are breastfeeding, she is just going through a growth spurt, which you should find happens every six weeks or so. I have been through 14 hour breastfeeding marathons with both my girls! even if you feel as though she isn't getting anything from you, let her feed, because she is starting to need more milk, so as she suckles she is increasing the milk production for her benefit.
if you need a break, try giving her (or get hubby to do it as i find this easier) cooled, boiled water in a bottle - it may supress the thirst.
Don't have high expectations of yourself by trying to get things done. I often fall into this trap and it just makes me stressed! If baby is having a feeding marathon, let your housework keep - it will still be there when you have time for it! and don't feel you have to get everything done - even just doing one lot of washing up is an achievement! enjoy your time with your baby, and if she is feeding a lot in the day, put a dvd on or read a book, or even read her some stories. it's exhausting and you're not alone! x

Chantelle - posted on 04/13/2010

i also feed him rice cereal mixed with 2oz. of boiled/cooled water n another bottle with 2oz. of his formula 4 his last feeding so he sleeps threw the night.

Chantelle - posted on 04/13/2010

my 3month son just started the same thing. i BF and bottle feed him. it prob is just a growth spurt casuse when i let him take more than 4 oz. its too much 4 him n he spits up the extra.

Larissa - posted on 04/13/2010

my little girl is 3 months now and she is bottlw feding roughly every 4 hrs .. at forst was all over the place but now shes good !! :)

Joanna - posted on 04/13/2010

Hi there, I had this problem at 6 weeks, my boy was turning into a snacker! He was growing well and it wasn't a growth spurt because he wasn't drinking large amounts each time. It's a very tiring habit for mum and baby who doesn't get long sleeps in between feeds. He got into a vicious cycle of drinking too regularly, catnapping and then waking up hungry. He also loved to suck (not drink!) for comfort. I had a sleep specialist come in and she suggested cooling him down before a feed (it's summer here) with a damp flannel, then feeding both sides and after a burb - ie. fill him up. More food will enable her to sleep longer and start to go longer between feeds - should be 3 hours at least at 3 months. You'll need to start lengthening the time between feeds by 15-30 minutes for the first day etc. until you get onto a 3 hour cycle. It took me a couple of days (at 6 weeks) which were a bit hard with some crying, but after that it worked like a charm. I made sure that baby had a sleep between each and every feed. Baby was getting more sleep, was less tired and feeding much better. Good luck with this!

Sara - posted on 04/13/2010

And if you're BFing then pumping won't necessarily tell you how much you're producing... just a friendly fyi. It's worth a shot, though.

Sara - posted on 04/13/2010

Probably a growth spurt. My son breastfeeds, and I express and when I'm at work he takes a bottle. We have a can of formula but we only use it for emergencies. I can't seem to pump as much as he eats so we have almost run out of breastmilk. lol.

Sarah - posted on 04/13/2010

I think it could be a growth spurt. We just went through about 1.5 or 2 weeks of that :( But happily she is now back to every 3 -4 hours during the day, and a little longer at night. I would just keep feeding her when she wants it, and hope she grows out of it soon! This was by far the longest growth spurt we had, and I just fed her when she wanted, and let the house get messy!

Stacey - posted on 04/13/2010

hey i wouldnt worry too much about it so long as your baby girl is stil gaining weight an alert then she is def getting enough from you, dont start tryin to monitor your milk with a pump tho cos your baby will get far more than a pump can, breastfed babies jus do as they please lol i think its like us we have hungier days too.

Marisa - posted on 04/13/2010

I noticed my 3 month old daughter tends to feed more often when we are home, I think she gets bored. I bottle feed, so I know how much she is getting and it is enough. I try to occupy her with something else until it is either time for a feeding or she (and I) are at our wits end. She usually does not get to that point. I have learned with her, that when she is occupied she will have few bigger feedings throughout the day and sleeps all night, from 8pm until 6am, which allows for me to get some stuff done before I go to sleep. When we do the smaller what seems like all day feedings she gets up at 3am. I am hoping this gets her into a routine, but at this age they change so much it is hard! Good Luck!

Myra - posted on 04/09/2010

My LO usually feeds every 2-3 hours from 10am-6pm. From 6pm to 1am, she generally feeds every 1 to 1.5 hours. She normally takes 45+oz/day. She usually sleeps from 1am-10am straight.

At 3mo there is a growth spurt, so yours may very well be going through one. During those, it seems almost impossible to get the tummy full...which is really bad when you have children like mine that don't ever seem to get full anyway! My oldest that's going on 23mo old eats constantly; luckily she loves fruits and veggies, so eating all the time isn't causing her to gain more weight than she should be gaining. She's 30lbs and 35in tall. My Jan. 2010 baby is about 13lbs and 24in long...started out 5lb 12oz and 17-3/4in.

They say cluster feedings are harder on the one feeding the baby, but generally help the baby sleep more at night. She is getting plenty from you if she is growing well and has plenty of wet and dirty diapers. The diapers are really the best indicator since not all babies grow at an even rate. Depending on what book you read, what website you look at, or what expert you talk to, the number can vary, so if your LO isn't having at least one dirty diaper a day and a wet diaper every other feeding, talk to her doctor. Mine has to be changed every time to feed. That's what I know of as normal based on my LOs.

Colleen - posted on 04/09/2010

Hi guys, my little boy is 11 weeks and takes 5 bottles a day around every four hours. I only managed to breast feed for four days because he was a very aggessive feeder (he is on the 6 month teats already), I think my letdown was slow too so he was hungry, tired and cranky for the early days of his life!
At the moment he is moving between 6 and 7 oz each feed. And he sleeps (and has slept) from around 11PM to 7AM every night once he passed the 11lb mark at about 8 weeks (with a few exceptions!!). I did read someplace that a baby has to achieve a certain weight (this book said 11lbs) before they can satisfy their nutritional needs during the day to carry them through the night.
I know that the different formulas have different consistencies which means that the baby will feed more or less regularly but they should still get the necessary nutrition if you are following the instructions on the pack.
On growth spurts, after our first horror of a growth spurt I followed my mam's advice and once Tadhg was clearing the bottle at more than three of his feeds I upped the amount being offered by 1 oz for the rest. He was able to take them or leave them, but on growth spurt day (6 weeks and 2 months) he was actually getting enough food without having to cry too much and just reduced feeding times by an hour or so (so there was an extra bottle but no tears on my part)... :)
Hope this helps.

Krista - posted on 04/08/2010

My little one is 10 weeks today and she eats like a horse!! She eats every 4 hours(breast) in the day and at 10pm I give her a bottle of Breast milk 6oz, last night it was 7oz. She eats it all. Now she is sleeping anywhere from 3-6 hours in the night... Sounds like she is using you as a pacifier. That is what my Dr. told me my baby was doing, and she was right. I am a hater of the pacifier but I had to give in as my little Becca wanted to hang out at the breast all day!! Do any of you know when it's ok to put some cereal in her night bottle for a longer sleep????

Kendel - posted on 04/08/2010

Devon is taking formula every 4 hours and drinking abot 4.5 oz xxx

Sara - posted on 04/07/2010

My son will be 3 mos next week. He eats 5-6 oz every 3-4 hours.



Could be a growth spurt. We've only had one so far and yes, it is EXHAUSTING. :/ Better luck!

Lora - posted on 04/07/2010

It sounds like she has gotten into more of a habit of feeding that often, rather than that she is truly hungry. My daughter was doing the same thing and her pediatrician said it more of a soothing thing than a feeding because she is actually hungry. They did suggest to pump once or twice and see just how much each breast was producing to make sure that when she did eat, it was enough for a baby her age. I found that I did have enough, so I knew that she was full after a feeding and that she should not be hungry again for a while. I eventually had to switch to formula because she got to a point where I wasn't enough for her. It was a hard decision because I loved breastfeeding, but it has been wonderful so far. Now, we can put a little rice cereal in her bottle at night or just feed it to her like baby food (mixed up with formula) and it helps her sleep all night and even seems to help space her out during the day. If you find out that you have enough milk coming in for her, you may still try some of the rice cereal after a feeding (just use your breast milk to mix it up) to make sure that she is full and if she still acts hungry after all of that, you'll know that she is just in a habit of nursing often. Try distracting her with toys or a pacifier, if she uses one, play a game of peekaboo with her, ect. Or it may just be that she is tired, since babies tend to act hungry when they're tired. Hope this helps!

Jemma-Anne - posted on 04/06/2010

Yep I have expressed & am producing heaps, Im just wandering if its more of a comfort thing than anything coz she often feeds and falls asleep while on the breast. She is gaining weight, shes quite a chubby baby but I will also give the burping thing a try coz she does bring up heaps of wind. I'll see how we go. She only cluster feeds during the day & night time she is real good, sleeps from about 8pm till 6am so can't really complain there. thanks for all the advice its a big help and will try some stuff.

Samantha - posted on 04/06/2010

My daughter has Acid Reflux, so we had to feed her 2 ounces every 2 hours when she was a new born now she is 2 months old and will eat any where between 4 and 6 ounces every 2 to 3 hours.

Susan - posted on 04/06/2010

Hi there.Don't worry she is not getting enough from you - is she still putting on weight? Expressing is not a good way to check on your milk production. Your baby is much more efficient at getting milk from you than a pump. She could be cluster feeding or she may not be getting the amount she wants at one go. Is she latching on ok? Do you switch her from one breast to the other or let her take everything she wants from one breast then offer her the other? If you move her too quickly from one breast then she will only be getting the foremilk and very little hindmilk. My daughter has problems with taking in air when she feeds and needs to be winded before she can continue feeding when she stops. I had to learn that her stopping did not mean she was done or that she wanted the other breast, just that the wind meant she could not feed till she burped it up.
As long as your baby is feeding (even if it is every hour :-S ) and is putting on weight then she is fine even if it is a strain on you. Hopefully it won't last long xxx

Huei Chern - posted on 04/06/2010

Hi, my little girl just turned 3 months old. I bottle feed her with a combination of formula and breast milk at 130ml each time. She averages about 6 feeds a day.

April - posted on 04/06/2010

My son eats every two hours on the dot during the day and then will cluster feed from 7-10 about every hour and then goes 5-6 hours at night. Last night he actually went 7 hours for the first time. When he takes a bottle of 4 oz pumped milk he will go 3 hours.

Lucy - posted on 04/06/2010

try expressing so you know exacally how much she is taking, my daughter is 3 months and she is such a hungry baby, she was guzzeling 6-7oz between 2-3 hours felt like i did nothing but feed her, then moved onto stage 2 and got her thorugh to 6-7oz every 4-5 hours which lasted a week now shes on 6oz of formula every 3-4 hours as well as 2 teaspoons of baby rice strait after her bottle 3 times a day and im just waiting for that to get into her system to see how she does with that :)

Jessica - posted on 04/06/2010

That would be exhausting! When I was BFing I was feeding my LO every 2-3 hours. Now I'm FFing and it's every 3-4 hours and usually 4-6 oz. I would be concerned that she's not getting enough from you. Have you pumped to see how much you're producing? I was pumping roughly 4 oz at 2 months... Good luck!