HELP! How often should I feed my baby?
- Thread starter hkjandk
- Start date
Up to the age of three months we expect a baby to feed between 8 and 12 times a day (that works out as every two to three hours). Sometimes babies are happier with less feeds and as long as the baby is growing and is healthy this is also fine.
After three months the number of feeds often depends on the routine of your day, the personality of the baby and the mother?s breast capacity.
What I mean by the routine of your day is whether it is easier for you to give lots of short feeds or fewer longer feds. For example first babies often (but not always) feed for long periods and have fewer feeds ? e.g. 30 minutes feeds every three hours. Whereas second babies (especially if the older child is only two or three years old) will feed much more frequently ? e.g. 10 minutes every hour. One reason for this is because it is easier to entertain a two year old for three lots of ten minutes than one lot of 30 minutes!
Some babies like to connect a lot with their mothers and others are happy to play more by themselves or with others. This tends to be a personality thing ? remember there are no good or bad personalities ? just different ones.
The mother?s breast capacity is how much milk your body can store at any one time.
If your breast capacity is large then as the baby grows they tend to take less but larger meals. Whereas if your breast capacity is small the baby continues to take lots of smaller meals. The both babies, however, get the same amount of milk during the day.
e.g.
11 x 2.5 oz = 27.5 oz
7 x 4 oz = 28 oz
A fully breastfed baby drinks between 25 and 30 ozs in every 24 hours. This is true for a one month old and a six month old.
It is one of the differences between a breastfed and a bottle fed baby. A breastfed baby continues to drink about the same amount but the composition of the milk changes. It changes from the beginning of the feed to the end of the feed, from the beginning of the day to the end of the day and as the baby grows. Formula milk is always the same and so the only way to get more calories into the baby is to increase the amount of milk the baby is drinking.
My conclusion is the same as Cara?s ? follow the clues that your baby gives you and don?t worry about how often or for how long the baby feeds. Breastfeeding mothers are often told to throw away their watches and breastfeeding is easier for mothers who can?t tell the time.
Best wishes,
SARAH
After three months the number of feeds often depends on the routine of your day, the personality of the baby and the mother?s breast capacity.
What I mean by the routine of your day is whether it is easier for you to give lots of short feeds or fewer longer feds. For example first babies often (but not always) feed for long periods and have fewer feeds ? e.g. 30 minutes feeds every three hours. Whereas second babies (especially if the older child is only two or three years old) will feed much more frequently ? e.g. 10 minutes every hour. One reason for this is because it is easier to entertain a two year old for three lots of ten minutes than one lot of 30 minutes!
Some babies like to connect a lot with their mothers and others are happy to play more by themselves or with others. This tends to be a personality thing ? remember there are no good or bad personalities ? just different ones.
The mother?s breast capacity is how much milk your body can store at any one time.
If your breast capacity is large then as the baby grows they tend to take less but larger meals. Whereas if your breast capacity is small the baby continues to take lots of smaller meals. The both babies, however, get the same amount of milk during the day.
e.g.
11 x 2.5 oz = 27.5 oz
7 x 4 oz = 28 oz
A fully breastfed baby drinks between 25 and 30 ozs in every 24 hours. This is true for a one month old and a six month old.
It is one of the differences between a breastfed and a bottle fed baby. A breastfed baby continues to drink about the same amount but the composition of the milk changes. It changes from the beginning of the feed to the end of the feed, from the beginning of the day to the end of the day and as the baby grows. Formula milk is always the same and so the only way to get more calories into the baby is to increase the amount of milk the baby is drinking.
My conclusion is the same as Cara?s ? follow the clues that your baby gives you and don?t worry about how often or for how long the baby feeds. Breastfeeding mothers are often told to throw away their watches and breastfeeding is easier for mothers who can?t tell the time.
Best wishes,
SARAH
Sarah
If I'm exclusively pumping, does my breast milk change composition morning to night and as the baby grows older just as if the baby were drinking from the breast directly? She wouldnt latch no matter what I tried sadly. Shes now 4months and is a very healthy weight. Im generally one to two pumps behind so does this mean she'll get the wrong type of milk at the wrong time of the day?
Thanks
If I'm exclusively pumping, does my breast milk change composition morning to night and as the baby grows older just as if the baby were drinking from the breast directly? She wouldnt latch no matter what I tried sadly. Shes now 4months and is a very healthy weight. Im generally one to two pumps behind so does this mean she'll get the wrong type of milk at the wrong time of the day?
Thanks
Yes your milk will change just like everyone else?s. The most noticeable change is the amount of sugar or fat in the milk. When your breasts are full you will have lots of sugar in your milk (this is known as foremilk) ? this can sometimes be seen as the milk looks more watery. As your breasts empty the fat content increases (known as hind milk) and the milk tends to look creamier.
The best time I saw the difference in the milk was when I helped a mother whose baby was sick and couldn?t drink much. He only managed one side and to relieve the full feeling the mother pumped her breasts after the feed. It was easy to see the difference in the milk collected. The milk from the breast fed from was very white in colour while the other side was more a bluey see-through white colour.
Don?t worry about the day to day differences in the milk ? it is important that the baby gets both fore milk and hind milk but it doesn?t matter if it is a mixture of the two.
Generally we would advice that you try to feed the baby the correct age milk. Thus milk for a four month old from around four months is better than stored milk from when he was one month old. When babies receive donated milk from a milk bank they always try to match the age of the milk. (i.e. a 30 week premature baby will receive milk from a mother whose baby is also 30 weeks premature, etc. - this isn?t so important if the baby is full term.)
But the bottom line is that any breast milk ? not matter what the age of it is better for your baby than any alternative.
The best time I saw the difference in the milk was when I helped a mother whose baby was sick and couldn?t drink much. He only managed one side and to relieve the full feeling the mother pumped her breasts after the feed. It was easy to see the difference in the milk collected. The milk from the breast fed from was very white in colour while the other side was more a bluey see-through white colour.
Don?t worry about the day to day differences in the milk ? it is important that the baby gets both fore milk and hind milk but it doesn?t matter if it is a mixture of the two.
Generally we would advice that you try to feed the baby the correct age milk. Thus milk for a four month old from around four months is better than stored milk from when he was one month old. When babies receive donated milk from a milk bank they always try to match the age of the milk. (i.e. a 30 week premature baby will receive milk from a mother whose baby is also 30 weeks premature, etc. - this isn?t so important if the baby is full term.)
But the bottom line is that any breast milk ? not matter what the age of it is better for your baby than any alternative.