for the breastfeeding mums!

Imogen is 6 weeks tomorrow and her feeds are still all over the place. I read that around 6 weeks a baby starts to get some sort of routine going but we have none! She can go an hour then want more, then she can sleep for 3 hours and want more.I never know when she is going to want to feed and im one of those people who needs routine to get me through the day!! In the evenings she just wants to nurse all the time and ends up being sick! Reading another post on here i noticed most of your babies are going 1.5-2 hours or even 3-4 hours. I wouldnt mind if she wanted it every hour, atleast i would have some sort of routine going!!!

i bf my DD for 19 months and at 6 weeks old there was no way she was in any kind of routine! - She was demand fed which could mean i fed her every hour to ever 4 hours, i just followed her lead!

Its tiring and frustrating but you should find by about the 10-12 week mark things will start to settle down a little bit and your DD may go for 3-4hr stretches - but if she's going through a growth spurt, expect lots of feeding!!. - I too found that my DD fed more at night and loved to cluster feed from 2-4am

 GL with it   you're doing a great job!!!

Mia is steady going every 2 hrs during the day until about 10 then every 3 till either 4 or 6 if we are lucky. I am still demand feeding too. And yes....sometimes she just latches and looks around not really feeding, just snacking I guess. The days I work I pump and my mom says she waits a bit longer before asking for more (even though its still my milk).

My daughter is 8 weeks old now and her feedings are every 2-4 hours during the day with her last feeding of the day around 12am and her first feeding of the day around 7am (very lucky). I have a pretty good milk supply so she only nurses on one side for about 10-15 minutes at each feeding. The day feeding are still really sporadic as are her sleeping habits, which vary in timing on a day to day basis. The feedings are definitly closer together in the evening and morning since she has that long period through the night without eating.

I remember I had a similar situation with DS1.. - for almost 4 months!!!...

Not that I have a perfect routine with ds2... the schedule goes here and there. It could also be part of a growth spurt.He also wakes up early in the morning and goes on a nursing spree..and pukes everything out!

So hang in there dear. In a few weeks/days time you will find a routine following soon.

 Thanks everyone!! I guess its completely normal then! She does well at night, settling at 10pm then up between 2-4am then again at 7am. She definatly has a night time routine in place but the day is all over the place! I have a really good milk supply too and only have to feed her on one side, Some times she feeds for ages and goes 3-4 hours but other times she will feed for 5-10 minutes and last an hour. Im not going to give up like i did with DD1 after 4 weeks. I'm definatly going to stick it out!

xvicky06x:

. Im not going to give up like i did with DD1 after 4 weeks. I'm definatly going to stick it out!

xvicky06x:

n the evenings she just wants to nurse all the time and ends up being sick!

 Vicky,

  I was having this problem a couple of weeks ago and I started asking the midwife and the doctor.  I know it says everywhere to feed on command and that a breastfed baby will not over eat BUT they told me that it could just be that the baby is tired.  When babies are tired they think that if they eat they will go to sleep.  I have noticed that DS acts really really hungry at night before bed.  I will try to feed him but if he is crying even while eating or that he is fighting me (to get to the breast and to get away at the same time) then more than likely he is just tired.  I give him a pacifier and try to get him to go to sleep.  This usually ends with him falling to sleep and sleeping for an extended period of time.  Otherwise, if I keep letting him eat, he ends up overeating and throwing up. 

  As for a schedule, he eats about every 2.5 hours during the day and it has been changing at night now.  We stayed up later last night (10pm) and we woke up at 2:30, 5am, 7:30, 9:30 awake until 10:30, woke 12:30, 2:00.  Its kind of a normal schedule but not really.  He does have "normal" wake times though.  He is awake awhile in the morning and quite a while at night.  HAHA, so I know when he should sleep after he eats but dont really have a schedule for eating . 

traveler:

I was having this problem a couple of weeks ago and I started asking the midwife and the doctor.  I know it says everywhere to feed on command and that a breastfed baby will not over eat BUT they told me that it could just be that the baby is tired.  When babies are tired they think that if they eat they will go to sleep.  I have noticed that DS acts really really hungry at night before bed.  I will try to feed him but if he is crying even while eating or that he is fighting me (to get to the breast and to get away at the same time) then more than likely he is just tired.  I give him a pacifier and try to get him to go to sleep.  This usually ends with him falling to sleep and sleeping for an extended period of time.  Otherwise, if I keep letting him eat, he ends up overeating and throwing up.

This is a HUGE help to me and totally makes sense!! She will cry and cry so i'll let her feed and she wont take any milk she will just suck and start to drift off to sleep. But at the moment she wont take a pacifier so theres no other way to get her to sleep unless i rock her. i think i will keep pushing the pacifier on her. Thanks you so much for telling me this!! It really has helped!!