Setting breasting routine

[Lana17]

Hi mummies,

I'm breast feeding my baby on demand at the moment, will try to feed every 2-3 hours, if possible. And was wondering if any breast feeding (not ebm but only latch on your baby) mummies set a feeding time routine for your baby? Or is it possible to set a routine at all? Or only give ebm in order to do?

Any comments? thks

 

[ilovebbdylan]

hi, i feed on demand which means when he is hungry crying for milk then i feed. afterwhich u can see a cycle , u will know how many hours apart he will feel hungry again.

 

[lyra]

I think it's not very good to set a schedule. If u set a schedule n bb becomes too hungry when u breastfeed him, he'll be crying n cranky n everyone knows how difficult it is to get a cranky newborn to latch on! Once bb looks like he's searching for a nipple, breastfeed him. Also, it's impossible to get a bb who's not yet hungry to latch coz a breastfeed bb decides when n how much he drinks. The adult can't decide for him.

 

[Jode]

No use setting a routine, as your baby will probably not follow it. Feed on demand is better. Helps you to establish your supply.
Keep a record of when your baby is hungry and wants to feed. From there, you will be able to see a routine/cycle. And you can work around that.

 

[RamblingMummy]

I feed on demand too. Initially, right after birth I follow a routine of every 3 hr as baby is sleepy and might not wake up for milk. After about a month, my girl feeds on demand so no point setting a routine

 

[Lana17]

Thanks mummies for your reply.

Most of the time i will breast feed my baby after an hour or an hour and half after the last feed when she claim for it, and in the end split out milk (sigh), guess she's overfed. tried giving her pacifi but no use, she will cry louder.... so thought, by hving a more or less a routine might help and i guess u know that it's tiring at times to hv to breast feed every hour or frequently :001_07:

 

[Jode]

Thanks mummies for your reply.

Most of the time i will breast feed my baby after an hour or an hour and half after the last feed when she claim for it, and in the end split out milk (sigh), guess she's overfed. tried giving her pacifi but no use, she will cry louder.... so thought, by hving a more or less a routine might help and i guess u know that it's tiring at times to hv to breast feed every hour or frequently :001_07:

Then sounds like your baby is not crying for milk. She could be crying for other stuff... colic, attention, a hug, could be bored, too hot, too cold...
Maybe some rocking, singing may help...

 

[Lana17]

Dont think so is colic... carry, play, hug rock etc etc but still no use... try to calm her when she start to cry and in the end breast feed her.. maybe just want to comfort suck... i tried not to breast her but then seeing her crying louder n thought maybe she is really hungry since her last feed is only about an hour and half ago, finally give in..
not sure why sometime she can hold up to 3-4 hours n there are times just an hour or slightly more... but then again dont know how much she drank each time also... sian, quite tiring, really tempted to express my milk out instead of latching 100%...

 

[ilovebbdylan]

hi lana17, if you are really tired and bb still dont improve. actually u can opt to partial latch and express. there is really no fix rules on how it works.

 

[felicity]

Lana I hv the same problem.. In fact bb can continuously latch for 3-4 hrs!! Dunno why she dun need slp one zzz...

 

[panpan]

hi lana17,

Hang in there okay? I remember my son latch on almost every hr when he was newborn all the way till about 3months! It doesnt help when he is a happy spitter (i.e. a bit only vomit).. It'll get easier as your baby grows up.. and you will learn to recognise his/her cues for their different needs.

You might wanna try a sling to comfort her as well. hope it helps!

 

[Lana17]

will stay as long as i can... but i guess somehow or rather i will hv to express my milk and start introducing bottle feeding to my baby, going back to work force soon....

by the way, since my baby latch 100%, how do i know how much ebm to give to my baby who is coming 8 weeks? is there any calculation to know or we just give a certain amount first and them adjust accordingly? even the amount i also dont know 15:

 

[ilovebbdylan]

lana17,

you can start off with at 100ml and if yr baby finish all, u can increase another 1 oz . from there u can gauge after a few tries

 

[juzme]

Hi lana17,
I started out total bf (latch on) with a routine. I will feed baby every ~3hr from last feed (start time). With a routine, you need to be a little flexible too. If baby starts to cry at ~2-2.5 hr for milk, do be flexible to feed your baby and not insist to wait till the 3hr is out. For the first ~2 months, the schedule will be around 2.5-3hr from last feed and you can stretch that to 3-3.5hr from 3rd month. After the first 6 weeks, you can keep this schedule for day and start to stretch the night schedule a little more towards demand feeding so baby can start to "train" to sleep through.

My gal is at 14weeks now and her day schedule is around 3.5hr interval and can stretch one night feed to 6hr interval... =)

 

[Lana17]

Hi lana17,
I started out total bf (latch on) with a routine. I will feed baby every ~3hr from last feed (start time). With a routine, you need to be a little flexible too. If baby starts to cry at ~2-2.5 hr for milk, do be flexible to feed your baby and not insist to wait till the 3hr is out. For the first ~2 months, the schedule will be around 2.5-3hr from last feed and you can stretch that to 3-3.5hr from 3rd month. After the first 6 weeks, you can keep this schedule for day and start to stretch the night schedule a little more towards demand feeding so baby can start to "train" to sleep through.

My gal is at 14weeks now and her day schedule is around 3.5hr interval and can stretch one night feed to 6hr interval... =)

Hi juzme - i'm pretty fexible abt breastfeeding my baby but it seems rarely he will hold up to 3hrs interval, at most 2hrs... n most of the time an hr n a half baby will claim for milk again... since i'm not sure how much he's fed, guess hv to go with flow but with a stable 'routine' it's much easier.. my baby is 8 weeks old hope will be able to stretch longer time interval when he gets older...

 

[lyra]

Hi juzme - i'm pretty fexible abt breastfeeding my baby but it seems rarely he will hold up to 3hrs interval, at most 2hrs... n most of the time an hr n a half baby will claim for milk again... since i'm not sure how much he's fed, guess hv to go with flow but with a stable 'routine' it's much easier.. my baby is 8 weeks old hope will be able to stretch longer time interval when he gets older...

Does this happen throughout the day or only during certain hours? Maybe its fussy evenings or growth spurt. For fussy evenings, my baby had it too n between 6 weeks old to 3 mth old, he cried from 6pm to 12midnight or 1am but for him, he doesn't want sucking breast, he wants us to rock him in a certain way. Don't rock him this way, he will cry n cry! This naughty boy. I'd prefer he suck milk coz this rocking made us all dead tired. Cannot lie down, in cot or rocker or sarong... Must be a human rocking...

If growth spurt, it'll be all day but it only last less than a week n during this time bb will demand to suck more often to stimulate ur breasts to produce more milk. If u gave up latching n resort to pumping now, you'll not get the extra stimulation n u won't produce enough milk to match up with baby's higher demand after the growth spurt. Many moms misunderstood bb dun want their breasts as bb r more fussy during this time or believed pumping relieves then of tiredness n gave up latching on. I'm lucky I got support from a fren who explained to me all these info n encouraged me to hang on. The difficult period will pass, trust me

 

[juzme]

Lana17,
Do go with the flow, 2 hr may be the 'routine' right now. Perhaps you can consider pump for another 5 mins after latching to simulate demand. This can help increase supply over time.

Also, like Lyra mentioned, your baby could be going through growth spurt. This will happen at around 2-3 weeks, 6-8 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months... may last ~4 days. Did u track your baby feeding schedule?

 

[Lana17]

lyra - it happen around 3 or 4pm n my baby will start claiming for milk very often during this time until around 8 or 9 pm... i thought baby would fuss more in the evening but seems like my baby fuss much earlier :07: but then again, guess every baby is different...

my baby has his moment of growth spurt at week 6, and i remember him latching non stop, was kind of relief when it's over after a few days :wewink: but now i'm not sure if it's growth spurts at week 8 - will it happen again? i means after hving a growth spurt at week 6, will we encounter another one at week 8? or maybe growth spurt can happen any time i suppose..

i too hv my rocking moment in the afternoon when my baby fuss... will claim for milk and then need me to carry and rock to sleep or else once i put him down, he will hv difficult time to settle down n start to cry... *sigh*

juzme - yes, i did track my baby feeding schedule, he is ok at the beginning but now seem to be fussy than b4, guess this is one of the period that we hv to go through...

do u think that the let down is slower at the end of the day? baby latched on and after suckle for a while, start pulling on off my breast.. do u think it could be the flow is slow?

 

[juzme]

i think baby is quite smart... if they feel that the flow is too slow or not enough milk, they will suckle harder / longer. don't think baby is rejecting because of the flow...

 

[Jode]

do u think that the let down is slower at the end of the day? baby latched on and after suckle for a while, start pulling on off my breast.. do u think it could be the flow is slow?

Yes. milk flow and supply can be slower towards the end of the day...
This can be explained by the fact that you are not as well rested during that time, so milk production slow down and hence, it affects the supply and the flow.
But usually babies will want to latch more or longer so that they can get their desired amount of milk...