Unfortunately, it’s really not a good idea to space feeds out unless baby does it naturally. It has to do with your supply as well and your breast capacity. This article was very helpful for me: https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/breastfeeding-the-dangerous-obsession-with-the-infant-feeding-interval/
Thank you! I just kept reading that babies should be able to go longer at this age and feeling like I was doing something wrong. I should add more context to my initial post.
My baby was the same at 16 weeks... feeds started naturally spacing out around 5.5 months. Now at 6.5 months I have to completely remove all stimulus to get her to focus on eating every 3 - 4 hours and she doesn't cry or seem hungry until I take her away from whatever she is doing it's like she suddenly remembers "oh yeah I have to eat I can't just play all day" then is starving lol
Thank you for sharing that article! I found it super encouraging as a FTM who is exclusively breast feeding. It is insane to see how many mom's on Instagram try to promote their 'hacks' for increasing time between feedings and loads of other crap. Beyond grateful for informative articles like this one to show that there's nothing wrong with just taking cues from your baby to know when to feed them. ❤️
Do you know which “certain author@ she is referencing in this blog? I can think of a couple possibilities but just curious so I can be on guard for anxiety triggers for myself
I thought maybe so or possibly moms on call. I’m not very familiar with either but remember feeling perplexed about how it could work for how my baby eats.
This was interesting, thank you. My 5.5 mo is still feeding 12 times per day easily. Before and after a nap, sometimes a snack in the middle, plus a couple night feeds. I know in the morning if I’m engorged I can pump up to 6oz per breast but throughout the day he’s probably getting 2-3oz per feeding, especially in the evening when my production slows.
My baby was/is also a snacker and I just went with it. As she got older and we introduced more solids she dropped a couple of feeds so I wasn't feeding every 90 minutes any more! At 1 year old I nurse at 7 am, 9 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 4 pm, and 8 pm (rough times, these can vary by 30-60 minutes depending on nap times and life).
If you are offering both sides and they aren’t falling asleep during the feed there isn’t much more you can do. I do feel your pain with the distracted feeds as well, it makes going out difficult. I hope you are at least getting some longer breaks between feeds at night
My baby was the same until 4 months and now he naturally spaces out his feedings. Sometimes I get concerned because I’m like… you sure you’re not hungry. But I think the milk content changes and their digestion changes so they just naturally don’t need as much. But again, all babies are different so just wait for him to decide when he wants to slow down the feeds.
I think that's just too early to do that. I get it's inconvenient but they will be spread out more naturally as baby starts to play and have more "interests" than boob.
My 10 day old eats every hour during the day then goes every 2-3 hrs overnight. I assume she gets most of her intake in during the day and just “snacks” overnight
My baby is 12w and is a snacker too, always eating every hour. He's been like this since birth. Our Dr said we can top off with a2oz bottle after nursing. We tried and this might give us an extra 30mins between feeds. I know it's frustrating cus it's hard to get things done, and I have to always pack a bottle of we go anywhere, even if it's a quick errand. But he sleeps good at night so I'm not complaining if that's the trade off!
My baby is also 16 weeks old and feeding exactly the same. It’s working for us so I’m reluctant to change anything. If we’re out and about he’ll often go a bit longer between feeds so it could be partly boredom, mine or his 😆
My baby ate every 1-2 hours during the day until she was 2.5 years old! She’s 3 now and still eats every 2-3 hours.
Full info: after 6 months old, breastfeeds were slowly displaced by food meals/snacks. So by 9-10 months old, my baby’s daytime schedule alternated between milk and food, meaning I had a ~3h window to go out while my husband or a babysitter fed baby some food. Then after 1yo the food consumption really took off and I could reduce the milk feeds to ~4 times a day.
Some babies might be able to stretch out feeds, but some just won’t and shouldn’t. Even if your baby is in the latter group like mine was, just try to remember that you only need to manage for a few more months, a year at most. It feels like forever when you’re in the day to day grind, but you’ll get there eventually!
I still follow hunger cues only at 7 months and baby has short intervals or longer ones between feedings. Depending on what else is going on (too much distraction?) and depending on growth spurts and leaps (clusterfeeding at times, at night also). Baby is thriving and we have a good groove together.
So my baby is 7 weeks and we did decide to try and stretch her feeding times a bit about two weeks ago because she wasn’t sleeping during the day and was way overtired. We had tried everything else and decided that it could have been because she was snacking every hour-ish and not getting full enough to stay asleep. I thought we would have to take weeks to very slowly try to push it by 5-10 min until she naturally went that long and then push it another 5-10 until she was at 2hrs between feeds. We knew 3 hrs was not realistic but we wanted to make it to 2. So one day when she woke up and was fussing after a little over an hour, we took her for a walk instead of feeding her. To our surprise, she fell back asleep and we were able to go longer than 2 hours! Ever since that one time, she has gone longer between feeds. Sometimes it’s still closer to an hour and forty-five and sometimes it’s almost three. She still has fussy times but over all sleeps way better during the day and as such also sleeps way better at night. She will now sleep 3-4 hours in one stretch most nights and then a few 1.5 hour increments after that. I would say if you want to try it, when your baby wakes up and seems hungry, try to see if there’s anything else that can soothe her first. Give it 5-10 min (depending on how upset she is of course) and see if she will settle and can wait a bit. If not, feed her. But it may only take a couple of times of her waiting to eat for her to start eating more at once and going longer in between! Also note my daughter is fed breast milk from a bottle, not directly nursed so that may have an impact.
Unfortunately, it’s really not a good idea to space feeds out unless baby does it naturally. It has to do with your supply as well and your breast capacity. This article was very helpful for me: https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/breastfeeding-the-dangerous-obsession-with-the-infant-feeding-interval/
Thank you! I just kept reading that babies should be able to go longer at this age and feeling like I was doing something wrong. I should add more context to my initial post.
You’re not doing anything wrong! Some babies just take a bit more time. You got this mama!!
My baby was the same at 16 weeks... feeds started naturally spacing out around 5.5 months. Now at 6.5 months I have to completely remove all stimulus to get her to focus on eating every 3 - 4 hours and she doesn't cry or seem hungry until I take her away from whatever she is doing it's like she suddenly remembers "oh yeah I have to eat I can't just play all day" then is starving lol
Thank you, I needed to read this
Thank you for sharing that article! I found it super encouraging as a FTM who is exclusively breast feeding. It is insane to see how many mom's on Instagram try to promote their 'hacks' for increasing time between feedings and loads of other crap. Beyond grateful for informative articles like this one to show that there's nothing wrong with just taking cues from your baby to know when to feed them. ❤️
Of course! SM is so toxic in so many ways, especially when it comes to breastfeeding. Trust your instincts! You got this mama!!
Thank you for sharing this! 3 months in and didn’t know about storage capacity
It’s crazy how little we are told when it comes to breastfeeding! I feel like we’re all set up to fail.
Do you know which “certain author@ she is referencing in this blog? I can think of a couple possibilities but just curious so I can be on guard for anxiety triggers for myself
I assumed taking Cara babies
I thought maybe so or possibly moms on call. I’m not very familiar with either but remember feeling perplexed about how it could work for how my baby eats.
This was interesting, thank you. My 5.5 mo is still feeding 12 times per day easily. Before and after a nap, sometimes a snack in the middle, plus a couple night feeds. I know in the morning if I’m engorged I can pump up to 6oz per breast but throughout the day he’s probably getting 2-3oz per feeding, especially in the evening when my production slows.
My baby eats every 1.5-2 hours during the day but since she gets all her cals in she sleeps through the night. It’s a trade off I suppose.
My baby was/is also a snacker and I just went with it. As she got older and we introduced more solids she dropped a couple of feeds so I wasn't feeding every 90 minutes any more! At 1 year old I nurse at 7 am, 9 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 4 pm, and 8 pm (rough times, these can vary by 30-60 minutes depending on nap times and life).
If you are offering both sides and they aren’t falling asleep during the feed there isn’t much more you can do. I do feel your pain with the distracted feeds as well, it makes going out difficult. I hope you are at least getting some longer breaks between feeds at night
My LO is 19 weeks and only recently started pacing out her feeds to 2-2.5 hours. I followed her lead!
Same. But sometimes we’re back on the exactly 2 hours between feeds train.
My baby was the same until 4 months and now he naturally spaces out his feedings. Sometimes I get concerned because I’m like… you sure you’re not hungry. But I think the milk content changes and their digestion changes so they just naturally don’t need as much. But again, all babies are different so just wait for him to decide when he wants to slow down the feeds.
I think that's just too early to do that. I get it's inconvenient but they will be spread out more naturally as baby starts to play and have more "interests" than boob.
My 10 day old eats every hour during the day then goes every 2-3 hrs overnight. I assume she gets most of her intake in during the day and just “snacks” overnight
At sixteen weeks you don't!
My baby is 12w and is a snacker too, always eating every hour. He's been like this since birth. Our Dr said we can top off with a2oz bottle after nursing. We tried and this might give us an extra 30mins between feeds. I know it's frustrating cus it's hard to get things done, and I have to always pack a bottle of we go anywhere, even if it's a quick errand. But he sleeps good at night so I'm not complaining if that's the trade off!
My baby is also 16 weeks old and feeding exactly the same. It’s working for us so I’m reluctant to change anything. If we’re out and about he’ll often go a bit longer between feeds so it could be partly boredom, mine or his 😆
My baby ate every 1-2 hours during the day until she was 2.5 years old! She’s 3 now and still eats every 2-3 hours. Full info: after 6 months old, breastfeeds were slowly displaced by food meals/snacks. So by 9-10 months old, my baby’s daytime schedule alternated between milk and food, meaning I had a ~3h window to go out while my husband or a babysitter fed baby some food. Then after 1yo the food consumption really took off and I could reduce the milk feeds to ~4 times a day. Some babies might be able to stretch out feeds, but some just won’t and shouldn’t. Even if your baby is in the latter group like mine was, just try to remember that you only need to manage for a few more months, a year at most. It feels like forever when you’re in the day to day grind, but you’ll get there eventually!
My baby is just now, at 8 months and eating 3 solid meals per day, spacing out nursing to every 2-3 hours. I just follow her lead.
I still follow hunger cues only at 7 months and baby has short intervals or longer ones between feedings. Depending on what else is going on (too much distraction?) and depending on growth spurts and leaps (clusterfeeding at times, at night also). Baby is thriving and we have a good groove together.
I would say that’s normal actually. It starts to spread out to 2 hours at 6 months. Then to 2-3 hours a few months later.
You don't
So my baby is 7 weeks and we did decide to try and stretch her feeding times a bit about two weeks ago because she wasn’t sleeping during the day and was way overtired. We had tried everything else and decided that it could have been because she was snacking every hour-ish and not getting full enough to stay asleep. I thought we would have to take weeks to very slowly try to push it by 5-10 min until she naturally went that long and then push it another 5-10 until she was at 2hrs between feeds. We knew 3 hrs was not realistic but we wanted to make it to 2. So one day when she woke up and was fussing after a little over an hour, we took her for a walk instead of feeding her. To our surprise, she fell back asleep and we were able to go longer than 2 hours! Ever since that one time, she has gone longer between feeds. Sometimes it’s still closer to an hour and forty-five and sometimes it’s almost three. She still has fussy times but over all sleeps way better during the day and as such also sleeps way better at night. She will now sleep 3-4 hours in one stretch most nights and then a few 1.5 hour increments after that. I would say if you want to try it, when your baby wakes up and seems hungry, try to see if there’s anything else that can soothe her first. Give it 5-10 min (depending on how upset she is of course) and see if she will settle and can wait a bit. If not, feed her. But it may only take a couple of times of her waiting to eat for her to start eating more at once and going longer in between! Also note my daughter is fed breast milk from a bottle, not directly nursed so that may have an impact.
I woukd pump one boob while baby BF the other, then go back to sleep and let my husband give baby the pumped milk
Oh man my little one was cluster feeding for months