BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

DD is 8 weeks old and still eats every 2- 2.5 hours (gives a nice stretch at night though- 7 hours and then another 3-4)

Should I try and stretch it to 3? She always eats 8 times a day- on days where she misses a feeding (when we go out and she does nap) she always "makes it up" somewhere else (next day she eats 9 times)

Since I'm home (not much longer) I mostly nurse but even when I give her a bottle of pumped BM she still eats around the 2.5 hour mark.

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

Bump

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

DS is 4 months old and I still feed on demand. I asked the ped at his 3 month visit and he said to still do so. He is going longer stretches though, it's not so much every 2.5-3 hours anymore. Sometimes it is, a lot of times it is every 4-5 hours.

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

My DD is 10 months old, and I still BF her on demand. My school of thought is to BF on demand until she stops BF'ing.

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

I went back to work when my son was 3.5 months. It wasn't until then that I really stopped feeding on demand, only because I had to. He came to the daycare at the school where I work, so I was still able to feed him there, but it had to be at a certain time on my lunch break. Luckily, he was eating about every 3 hours before I went to work and the way my schedule is, I'm able to feed him every 3 hours there. I still kind of let him take the lead once we got home every day, but after a couple weeks, I realized he was really on a schedule on nursing 4 times a day.

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

I never really breastfed on demand. DD never gave hunger cues so I just breastfed her every 2-3 hours for about 3 months then stretched it to 3-4 hours. Now at 7 months she is nursed/gets bottle every 4-5 hours but she is also eating 2 solid meals a day.

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

I started scheduled feeding around 6 weeks - i also timed him - and did both side - so everything you are not supposed to do

keeping an eye on the clock allowed me to get an idea of about how well he was eating - by 8 weeks he was ddoing 10 miutes on a side every 3 hours with a longer stretch of 6 hours at night - at 4 months i switched him to every four hours -at 5.5 i got him to sleep through the night from 7 to 7 with a 10 pm dream feed


things i did was go on walks when he was getting hungry - so the 2.5 hr mark

give a pacifier dipped in water - did multiple times - played with different things- brought him to watch the fan or his mobile - walk outside to the mailbox- anything i could to distract him - this lasted about a week

it was easiest for my son to space the morning feeding - when i switched to every 4 hours i slowly spaced each feeding -so the i moved the 10 am feeding to 11 am but then fed at 2pm for a couple of days then fed at 3 pm

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

DD is almost six months old and I still basically BF on demand.

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

DD is 12.5 months and I was feeding on demand until a few weeks ago when I started to wean her off one of her day feeding...but that all came to an end this week because she's sick and all she wants is my boob! I felt bad taking it away.

I don't have an answer...sorry. If she's hungry...I would just feed her. I'm sure her feeding will start spacing out soon. DD was always ate every 3-4 hours...so I guess I never found it to be that often!!! Ask your ped too!

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

Why would you stop? If he is hungry... Feed him. He will tell you best how much and how often.

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

never.

i BF'd till DS was 8 months old and he really dictated everything- as he got older and digestive tract mroe mature he naturally went to an every 4 hr feeding schedule. he was a big baby- i would say for him it was about 3 months

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

Posted by MamaLeen

Posted by yankinmanc

My DD is 10 months old, and I still BF her on demand. My school of thought is to BF on demand until she stops BF'ing.

This is what I am doing as well. DS is 7 months and he has dictated the schedule since birth.

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

Basically until 10 months - then I went down to four nursing sessions a day. But prior to that I would say she was pretty much "scheduled" from 6 months, just not as rigid.

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

Re: BF'ing moms- when did you stop feeding on demand?

When I stopped nursing at 22 months He fell into a schedule around 4 or 5 months I think, but still there were times right up until the time we stopped that he would want to nurse at a time outside of his regular schedule.