Switching from every 2 hrs. to 3 is hard!!!

[baltigirl]

My 11 week old has wanted to nurse every 2-2.5 hours during the day since we brought her home from the hospital. I'm trying to follow EASY, but the hard part is holding out till 3 hours. If she's hungry, I feed her, and there goes the plan! The problem with doing EASY on 2 hrs is that by the time she's had, say, an hour or 45 minutes of activity, there isn't much time left for sleep.

Any tips for making the transition. Nights are going pretty well in terms of her going to sleep in her crib, nursing efficiently and going back to bed right away, but she's usually up 3 times (12, 2:30 and 4 before waking for the day at 6 or 7, more or less) and I'd love to eliminate one if possible.

TiA!!

[Samuel's mum]

Hello and congratulations!
The EASY board has lots of EASY experts so you may want to check there too. Here's my 2 pence/cents worth.
Firstly a 2-2.5 hours feeding pattern at that age is really really common. I know it's a pain but it is often very natural. Sam stayed at around 2.5 hours until at least 3-4 months. Your instincts are right to feed when she seems like she really needs it rather than stretch her too too far. A very hungry baby who is possibly distressed is less likely to feed efficiently and could have more problems with gas. If she doesn't feed well then she won't last long for the next feed.
For us the gaps between feeds gradually increased with time naturally. If you are really keen to try stretching, the first thing to do is to check that she's taking as much as she can at each feed. I'm assuming you are not timing feeds and are letting her go until she is satisfied. Some people find two-sided feeding guarantees their baby will take more.
Dumb question, but you say there isn't much time for sleeping on the current schedule, what happens if you let her sleep a bit longer - will she go longer between feeds then?
The night you describe is also very normal. You could try settling her using other methods - like pat/shush but if she's hungry she may just wake up again quickly. At 11 weeks, I would say don't expect to eliminate just yet. Make the night feeds as manageable for yourself as you can. You could try and introduce a dreamfeed a little earlier at around 10.30 -11 and then you may get a longer stretch at that point. You could also experiment with letting a husband/partner give expressed milk for the dreamfeed (which you could pump a hour or so after she's gone to bed). On the positive side it is true though that feeding 2 or 3 times a night is keeping your supply up!
I'm sure someone else will have more advice if you are really determined to try eliminating. With around 15,000  members on this board we cover the whole spectrum of experience - baby whisperer friendly though.

[daisymelan]

It is hard.   But don't stress it.  I remember when my ds was that age I felt the exact same way.  So dont' feel like you're alone. 

As the last post said, do you let your lo keep sleeping when the 2 hour mark comes around or do you wake her to feed? 

I'd keep your lo on your breast as long as they like and then you're sure their filling and won't be hungry sooner.

Three feeds a night is great at that age.  Work on stretching out the day time feeds a bit and it will likely help with her slowly dropping a night one.  Everything is related at this age.

Hang in there and as long as you are watching her cues, she will begin stretching out her feeds.  Keep us posted and if you have any more questions or concerns, we'll be more than happy to help.

 

[JacobMarksMummy]

I remember feeling just the same as you!

Try not to get too stressed about making your LO go to 3hour easy, mine didn't get there properly until about the 3/4months mark as hard as I tried to make him!

These things happen in their own time and you cant force your LO into a regime. Read her cues and gently coax but if it all goes wrong don't get disheartened, there is always tomorrow to try again. Try not to fit easy into a time frame but just take each step at a time letting each one use up as little or as much time as it requires. As your LO gets used to the rhythm of easy you will be in a better position to worry about your timings.

Breastfed babies do tend to take a little long than bottlefed ones to get to three hour easy this is due to BM being eaisier to digest, so don't compare yourself with others as everyone is different

It sounds to me as if you are doing a great job allready so just relax and enjoy your LO 

[baltigirl]

Thanks for the feedback--just hearing that she's normal & typical is great because my impression from reading the book was that she was supposed to be at every 3 hours and only waking twice. It's good to know she's on track for a breastfed baby.

JacobMarksMummy--my son is also named Jacob Mark!! He's almost 3. How cool that there's another Jacob Mark across the globe! My husband's family is from Connecticut originally--just wondering if you possibly could be any relation (since our son was named after a Jacob Mark who was born in the early 1900s from Connecticut.)

[baltigirl]

Oh, and I've never waken her--after 2 hrs. she is just ready to wake up and eat.

[JacobMarksMummy]

LOL, no I'm not from from conneticut, I'm from the UK! Jacobs is just such a lovely name and I decided Mark in honour of my brother who was killed some years ago. What are the chances of that!? You've perked up my day.

I hope you get on better with your LO 

[daisymelan]

Hmmm, this could almost be a sleep issue.  I'm not denying that you lo needs to nurse every two hours.... Goodness knows I had to do it.  But is she only sleeping a half hour before her next nursing session?  Maybe you should try pat/sh and see if that works a little bit, to encourage her going  a little longer.  Once I started swaddling and using pat/sh, it seemed I could get my lo to nap longer.

it's just a thought.  I know I'm always looking for new points of view.

Isn't it great to know that your lo is "in the norm"?  I think that's mainly the reassurance I always look for, especially when he was young like yours. 

Sounds like you're doing great!  Keep us posted.