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Author Topic: We still eat every two hours at 8 weeks.  (Read 1610 times)

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Offline littlegrasshopper

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We still eat every two hours at 8 weeks.
« on: December 21, 2005, 18:15:15 pm »
Is this normal? I am just wondering cause we went thru the 6 week growth spurt dealing with feeding every hour. Then we came back to every two hours. Occasionally at night he'll go three hours. This weekend he took a nap that was 5 hours long. I couldn't believe it. So what's up? He eats off one side... I try and wake him and get him to eat off the second side. Sometimes he will.. sometimes not.
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Offline GraceKellysmom

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We still eat every two hours at 8 weeks.
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2005, 19:55:04 pm »
Yep, it is fine to go 2hrly until he is ready to switch. Max made the switch to 2.5-3 hrly around 4 months old, when he could finally stay awake longer periods of time.

Just make sure you're getting those day feeds in (I wouldn't let him go longer than 3 hrs between feeds during the day) so he sleeps better at night. They like to get days/nights mixed up at 6-8 weeks old and sleep all day and get up several times at night.
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annamum

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We still eat every two hours at 8 weeks.
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2005, 22:24:59 pm »
I agree with Stacy, it is normal for them to nurse that often. When my dd had a growth spurt at 6 weeks she fed every 45 minutes in the evening. Then she went back to every 2 or 2.5 hours for a long time. I think she was able to go longer at 3.5 months.
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Offline littlegrasshopper

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We still eat every two hours at 8 weeks.
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2005, 23:25:27 pm »
Thank you. That makes sense about the day and night too. He's normally a really good night sleeper but last night he had a hard time. I was thinking he maybe had some gas... but maybe it was cause he wanted to be up. I'll keep my eye out on this.
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Lan

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We still eat every two hours at 8 weeks.
« Reply #4 on: December 22, 2005, 00:53:01 am »
One thing  i used to do at that age was to do a top up feed - that way you could get them to go a bit longer between feeds. If you are doing single side feeding, about 20-30 minutes after the end of the feed, do a quick 5 minute feed on the second side. The little bit extra helps them to go longer between feeds and helps your supply. Then you might be able to go 2.5-3 hours between feeds (that is between the start of the first LONG feed and the start of the next long feed - I don't include the top up as a proper feed.) The next feed you start with the second side (the one you did the short feed with) and top them off with the other side. My son used to take long naps so the top up feed helped to get extra food into him without having to wake him up all the time.

You can do the top up feed after every feed or just in the afternoon when supply is low or whatever suits you. When they're going through a growth spurt it's useful to do the top up after every feed.

By the way, if your baby is having long naps in the day (5 hours) then he won't sleep well at night, so you might need to wake him up after 2 hours sleep during the day.
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Offline joslil

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We still eat every two hours at 8 weeks.
« Reply #5 on: December 22, 2005, 03:43:10 am »
I agree with everyone above - all three of my kids went every 2 hours until about 4 months.  My friends all thought this was ridiculous, but my milk supply never got low either.  I think it is a great thing.  Even now at 5 months  and since the last little growth spurt, I can nurse and still pump a little afterwards. BTW, mine set a new record going 6 hours today after morning cereal.  Hang in there and it will get better.
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Offline littlegrasshopper

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We still eat every two hours at 8 weeks.
« Reply #6 on: December 22, 2005, 16:25:58 pm »
Ok... I can try the top feed. I could do it after some brief activity time then? If it will get me a longer nap I'll try it. I'm also chasing and entertaining a toddler so more time would help for sure. The five hour nap was a never before occurance. I don't know what happened there. I get a few three hours sprinkled in the schedule but otherwise he religiously eats every two hours and I try and fit the activity in there. It's kinda hard to do.
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annamum

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We still eat every two hours at 8 weeks.
« Reply #7 on: December 22, 2005, 21:56:57 pm »
Just a quick note. You could use breast compression to make sure he eats everything there is in your breast. Check out this: http://www.kellymom.com/newman/15breast_compression.html
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Offline daisymelan

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We still eat every two hours at 8 weeks.
« Reply #8 on: December 22, 2005, 22:50:18 pm »
My lo bf every 2 hours  during the day until about 10 or 12 weeks.  He then moved on to a 3 hour feed schedule on his own.

Hopefully it won't be much longer until your little one does the same.

Good luck
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Lan

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We still eat every two hours at 8 weeks.
« Reply #9 on: December 23, 2005, 00:48:08 am »
Yes I gave my son the top up feed after a little activity time - a nappy change, some floor time. Then a little activity again after the top up and it's time for bed.  It's just really quick, the baby's had some time to digest a bit of the previous feed so will take a little more, and it boosts your supply too.  I think I worked it out and by using top up feeds after every feed, and going 3 hours between feeds, it's just about equivalent to doing feeds every 2 hours - the sucking time works out about the same.  But if they sleep longer you get a longer break between feeds!

I only have one child- I don't know how it works out with a toddler around. Unless my baby was going through a growth spurt, when I'd top up after each feed, I used to mainly do the top ups in the afternoon when my supply got low. I was never one of those mothers who had enough for two!
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Offline littlegrasshopper

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We still eat every two hours at 8 weeks.
« Reply #10 on: December 29, 2005, 17:01:12 pm »
Ugh... he won't take the top off feed. I've been trying it all week. Sometimes after trying for several minutes he'll go for it though. For a little guy that always seems so hungry.. how frustrating that he chooses when he will eat. I hadn't even thought that he'd deny me. Oh well... I guess I just have to keep waiting! At least I know it's not abnormal.
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