is 14 weeks to young for 4 hr EASY

[Jean and Rich]

My LO seems to be more content on a 4 hr feeding (most of the time).  Occasionally she will want feeding before then but not often.  She is BF (one side only) - but has one formula for DF at night.  She sleeps through from DF to 7am, and naps during the day fine (loads infact)

Weight wise she seems ok, although slightly under last time we had her weighed which was 2 weeks ago and she was 11lb 6 - birth weight 6lb 11

Is she to young to leave her this long between feeds and even longer at night.?

She is a textbook baby according to BW!
Thanks

[estherofi20]

My DS has allways been FF but i changed him to a 4hr EASY at 13WO, 'cause he just wasn't hungry at the 3hr mark. I guess if your DD isn't hungry, you could try to make it to the 4hr. But i don't know how much A time can she hold...

[daisymelan]

How many feeds does your lo get in the course of 24hours.  Does it fit into the recommended number of feeds for your country's guidelines?  If so, I think it's safe to cut back down to recommended low number of feeds if your lo is happy.

But what did you mean by this.......

Weight wise she seems ok, although slightly under last time we had her weighed which was 2 weeks ago and she was 11lb 6 - birth weight 6lb 11

[Jean and Rich]

hi

she has usually 5 feeds aday - not sure what the recommended guidelines are - but she seems happy enough.

About the weight bit - she has gone down slightly on the line that she was following but the HV did not seem to concerned.
Jean

[Petunia]

Initially I am alarmed at what you have to say, because she is not eating as often as you think she should and that she is sleeping "loads" during the day and a long time at night.  Also, the bit about being somewhat underweight is troubling.  Typically for a newborn eating infrequently and sleeping a lot are red flags that the child is not getting enough to eat or may be dehydrated.  However, your daughter is 14 weeks, not 4 weeks, so it's possible she's just a content little buggar.

How can you tell?  Check her on the weight charts (the new ones by the WHO posted at the top of this board).  The idea is for her to continually gain weight at an acceptable steady rate.  Regardless of what percentile she's in, she should stay there as she grows.  If you have a significant drop from one percentile group to another, that is the signal of a problem.  Charting your daughter over the past fourteen weeks, how does she measure up?

Also, check the number of wet and poopy diapers.  Poopy diapers may have dropped significantly due simply to her age, but she should still be having plenty of wet ones.

Also, how is she during her awake times?  Is she alert and happy?  Does she interact well?  How is she doing on developmental milestones?

Are you logging her days?  Do you actually know how much she sleeps, how long she is awake, how often she eats, and how long she takes to eat?  If so, can you post this info because it would help.  If not, I would recommend doing so.  The reason is that one person's version of 'sleeps all the time' is another person's 'she sleeps ok'.  


Check out these links for more information:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/enoughmilk-older.html

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/weight-gain.html

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/index.html

With a birth weight of 6lb, 11oz your daughter should be about 11lb, 9oz by now, according to the above weight-gain guidlines.  I would't go all crazy about a 3oz difference.  Just make sure this trend of being underweight doesn't continue.

[daisymelan]

My son stopped gaining weight at a fast pace around that age as well.  As Petunia said, check out the WHO weight-age chart which is strictly for bf babies.  The charts they generally use at the dr's office are for formula fed babies.... the weight gain curve IS different.  My son started out about the 50th, but if I go by the dr's charts, he's started in the 25th, then at 1 month went to around the 30th and now he's at about the 20th.  (he's 10.5 months now).

And yes, it does sound like you have a content little buggar! LOL Petunia!  I'm jealous!!!!

[Jean and Rich]

hi

I do log her days regularly and look at the routine/patterns.  She tends to feed for approx10-15 mins each feed - she has always done this.  Her nappies are always wet and she tends to poop every other day (as you say this has slowed down)

Her awake time is good, she seems very alert, always looking around, trying to grab things and is also very vocal!

Maybe I am just a first time paranoid mum!

Maybe you are right and she is just a contented bugger! and I should stop worrying about everything!

thanks

[RachelC]

Sounds like you are doing a great job!  Keep it up!

[JennŠ]

Mine is ff, so I just popped over to lend a hug and say keep up the good work.  Hope to not see you in the sleep forums.     On the other hand, we can always use another happy mom there.   

[teezee]

i bf on demand for the first few days of dd's life but then i came across bw and put her on a three hr routine -which she pretty much put herself on anyway...my supply never dwindled or was compromised b/c of this at all.

as far as night time - when my lo was that age she went 5 hrs between feeds at night (2 feedings) and theni started the df and she only had 1 feed and then the am feed.

good luck with everything

[samijoe]

Hi, My daughter Avery is 13 weeks and 2 days old.  I am having the same problem--finding she is ready for a switch to the 4 hour routine, yet can't keep up to the activity time expectations.  Here is what I have done:  Over two or three days I actually wrote down everything...what time she ate? for how long?  Then, I would estimate the time of the next feeding and start looking for her "hungry" signs.  The time I chose was 3.5 hours after start time of last feed...if, she was truly hungry at 3.5 hours...then I would feed her.  If not, I left her until the 4 hour mark and then fed her.  I then adjusted the next feed time accordingly.  I find that Avery tends to be close to the 3 hour, 45 minute mark....I think we'll naturally hit 4 hours in a few weeks.  The reason I did this is to find out if I am the one who expects too much too soon.  I also found it to be one of the smartest things I ever did--not only did I know when she ate and for how long, but I also knew what activities she did and the length.  And, I knew how much sleep she was getting during the day.  It made it much easier for me to solve any problems or inconsistencies I had been having.  As for her notwithstanding the activity time, somedays I just have to make sleep time come along a little sooner--if she has spent 20-30 minutes at something and isn't bored but seems to be fussing, it's usually time for her to nap.  I really like the EASY routine, but find at different stages of the babes growth, I sometimes have to tweak it based on my baby's signals--all part of learning the ins and outs of my kid.  Routine is adaptable, schedules are not meant to be broken!  Oh, Avery sleeps from 730pm till 5am-ish...feeds for half hour or so, then back to bed till 730am- I currently do not do a dream feed (pump b4 bed).  I do not mind the one night feed for the time being.  Somedays are better than others..... good luck!

[RachelC]

Way to go samijoe (and welcome to the site).  It's great that you are listening to your dd's cues!  And you are right, it's a routine, not a schedule... and some days are better than others!  Keep up the great work!