Help! My 10 week old eats every hour...

[lauraelizabeth]

Basically he cluster feeds what seems like all day and then he goes to bed by 8 and sleeps straight through till 4 a.m.

My question is, am I doing something wrong?  How can I get him to move to longer between feeds.  He gets absolutely hysterical if he isn't fed on demand, which seems to be every hour to hour and a half from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. 

Any suggestions would be appreciated, he doesn't seem to be getting good naps in and while I do appreciate the long nights I wonder if this may be a problem.

Sorry if this isn't the right place to post this question!

Merry Christmas!
Laura

[LucyA]

Hi Laura,
Does your little one fall asleep feeding? Are you sure he's got a good latch? Are you single or double side feeding? How long does he feed for? Has he always fed this frequently?

Sorry for all the questions! My ds fed very frequently at first, every 1.5-2 hours, although at around 8 weeks he started going a little longer between feeds on his own. I think by 10 weeks you would expect to be feeding every 2.5 to 3 hours, usually. What a nice stretch you're getting at night though!

Have a look at this link, has some tips on making sure baby is getting a good amount of milk at each feed: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/frequent-nursing.html

HTH, let us know how you get on! And merry christmas!

[lauraelizabeth]

Hello!  No, he doesn't fall asleep feeding (he has fallen asleep once or twice this way, but not frequently). He seems to have a good latch and we're single side feeding.  I let him feed until he comes off on his own which seems to be after about 10 - 15 minutes.  Initially he fed every two hours and I thought this was a growth spurt but it's dragged on for over a week now and nothing is getting done around the house! 

I guess what I'd really like to do is encourage him to go gradually longer between feeds, even going to the grocery store this morning was like mission impossible.  I had 60 minutes to get him ready to go out, get to the store, shop AND get back home before he was ready for his next feed.

Thanks!
Laura

[LucyA]

Something else you could try is to give him a rest for 10 minutes or so when he finishes feeding then offer again. He may be stopping before getting a second letdown? I think sometimes a growth spurt can last a week, although it's unusual??

Does he get frantic even if you're out and about? When Callum did start to go longer periods between feeds I always found it easier to go longer if we were out of the house, it seemed to give me another 15 minutes or so before he was hungry.

[CaedensMama]

I started offering both sides about this age - one side just wasn't enough to satify. I alternated which side I started with and let him nurse till he was bobbing off and on that one and then gave him the other and sometimes went back and let him have the first one again - he kinda got into switching sides and would often go back and forth  I think he would choose whichever one had the best flow.

Also, if it continues, if you can just extend him 10 minutes or so every couple days to a week he may adjust better to a gradual change then all of a sudden.

Will he take a paci? This would often help us get another little bit before needing to feed.

[lauraelizabeth]

Thank you so much for your support!  Sometimes it's just nice to get some friendly advice rather than a "maybe we should switch him to formula"! 

Luckily, I think it may have been a growth spurt as he's moved back to feeding every two hours.  Now the challenge is to try to get him to move to every 2.5 hours but I'll be taking this one day at a time.

Thanks again!
Laura

[CaedensMama]

Now the challenge is to try to get him to move to every 2.5 hours but I'll be taking this one day at a time.

Take it easy - I found it took us forever - like to 6 months to get to a 3 hour EASY and then we were stuck there till like 10 months. Some babies just love their milk  And breastfed tend to eat more often then formula - but it is so much better for them