Newborn and Breast feeding

Eircom_Sucks

Hi so i have a newborn baby ( 4 weeks old this Thursday ) he was 6.2 at birth and just under 6 when we left the hospital , my gf is breastfeeding him and he is now 7.11 in 3 weeks ( holly crap ) he's feeding every 3 hours

we were wondering when is the best time to spread out his feeds to say 4 hours etc

he has 8 feeds a day and is doing great

crazy cat lady

That'll be up to the little man to decide!

Is he demanding feeds every 3 hours? Or are you offering feeds every 3 hours?

Breastfeeding is hard work and in the early days babies to feed ALOT! If he isn't too distressed after 3 hours, you could try distracting him so that he goes longer between feeds. Then he should feed more at his feed and this should keep him going for longer til the next feed (it all works in theory )

If your gf needs a break, maybe she could express and you could then give a feed or 2!

While she is breastfeeding, make sure that she is getting as much help and support with everything else that needs doing (washing/cooking/cleaning etc...) She'll need all the help she can get while she is feeding so frequently!

Congratulations on the little fella!

Cat Melodeon

Wow, that is amazing! Well done you and your girlfriend, that's mighty weight gain!

I recommend doing demand feeding for a while yet, what you're doing is obviously working. Demand feeding - feeding whenever baby wants to - really helps to deal with the growth spurts where they become absolutely insatiable for a day or so to boost milk supply and then they settle down again for a couple of weeks. They usually go a bit longer between feeds after each of these spurts. So they will stretch out naturally.

Personally, I think stretching it to 4 hours at this stage is a bit soon. Every baby is different though, you could give it a go and if he's not happy, revert immediately to more frequent feeds. Feeding less often can also affect supply, so your girlfriend could express to make sure it doesn't diminish. For me, my lad fed every 2 hours for the first 2 weeks or so, 3hrs by 6 weeks, 3-4 hrs by 9 weeks, then one longer sleep at night (6hrs) with feeds every 3-4 hrs during the day.

I started expressing around week 3 so that my husband could do either the last feed at night or the first one in the morning so I could get a decent stretch of sleep - that and cosleeping worked brilliantly.

Cat Melodeon

I sort of cross-posted with crazy cat lady, sorry! I've bumped up the breastfeeding support thread for you OP, there are some good tips and links on there if you or your girlfriend are interested.

lonestargirl

I'm in a very similar position. My little lad will be 5 weeks on Fri, he was 6 12 at birth, 6 leaving the hospital and I weighed him (in his babygro) as 9 7 on Sunday - we are calling him the little savage :-) he was feeding every 2-3 hours until this week but now it's every 3-4, I'm feeding on demand and I just think now that he's that bit bigger he can take more per feed.

Congrats to you and your girlfriend