When do most babies go from feeding every 3 hrs to longer stretches?

[emmasmama]

I'm talking about babies who are only getting breastmilk/formula, no solids. My baby seems to have suddenly started eating more and wants to go for at least 4 hrs between feedings, sometimes longer. Since she's getting formula now, I can see that she is still eating the same "overall" quantity throughout the day, just more at a time and more time in between.

I just got concerned because now it's become more difficult to tell when she's hungry vs just fussy/tired because she can even take 2 naps in between feedings. Yesterday I started offering her a bottle after 3 hrs since the last bottle, but she wouldn't take it. I probably offered it to her 4 more times when I thought she might be hungry, until she finally took it 4 1/2 hrs after the previous feeding.

Last night she ate 6 oz at 4:30 and then at 8:30 (right about the time she was about to go down for the night) I figured she'd want her next 6 oz bottle, but she drank an oz and then passed out. I stressed out that she would be up in a couple of hrs starving, so I woke her up an hr after she went to sleep (something I would normally never do - I don't know why I freaked out) and tried to feed her again. She would have none of it and went back to sleep a 1/2 hr later (dumb mommy, that's what you get for waking me up!).

Does this all sound normal? I ordered Satter's Child of Mine, but I'm not sure if it addresses this topic specifically and it's not going to be here until next week.

Thanks for any advice you more experienced mommies can give. My baby is 3 1/2 months old.

[lizajane]

schuyler started going 4-5 hours between feedings around 3-4 months. he would usually nap for a few hours in between feedings, so it was easy to tell when he was hungry and when he was tired. i feed him when he woke up.

but he is back to 3 hours now at 5 1/2 months. i think he went back to every 3 hours after a few weeks, or as much as a month.

i am sure it will change again when we start solids!

so don't worry. she will let you know if she is hungry! as long as you don't see any symptoms of illness, imo, just let her tell you when she wants to eat.

she is probably working on extended night sleep, too. so don't worry that she will wake up earlier, etc. schuyler started sleeping 12 hours around that point.

hth

[emmasmama]

I think that's my main confusion, is that she's still napping after ~1.5 hrs of awake time, so I feel like I'm feeding her at all kinds of random times and not necessarily when she wakes up from a nap. This is what's making me confused about whether she's tired or hungry.

Thanks for reassuring me though that 4 or even 5 hrs is normal! It seemed like such a long time - heck, I'm even hungry after that long and I eat solid food!

She has been sleeping a little longer as well - usu about 9 hrs on average.