How often should a 3-month-old eat?

[AvasMama]

Hi,
I am hoping some experienced moms can offer me some guidance/reassurance. Ava will be 3 months old this week and she is still feeding every two hours (we are bf'ing). Does this sound normal? She gets a bottle once a day (we are practicing for when I go back to work next month) and drinks about 4 oz. then. I suspect she is taking more than that when I feed her, as I usually get 5-6 oz. when I pump to replace her bottle feedings.

I know she can go longer than 2 hours -- she will occasionally go 2.5-3 hours if she's napping before a feeding, and she has slept 4-5 hours at a time at night since she was 3 weeks old! So what's with the every 2 hours thing during the day? Is there a way to encourage her to take a little more per feeding?

Thank you!
Robyn & Ava (1-15-04)

[Imperia]

At her age 2-3 hours between feedings during the day is still pretty normal. When she nurses at those times does she nurse for a decent amount of time or just a minute or two? Babies will nurse for comfort and closeness too, not just for food.

My DD is 11 weeks so almost the same age as your DD and she nurses about every 3 hours or so during teh day (sometimes more, sometimes less). She also has fairly regular times that she likes to nurse, and I schedule errands and such around that. I am not quite sure how to get your DD to take more without knowing a a little more info:

-does she fall asleep while feeding? In which case you can try to keep her awake or feed her in just a diaper to keep her awake. TO keep her awake you can rub her palms, talk to her, stroke her cheek etc

-does she just start refusing the breast? In which case she might be full or she might need to be burped. Some babies if well burped will then have more space in their tummy for milk and can BF a little longer.

-Are you feeding her on one breast only or both at each feeding? If you are using both try switching to just one. The foremilk (first milk) is watery and quenches the baby's thirst/ The fattier hind milk has more calories and fills the baby up and helps her grow. If you stay on one breast the baby gets more hind milk, calories and fat which may satisfy her longer.

HTH! I am sure the breastfeeding gurus can be of even more help.

Imperia

[AvasMama]

Hmmm... well, maybe this *is* normal for her. She does nurse a fair amount of time at each feeding, generally 7-12 minutes. I usually feed her on just one breast unless she still seems hungry. She is usually pretty good about staying awake at feedings except at night and that's when she can go the longest between feedings!

Oh well. I am happy to stay with this schedule if it is what works best for Ava :)

BTW Imperia, I had noticed Maddy was close in age to Ava and I have been enjoying reading about her Hannas and other cute clothes. In fact, you are the reason there is a Cake Fair dress sitting in my Hanna shopping cart right now! We seem to have very similar taste in clothes overall :)

Thanks,
Robyn & Ava (1-15-04)

[pritchettzoo]

My DD's 7 months next week and we still nurse about every 2 hours during the day. Just recently it's been closer to 3 sometimes, but 2-2.5 is the norm for us.

I don't think there is a "normal" with babies! ;) Just when I think I have something figured out with mine, something else surprises me!

Anna
Mama to Gracie (9/16/03)

[HallsofVA]

My son's a day older than your daughter, and we've just recently gotten him to more of an every 3 hour schedule, but often end up back in the 2 1/2 hour range, usually when it's convenient for me. He used to eat every 1 - 1 1/2 hours, and my ped and LC told me to start stretching him. So, when he wakes up, or when we get around the 2 - 2 1/2 hour mark, I don't immediately rush to feed him. I might walk around with him, or play with him, and if he's distracted enough, he doesn't usually demand to be fed right away.

From the beginning, I've generally nursed him on only one side at a time. However, lately he's been wanting to nurse from both sides. Since that's also coincided with his sleeping through the night (6 - 9 hour stretches), I assume he's loading up for the night.

We've also been practicing with the bottle, (I'm heading to work tommorrow), but he usually only takes 1 - 2 oz from the bottle at a time (though we had one feeding the other day where he went through 5 oz. before he stopped). However, like you, I suspect he gets much more when I nurse, because I have one side with a very fast flow (I can pump 5 oz in 10 minutes.)

Hope things go well!

[lizajane]

we switched to both sides at 3 months. give it a try. if she throws up after a feeding, then she is getting too much and cut back to one side! but it is possible for a baby to go 3-4 hours at 3 months. it may not be right for YOUR baby, however!

[MarysMom]

My 3-month old has been on a 4 hour feeding regularly since she was about a month old. She has been sleeping through the night (8 hours) since she was 2 months old. I am breastfeeding with 1-2 bottles of formula or breastmilk a day. When she breastfeeds it is on both sides for about an hour. When she takes a bottle she drinks 8oz. most feedings with 5-6 every now and then. She will go down for a morning nap and sleep for about 2-3 hours before getting up to play then eat some more. I am following her lead on eating and feed her when she lets me know she's hungry (crying, eating fists, etc.) This morning she woke up early 4:45am crying so I fed her. My husband had to wake her up after 6 hours because she was still snoozing and I'm at work. She has NEVER done this before...she has herself on such a strict schedule that I thought it was odd she was still sleeping. This could just be her getting older, but all the threads I've read so far mention their children eating more frequently during the day. Anyone else experienced this so early?

[HIU8]

FWIW, DD was bottle fed and ate 8-12 ounces every 2-3 hours the entire first year (she moved very quickly up to 8 ounces--like around 2 weeks old). I could never get her to go in longer stretches. She was and still is a BIG eater. It just depends on the child.

[egoldber]

FWIW this thread is over 4 years old.....