Not sure about how often to feed...

[random]

DD is 11 weeks and she used to eat every 2.5 to 3 hours. Now it seems she wants to eat every 2 hours. I thought maybe she was going through a growth spurt, but it has been around for more than a week now. I try to feed her when she wakes up from her naps, but she will only nap 45 minutes now. She will stay awake at most an hour and fifteen minutes. So, is it normal for her to eat every 2 hours? Should she be napping longer? She is completely healthy and gaining weight like crazy. She started out at 8 pounds, 9 ounces then she had trouble figuring out breastfeeding and dropped nearly a pound. (She was back to her birth weight by her 2 week check-up.) She will be 11 weeks on Wednesday and she is 14 pounds. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[jillc]

Hi,

It sounds like you're doing great. :)

As long as you're nursing on demand, then you're doing the right thing. Don't worry about the length of time between feedings. Their feeding patterns will change every so often throughout your nursing "career" - sometimes dropping feedings & sometimes adding feedings. It's tough to figure out "why" the changes happen, but just go with it. The why part really doesn't matter. ;)

45 min sounds like an average nap time for your DD's age. Don't worry, it'll get better. I'd keep offering to nurse after the naps & if your DD isn't hungry, she won't nurse for long. Don't have to worry about overfeeding a breastfed baby.

Hope this helps a bit. Toddler pulling my arm & must go. :)

Best,
Jill

[billysmommy]

We're in the same boat here. Benjamin is 11 weeks old too and for the past 1.5-2 weeks he has gone back to eating every 2 hours during the day. Just the past 2-3 nights he has started sleeping from 9:30-10:00 until 4:30, so maybe the more frequent eating during the day is what led up to the longer stretch at night? He is usually awake from 7:30-8:00 am until around 10:30 am, mostly because he has a big brother who wants to entertain him all morning. He sleeps most of the time Billy is at school (just wakes up to eat) and then is awake again from about 5:00 pm until 9:30-10:00 pm with a couple quick (15-20 minute) naps, again mostly because Billy just wants to look at, poke, sing and play with him :)

Actually they sound really similar as Benjamin was born at 6 pounds, 9 ounces, dropped just over a pound but was back to birth weight at 2 week check-up and is now just under 14 pounds.