[Mummy fab]

Hi all,

Just a quick question...

I was unable to feed my older two girls for various reasons and thought that i would have the same issues with DD3.

Well much to my amazement we havent had ANY issues at all, ever since she was born her feeding has been perfect. No issues with attachment, no sore nipples, no lumpy boobs.

However i am wondering if i should be having any sort of feeding routine at all as she gets older?

She still feeds normally twice overnight, only for about 5 minutes or less though and i think its more of a comfort thing, but with the introduction of some solids i wondered should i be perhaps setting more of a schedule. ie. feed at say 8, 12, 4, 8 etc.

Im happy to keep going the way we are and just feed her whenever she seems to want it which sometimes can be every two hours other days can be 6 hours.

Not having breastfed any of my kids before its all a little bit new to me lol.

V

[Rach42]

I never had a routine with breastfeeding - I was happy to feed whenever my DSs wanted whether it was for nutrition or comfort. Even when they were eating solid food I was quite happy for them to fill up on breastmilk first.

I don't think there is any benefit to a routine from the baby's point of view so only do it if you want to I guess. Also going onto a routine can affect supply I believe.

ETA DS1 was BF until 2 and DS2 until 1.5, no routine they just didn't want to feed as much as they got older.

This post has been edited by Rach42: 02/05/2012, 09:00 PM

[Xiola]

I've never had a BF routine with any of my kids. DD feeds around every 3-4 hours in the day and feeds once or twice through the night.

Just go with whatever is working for you because it sounds like it's all going really well

[AryaStar]

Nope. Just feed her whenever she wants it.

[Kasey5]

I didn't go for strict routine with my 2, but sort of general pattern of feeds. Wake-up feed, after breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, bedtime, (night-time lots!) ... Actual time of feeds would differ, sometimes might skip or add one or two. Fewer as they got older of course, until 1-2 feeds / day now for DS (2.9 yrs).

[BeachedAsBro]

Yep I recommend demand feeding too. My friend who is BF her baby after FF her previous children says she's finding it different too because she knew with the older kids how much they were having & that every four hours they were hungry.

Each time your bub feeds she'll be taking differing amounts, so you just have to go on her cues. My DD is 10 months & still demand fed. It's working well here actually, except for this week where she's teething & not wanting any food, just BF

[Jenflea]

I only did a routine with BF at 17 months when I cut my daughter down to 3 feeds a day(and it took weeks to get her to accept it) as I was tired of having her want a feed as soon as I sat on the couch or a chair or in bed...
I knew by 17 months she didn't NEED 6 feeds a day, though she cut out the night feeds herself when she slept through.
I eat when I'm hungry, I think a baby should be able to as well.

[mayahlb]

DS2 i fed on demand but to a semi-routine as well as he was prone to not asking to be fed and it would drop my supply (always had issues with it) and we would be back to the beginning with trying to rebuild it. If you are both happy with what you are doing then keep it up. I found it very different to DS1 would was formula fed but then I pretty much fed him on demand as well I'm not good at following routines

[cheekybooby]

Pinky Mackay has an article on the main site about why you don't need a routine.
I haven't read this one, but babies cannot read clocks! So a routine would be for you, not bub.
Often babies fall into their own little pattern which they change to meet their needs fairly often.
As for the 5 minute feed: the older babies get the more efficient they get at emptying the breast. My son was doing 5 minute feeds from about 5 weeks old, and he was an Umpa Lumpa! Especially during the night they get super speedy, bring it on! More sleep for you

[Sassy Girl]

I never had a routine and always fed on demand. I think actually following a routine sometimes causes the problems that stop people from breastfeeding.