Hi ladies,

I was hoping some of you could help me... I've heard a few people refer to babies "going 3 or 4 hours between feeds" but almost 3 months in I just don't feel like I'm anywhere near this.

Bubs feeds a lot in the early morning (6am onwards), which makes sense as he's been asleep a lot of the night, but from about 10am 'til 4pm ish he does eat but only for about 5 mins on the breast. He is a quick sucker but I'm sure he can't be getting any more than just the foremilk.

Then late afternoon he just wants to eat and eat until bedtime (sometime between 7 and 8). He seems frustrated that I can't make enough milk though and seems to go to sleep hungry (sucking my arms etc)...

How do I (or should I even be trying to?!) get a bit more of an even spacing between feeds? Do we need to be in more of a rigid routine before that happens? Its making it pretty hard to do much because I can't predict the feeding.

....also - does sucking his hands mean he is hungry or is this just a thing he does?

This breastfeeding lark is hard work!

It is hard work...but hang in there! Of course, every baby is different. Although by a few months old, many people will say the baby 'should' be able to go 3-4 hours, not every baby can. Some are still eating every 2 hours, and I think that is okay. It sounds to me like he likes to cluster feed- getting most of his food in the morning and evening. I also don't think this is a terrible thing, as long as he is happy with it. But I do understand it is frustrating for you. Does he seemed satisfied after 5 min? If so, you might just have to work around his schedule of cluster feeding. If not, you might want to try and increase your daytime milk supply. If you just can not get him to nurse more than 5 minutes and you have a pump, you could try pumping when he is done to try and get the signal to your body to make more milk (but it would be preferable if he could get that signal to your body). As for scheduling- it really is a personal decision (demand feeding vs schedule feeding). I did both (schedule during the week while he was at school and at night, demand on weekends and evenings when we were home). If you decide you would really like to have him on a schedule, you can start by slowly changing the times he eats. So, for example, here is what I did: My son was eating every 1 1/2- 2 hours through the night. I finally decided I just could not do it anymore and wanted him to go 3-4 hours at night (this wasn't until he was 4-ish months old). So, his old schedule was eating at 9pm, 11pm, 1am, 3:30am, and 5:30am. I started making changes with the 11pm feeding. The first night, when he woke at 11, I went in, picked him up, soothed him, but tried to get him to wait until 11:10 to eat. After a few nights, he wasn't waking up to eat until 11:15 or so. Once he was on that schedule for a week, I again stretched it by 15 mintues. Of course when I did this, it backed up the rest of the feedings as well until I had eliminated one of the feedings. And I just kept doing this until we got to the point that he was eating at 9pm, 1am, and 5:30am. So if you want your son more scheduled, I would start by trying to extend the time between those morning feedings (even just by 10 mintues) and see if that helps him eat more in the late morning/early afternoon. But just a warning, as you mess with feeding times your supply will become disrupted too- so as you extend the morning feeds, the morning supply will go down, but hopefully if he is eating more later then that supply will go up. Sorry to ramble on and on- I hope this made sense. It really comes down to your personal feelings about demand vs. schedule feeding.

As for his hand sucking- is he fussing or otherwise appearing hungry? If not, I would put it down to him probably sucking for comfort. If he does appear hungry- I would try to increase your supply. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the full reply Ragirl! I had always wondered how you were meant to demand-feed and then have a set time in between feeds. I was beginning to wonder whether it was Dylan who was meant to suddenly decide not to eat for 3 or 4 hours. I might try and space the feeds out a bit as I think I may be feeding him as soon as he sucks his hand and he only eats for 5 minutes as he's not really hungry (like a snack rather than a full meal!).

Thanks so much for the advice. I'm feeling pretty lucky with the sleeping so probably won't try messing with it too much... he sleeps from 7 til 6 only waking once for 10 minutes.

I demand feed, and there is no way Bren goes 3 hours between feeds, most of the time I don't even get 2 hours. He seems to eat every hour to hour and a half most of the day. He will take a big nap during the day, but then cluster feeds most of the morning and evenings.

Remember too Jenny that your breastmilk isn't just their FOOD, its their DRINK as well. Babies need lots of hydration, and just as you stop for a quick drink of water at a drinking fountain, your baby also needs those quick drinks through the day... especially if it's only for 5 minutes.

Plus it doesn't hurt for him to want a quick hug and suckle too if that's what he's looking for.

Try not to space these feeds too far out. Nature has a special way of making sure babies get all they need and I always hate to monkey too much with nature's way.

This is exactly where I am with Bella. She eats for 5 maybe 10 mins top about every 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

im glad im not the only one with a baby that wants to feed all the time mine sometimes only goes 1 hour and half but he does have his times where hel go 4 hours so im quiet lucky compared to some of you xxx

aww hang in there, it will get better

my charlie is doing the exact same thing he keeps only having 5 mins on me then going for my arm or his hand while hes on me i dont get why he does this , i thouhgt he might be teething as hes been really grumpy too but he does have colic aswell xxx

Research has shown that demand fed babies grows taller and stronger than schedule fed babies (as per Dr.Sears),so everytime he wants to snack,remind yourself of this. My little boy drinks every 2 and half hours and during the night almost every hour! You are not alone.