How often should a breastfed baby be eating?

How often should a breastfeeding baby be eating? Should I wake him to eat? Let him sleep? First-time mom here, thank you!

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On demand, whenever they want <3

Never wake a sleeping baby, if he’s hungry he’ll wake up

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I always let my baby sleep and fed her when she was hungry

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No longer than 3 to 4 hours without a feed. Feed on demand where possible. Don’t worry if baby is feeding little and often as it’ll be cluster feeding. Join some breastfeeding groups for best advice and to know what’s normal

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Don’t let them go over 4 hours. Feed on demand. Usually at first breastfed babies will eat every 2-3 hours. This stretch will lengthen with age and shorten during a growth spurt.

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I breastfed on demand.

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Let baby sleep. Bf exclusive mom of now 15 and 13yr olds. For my first I was told to wake baby every 4 hours to nurse and nurse on demand if needed between the 4 hours(she didn’t sleep through the night until she was 5, no joke! And she says she still has problems staying asleep) 2 years later was told “that was the old way/formula fed way”( whatever that ment) and to feed baby on demand(he slept through the night from almost 5 months old to 10months, had a bit of sleep regression for a few weeks and went right back to sleeping through the night). I will always suggest letting baby sleep lol… oh and my second would sometimes sleep 6/7 hours between feedings before 5months old but then(during growth spurts) cluster feed every half hour lol)

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On demand, whenever baby wants to feed. I wouldn’t go longer than 2-3 hours during the day and one 5 hour stretch at night.

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I always fed on demand. So basically just whenever baby is hungry. if baby ate just an hour ago and is hungry again, then I’m nursing again. When you’re breastfeeding, you never really know how much baby ate, so I never question if they should be hungry.

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Whenever he/she wants

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Once baby is back at birth weight there is no need to wake baby to nurse. Let that baby sleep (get you some sleep as well :wink:) nurse on demand, they will set a nursing schedule and you will catch on to it

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No more than 4 hours. When hungry they’ll wake up. I pretty much fed on demand until i got a solid schedule with mine.

Every 3 to 4 hours I was told. Feed on demand whenever needed.

Doctors say wake the baby every 3-4 hours to eat. As a bf mom of four I let the babies sleep for no longer than 5 hours. And feed on demand but remember bf babies need the nipple for more than just food. They use it for comfort and a pacifier too. I just learned that the nipple secretes a fluid that smells like the amniotic fluid. It’s just absolutely perfect for you little one. Best place for the baby to be is in your arms with a nipple in their mouth.

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Feed on demand, but keep in mind if you are not pumping at least every 2-3 hours, you will possibly lose your supply. The longer you go between feeding/pumping, the less your body sees the need to produce, thus depleting your milk supply. Just a heads up.
:woman_shrugging:t2:

It really depends on how old your baby is, I would say feed on demand but don’t let them go longer than 3-4 hours during the day time.

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Depends on their age the younger they are the more frequently you’ll have to feed them and yes you need to wake a newborn to eat. Also breasted babies tend to eat more often as well

:laughing: between omg you just ate and 3 hrs when brand new

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Feed on demand. Google cluster feeds/growth spurts. Baby will eat way more then. It’ll feel like you have zero supply when you’re fine. Nursing more grows your supply.

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As often as they want/need to

I have a serious Question here. Don’t bash me because my last baby was born 27 years ago. I see these type of questions on here a lot. Do they not tell you at hospital or doctors office or give you information on this subject anymore ?

Never wake them at night unless a doctor tells you to because they are underweight or something. Otherwise all babies are different and go through growth spurt. I strongly recommend you speak to a lactation consultant. Most major hospitals have them on staff. I have been given plenty of free information and they care about you and your baby. I went by number of pee and :poop: diapers a day. Remember that breast milk is more completely digested and used in their bodies so some go a few days between :poop: because there is less waste to expel.

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I am currentky breastfeeding my premature son every 3 hours. When we were still in the hospital they made me wake him every 3 hours to feed. But don’t let them sleep more than 4 without a feeding.

Feed on demand. For sleeping, I always woke my guy up at the five hour mark. Normally placing him near my breast he would sleep nurse.

My gosh the WORST advice I ever got was to wake up my newborn to feed every two hours. He was nearly 10lbs when he was born!
If he hasn’t ate by like 5 hours, wake him up. I mean as long as he’s a healthy weight and eats well throughout the day you all should be good!

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Don’t wake a sleeping baby. A newborn baby will nurse ALOT!! Especially when cluster feeding. If you aren’t familiar with cluster feeding look it up. Sometimes it feels like they are literally attached all day. It’s normal. Breast milk digests much quicker than formula so baby needs to nurse more often. In my experience outside of cluster feeding baby would eat every two hours on the dot. Night and day. I nursed my youngest for almost five months and she ate every two hours.

Let him sleep. As long as he is gaining weight, he will wake when hes hungry x

Unless your babe is losing or underweight I would never wake them. But normally 2-3 ounces every 2-4 hours is normal. Every baby is different tho!! Congrats momma enjoy this time :baby:t3:

Every 2 to 4 hours and they say to wake them if they don’t wake on their own especially in the first 2 months

The hospital always said 2 hours but mine wouldn’t eat every 2 hours. It was between 3 & 4. I always let them nurse when they were hungry. You can tell when they are.

4 hours was max I would let a newborn go, but I don’t think either of mine went that long between feedings on their own. feed on demand with breastfeeding and they can never get too much breast milk. sometimes you will feel like you have a baby on your noob 24/7

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Mom It’s very important for you to get your sleep too , and stay hydrated.

I would definitely talk to a lactation consultant or even your pediatrician about your baby :blush:

The recommendation for waking a newborn that often comes from the fact that we don’t know exactly how much they are taking in (since we can’t measure and our milk production can fluctuate). Many times by the time we realize a baby isn’t taking in a lot is once they are underweight and have failure to thrive- this isn’t a routine you have to keep forever but just until you learn your baby and their eating habits etc. Of course these are just recommendations and at the end of the day you are free to raise your baby as you see fit. You spend 24/7 with your baby and eventually you catch on and learn what works best. Something like this really is tailored to each individual baby and their specific needs. :relaxed:

Fed all my kids on demand. Never woke them to eat. They will get on a schedule as far as naps and eating.
My comfort nursed too.

If premie, then for the first 3wks, every 2hrs during the night and during the day they will let u know when they’re hungry. Full term babies, let them sleep at night, unless a doctor has told u otherwise and during the day, usually every 3-4hrs. Once they reach 6months, and u start introducing solid foods, then u slowly decrease the breastmilk as u add more solids until done completely. Good luck

Make sure you are eating quality, super foods

The people who choose to wake a baby to feed only have got to only have one child :face_with_raised_eyebrow:…they will not sleep through a feeding

Don’t wake a sleeping baby. He will wake when he’s hungry. If he’s newborn (0-3m) then 2oz every two hours. His stomach grows as he grows but he shouldn’t need more than five ounces every feeding before he’s one.

Biggest mistake I made was waking my first two. Let that baby sleep he will let you know when he’s hungry :heart: