I have a newborn baby. Parenting classes indicated that baby will need to eat every 3 hours..instead...our?

Question

instead...our baby will eat for 45 minutes and willl be hungry again within a half hour to an hour to eat for another 40 minutes...the end result is no sleep for Mom and dad..is this type of appetite normal? Are mom and dad doing something wrong?

Answer 1

No mom and dad are not doing anything wrong. I feel babies need to eat more then every three hours. Most likely your bbay is just trying to get your milk supply up. Or they could be going through a growth spirt.

At around two weeks old, I felt my daughter was attached at the breast 24 hours a day. But, then it slowed down a bit after a few days. Then she would go about two hours between.

3 hours is the average. Some go longer (not many) Some go less (most do)

Just give it time, your baby will slow down on the feedings, and will get into a better routine. Just keep up the nursing, it gets easer.

Answer 2

I'm assuming that you're breastfeeding because it doesn't take 45 min. to bottle feed a child. I had this exact problem with my newborn. I'm breastfeeding and I'd be sitting there for almost an hour letting him suck! It became a nightmare as I was nursing literally all day long! No, this is not "normal." I consulted a Lactation Consultant at Stanford. She told me that I have a breast-feeding management problem! She was so right! Here's how she helped me fix it: first, the baby has to be latched on correctly to be sure he's getting the milk. Once my latch problem was fixed the battle was 90% won. Then, because my son had a tendency to "sleep on the job," I was told to switch feed him. Feed on one side for 5 min., then switch him to the other side, repeat. Then switch him back to the other side. Make sure he's awake during the feed. No drifting off to sleep or flutter / comfort sucking. Also, make sure he's sucking actively, suck, suck, suck, swallow. Also, know the differences between his sucks. Just because the baby is on the breast doesn't mean he's eating! Talk to your pediatrician; I'm sure they can recommend a lactation consultant. My lactation consultant saved my sanity and also, my son is a happier baby because when he eats now, he gets full vs. a little here and a little there.

Best of luck to you.

Answer 3

The best way to feed a baby is on demand. As long as you are doing that, you are doing everything right.

My first child was a frequent nurser, with a very similar eating pattern to what you described. The first few months were exhausting, but it got better.

With my second child, I discovered that continuing to swaddle the baby at night (just like they do at the hospital) really helped the baby sleep for longer durations (it keeps baby from waking due to involuntary body movements/reflexes).

Every baby has a slightly different metabolism, so your baby might just be a fast digester. As long as your baby is pooping and peeing a lot your baby is getting enough to eat. However, if you are still concerned you can ask your doctor about it at your next well baby visit. Good luck and hang in there, baby will eventually sleep through the night.

Answer 4

Are you breastfeeding? The every 3-4 hour thing is for FORMULA fed babies, and has nothing to do with normal healthy breastfed babies. Don't worry after about 6 weeks it gets easier, the baby may or may not feed less often but breastfeeding becomes easier after so much practice.

Working with a lactation consultant can also help ensure the baby is nursing as efficiently as possible.

Nursing All the Time
Frequent feedings may be biologically more normal than the three-or four-hour schedule new parents expect
http://www.todaysparent.com/article.jsp?content=1266685
Lactation consultant Diane Wiessinger of Ithaca, New York, agrees. “I once led a meeting where I told the mothers — all experienced breastfeeding mothers — that we were going to write the real baby book, one that told new mothers what they needed to know,” she recalls. “One woman said, ‘New mothers need to know that newborns will nurse every hour.’ Another mother spoke up and said, ‘Yeah, and the feedings will last an hour.’ Everyone laughed, and I think that laughter meant that this is a common experience. Babies don’t really nurse all the time, but it can sure feel that way — especially at first.”

[...]

Anthropologist Kathy Dettwyler from Texas A&M University says that nursing a lot is typical of babies around the world. She cites a study done in 2000 that looked at the feeding behaviour of infants aged three to four months in three different communities: families from Washington, DC, the Ba’Aka hunter-gatherers and the Ngandu farmers, both of the Central African Republic. They found that the Ba’Aka babies nursed 4.02 times per hour, the Ngandu babies nursed 2.01 times per hour and the American babies nursed 1.6 times per hour. Certainly the American babies nursed less often than the two African groups, but they nursed more frequently than many new parents expect.





Straight Talk About Real Babies
Defining New-mom Expectations
http://breastfeed.com/resources/articles/expectation.htm
As a lactation consultant, I frequently hear moms say, "Well I tried to breastfeed my first child but they always wanted to eat, and my milk could never fill them up like formula did. They were always hungry." Get it? The formula makes them feel very full, but is that good for them? Not really. Formula is deficient in all immunological properties.

I then ask the mothers, "Before you changed to formula, was your baby gaining weight well and having plenty of wet diapers and bowel movements?"

"Oh, yes," they say. "That was going well." I have come to understand that the reason these moms quit is not that their baby is not growing well or that they did not have enough milk, but because they didn't want to feed as often as the baby needed to eat and felt that by switching to an artificial food, the baby would be "happier" and "more content." Their baby would behave more like TV babies. Their perception was that something was wrong because their babies ate often. Perhaps that feeling was reinforced by "helpful" friends or family members.




So I Nursed Him Every 45 Minutes
http://www.llli.org//NB/Law45com.html



"He Can't Be Hungry. He Just Ate!"
http://www.wiessinger.baka.com/bfing/howworks/hungry.html


Nursing your newborn — what to expect in the early weeks
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing.html

Answer 5

Most babies will need to eat every 1 to 2 hours. I have never heard or seen an infant go for 3 hrs without eating, Is the baby being breastfed? There may be some problems with latching on & getting milk that may be leading to the long feedings. They generally are between 30 to 45 min. You should talk to the pediatrician.

Answer 6

Are the holes in the nipples too small? 45 minutes is a long time to be drinking from a bottle.
Try a faster nipple, and maybe some of the feeding time can be used for sleeping instead.

Also, are you sure it is hunger, or does the baby just cry an hour later? I ask because it could be acid reflux.

Try sitting your baby up in the bouncer seat, or on your knee for 45 minutes (NO LESS) after feeding. Acid reflux is very upsetting to babies, and happens when they are laid flat on their backs after they eat.

My doc also recommended rice cereal in the formula, but that was at 6wks. I don't know how old your baby is, and you should check with doc.

Don't let him give you any acid reflux meds. They can cause terrible vomiting. Best to treat it by sitting the baby up at an angle.

Answer 7

Take the baby for a check up, 45 minutes between feedings is ridiculous, is the baby drinking all the formula? If he is try adding an extra ounce he might be hungry!
The experts change their minds about what is right and wrong every 5 years. That CNN article is more of the same crock.
All my babies slept on their stomachs and were just fine. In 74 it was okay, in 75 it was on the side.. by 82 it was all about bundling and keeping the baby in your room so you got no rest in the hospital, in 84 the baby was on its' back "the only way to let them sleep' and bonding baloney.
.. Eventually someone will realize that babies like sleeping on their stomach its more comfortable, they don't get startled when they wake AND if he spits up it doesn't go into his lungs.. but right now its a big serious no-no.

Answer 8

You are doing nothing wrong. Each baby is different and you should trust your instincts. However, you might want to check to see if your wife's milk is coming in properly. More often than not it is because the milk hasn't come in fully or she may possibly be not producing enough to keep up with the baby's demand. Talk with your pediatrician immediately. I also recommend talking to a lactation consultant.

Answer 9

You are doing everything right! Are you breastfeeding? I know that with my son, I knew from the classes I took that I would try to feed him everytime he was hungry. That sometimes meant I was breastfeeding him all day long. I know 'they' tell you to feed them every 3 hours, but sometimes its just too long! Listen to your insticts, if you think you should be feeding your baby-do it!

Answer 10

If you are breastfeeding...gosh, what you baby is doing is normal.

That parenting class sounds like a crock!