For those with a baby that sleeps for longer stretches

I assume your breastfeeding? When Leo was a month old I was feeding him every 4 hours via breast milk and formula as a top up, and it wasn’t enough for him, and he lost a lot of weight. I then had to increase it to every 2-3 hours regardless if he was asleep or awake .. and he soon piled on the weight! My midwife told me that 15 minutes per boob was a good feed if you can hear them suckling and swallowing xx

I think all depends on how much they drink within a 24hour period I don’t wake mine she’s taking 5oz bottles. I dont actually count the amount of feeds as such but I know she’s gaining and is healthy.

My LO has 5 X 5oz bottles in a 24 hour period if that helps at all x

I'm just going by whatever be wants but he is feeding regularly during the day! sometimes 5 mins, sometimes 20

I wouldn't worry. If baby was hungry they'd certainly wake you up. Feed on demand. My little one isn't sleeping long stretches at nights but I'm.trying to feed plenty in the day in the hope she will start haha

Following - I am EBF and even when he does 3 hours sleep he wakes up super hungry 😂

We feed on demand my LB is 4 weeks and has approximately 6 5oz bottles in a 24 hour period feeding every 4 hours on average during the night after 10pm he has one bottle then wakes again between 6/7am for his next

Not that mine sleeps that much yet, but as long as they're gaining weight, I wouldn't worry. I used to have 4 quick feeds a day and sleep through the night, the doctor was telling my mum off until she checked my weight LOL

Yes, yesterday was 10 feedings, he generally does 4/2/2 hours at night, 2 night wakings/feeds. I do make sure his naps are no longer than 2 hours so he feeds every 3 hours in the day at least.

My baby does tend to feed more during the day as she sleeps well at night (maybe 5-7 hours) but she doesn’t feed for long periods of time either, about 10 mins absolute max. I just feed on demand and as long as baby is putting on weight then I wouldn’t worry too much. I was obsessed when I had my first baby and timed everything and stressed out way too much but now I don’t really monitor anything except her weight which she is putting on just fine 😊

We’re at 6 weeks and rarely get a feed longer than 15/20 mins now, most feeds are about 10 mins long and only the first feed in the morning the longest at 20 mins. My little boy occasionally does 5ish hour stints at night and is sleeping between 10-8:30 and we’re managing to get plenty of feeds in throughout the day. Hes awake for much longer now and feeding more efficiently I’d say, doesn’t pop on and off the boob as much and is more alert during the feed. As they get older they become far more efficient at feeding so what used to take 40 mins they can now manage in 20 (for example) I wouldn’t worry too much, as long as you’re feeding on demand, if baby is hungry you’ll sure hear about it😂

@Chloe omg this is my dream! He’s a month old now so I hope he gets on this path! Are you pumping and feeding any expressed bottle? His night feeds are still fussy with hitting the boob and crying on and off the boob sometimes 😂 Also when you say 20 minutes, is it one or both boobs?

My baby (4 weeks) is breastfed (& I pump and bottle feed that) and he doesn’t have 12 feeds a day nowhere near. He’s more of a type of baby that sleeps for ages then feeds for ages. He does 2 big feeds during the day (2-3 hours on boobs!!) and then sleeps for 4-5 hours. During the night we do bottles of expressed milk and he has roughly 3 per night. So that’s only 5-6 feeds over 24 hours but they can go on for hours

Every baby is different, I EBF and my baby feeds for literally 10 minutes every time, sometimes 5minutes and the time between could be a couple hours! But she’s having wet nappies and gaining weight so it’s fine for her. You could leave it up to 4 hours before waking for a feed rather than 2-3. That’s what I do because I feel so bad when she looks so sleepy and I’m forcing her awake by taking off her clothes etc or else she doesn’t wake! Xx

Don’t worry about the rule or 8-12 feeds. She’ll take what she needs. As long as she’s gaining weight along her centile

Once they’re over their birthweight the 8-12 feeds rule tends to go out of the window. As long as baby is well follow their lead

I wouldn't worry. As long as your latch is ok, I still try and get 8 in but I've been feeding on demand since day 1. She did lose weight as normal, then then was slow gaining it back but they put that down to my latch and at that point I made sure I was doing more during the day so she could sleep at night if she needed it and I wasn't setting alarms and waking her. She currently has 3-4hr gaps at night but then has a really good feed in the morning. She's thriving now.