Don't Feed Your Baby Every Three hours!
You just delivered your beautiful baby and you are breastfeeding. You may be hearing from the people around you to feed your baby every 3 hours. This works out to 8X in 24hr. This is a quick way to run into breastfeeding problems, weight gain issues, and lower milk supply. Most newborns need closer to 10-12 feedings every 24h in the first week. (over time this shifts to 8-12X every 24hr)
Let’s reframe how we think about how newborns eat in the first few weeks of life. Remember that your baby was just inside of your body. They received continuous nourishment and a warm, stable environment. Now they have to do some work to get their food and there are gaps between feedings. They are experiencing cold for the first time and are no longer held constantly by you.
Your baby’s normal frequency of nursing in the first week is every 30 minutes to every 3 hours. So if you recently finished nursing and twenty minutes later, your baby is showing hunger cues or rooting, you should absolutely latch and nurse them. They may simply be hungry again. They may have fallen asleep before they were done nursing and realized they are still hungry. They may be two days old and nursing 3X in a row in a burst of what is sometimes called cluster feeding.
If it has been three hours and your baby is not waking to feed, you should wake them and offer the breast. Most newborns will latch and nurse well even if they were completely asleep a few minutes ago. Holding your baby skin to skin will encourage more nursing and keep them warm. On-demand breastfeeding means that you respond and nurse when your baby asks for milk. This will help you create a robust milk supply. Your baby is telling your breasts how much milk to make in those early weeks. The more you breastfeed, the more milk you will produce. When following on-demand nursing, your milk supply will increase appropriately and your baby will begin to get more each time at the breast leading to more efficient feedings sooner.
Newborns are sleepy and learning to latch. Latching is instinctual and natural and driven by inborn reflexes. But there is also a component of latching that is learned on the baby’s side and the parent’s side. We don’t expect children to learn to ride a bike in one afternoon. We should give ourselves the grace to learn to hold our babies and connect with them in a comfortable latch during that first week.
Sometimes your baby will want to just be held. They will “fuss” and not take the breast but fall asleep when held close or skin-to-skin. Babies need contact with their parents very frequently in the early weeks. You can’t spoil your baby by holding them often or responding to their cries. By holding them, you are ensuring that they know their needs will be met. They know they are safe and cared for. They will become more safely independent when appropriate when they have these strong foundations.
Really think about how many times each day you drink something and eat something. It’s probably not just three times a day. You would never limit yourself if you wanted a drink 30 minutes after lunch. Babies are the same way and eat at a random frequency throughout the day.
Reach out early to an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) if:
Your baby is not eating at least 8X or more each 24hr
Your baby is consistently nursing >12 X every 24hr
You have nipple pain or damage
Your baby has weight gain issues
Your baby is not content after nursing
Your baby is not peeing or pooping enough (By day 6: 6+ urine, 3-4 poops every 24hr)
Yellow poop by day 4-5 of life
*This list is not exhaustive and geared to common concerns in the early weeks. Please reach out anytime you have questions or concerns about your breastfeeding or lactation journey
Cathy Walker, MA, RN, IBCLC