Am I doing it right?

[@llli*gimiky]

Reading posts on this forum regarding feeding on demand etc has me wondering if I am doing it right.

I don't have a schedule as such (well not one based on times) but my bubs is 14 weeks and we have a kinda routine happening which is loosely based on the EASY routine (I didn't deliberately follow this routine - it just happened that way)

Baby eats (takes about 20 minutes) then plays with me for an hour (tummy time, cuddles, practicing holding her toys etc), then I read the signs (getting cranky and funnily enough, her eyebrows get red) which shows she is tired, then I put her down for a nap.

Her naps go anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours. I let her determine when to wake up. Once she is awake, I feed her and the cycle starts again.

This is our daytime routine.

Our night time routine is again - she sleeps as long as she wants, when she wakes I feed her. If it is still nighttime (ie 5am) she goes straight back to bed. If it is daytime (ie she slept til 7am) she stays up and has a play.

She seems happy with this routine. She has one big nap in the mornings and normally 2 - 3 smaller ones in the afternoon.

Her feeds normally go 5am, 10am, 2pm, 4pm, 7pm, 9.30 pm (and sometimes she will have a 11.30pm feed) These times vary but roughly are around this. (again I don't watch the clock and say your feed is due, it is more around whenever she wakes up) It is mainly baby led and she doesn't appear to display hunger signs outside of when I feed her, but she is also a brilliant sleeper and has heaps of naps. The result is that she only gets around 6-7 feeds a day. Is this enough? Will it adversely affect my supply in the long term?

[@llli*kst.7399]

Is she gaining well? Having plenty of wet an poop diapers? If so, I say you're doing fine. And don't be surprised if that neat little routine changes a bunch of times over the next year Children love to rattle us.

[@llli*lovemygirlso1]

Sounds perfect to me. You are listening to your baby and that is what is the most important. You feed her when she wants to eat you put her to sleep when she looks tired etc. That's perfect

[@llli*gimiky]

thanks Ladies

We did have some issues with dehydration in the first week - to the point I was syringe feeding her and she was pretty much never awake. We fought through that and got her hydrated and feeding again and she has been a champion ever since.

Her weight gain is perfect (50th percentile since birth).

In fact she has followed the weight gain curve so perfectly I am only getting her weighed monthly now. I know she is getting enough at each feed - I'm more concerned my supply will suffer. But she does cluster feed during growth spurts so I guess she'll let me know if she is hungry!

[@llli*mommal]

Sounds fine to me, provided she's producing enough wet and dirty diapers and gaining weight appropriately. And, as the PP mentioned, stay alert for changes! A lot of babies suddenly increase their feeding frequency or stop giving you those nice long sleep stretches. When they do, it's normal and not a sign of low supply.

One thing that freaks a lot of moms out is that many breastfed babies start to drop percentiles somewhere around the middle of their first year. As they become increasingly mobile- reaching, rolling, squirming, crawling, etc.- they start putting more calories into action and less into fat. So if your little lady drops off her 50th percentile trajectory, don't worry.

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

To me, that is fine. You are letting baby drive the schedule, instead of saying, at this time, you will eat. At that time you sleep. That isn't listening to your baby. And what your child needs will change with time. Of course, the day will come when you know she is sleepy, she fights it and you kind of have to help her go to sleep, or she will want to nurse 5 times in an hour, and that is OK too.

[@llli*lllmeg]

As pp say, You are likely doing just fine, and since baby is gaining fine now, that is great. Over time, it is nomal for baby to start to get into a routine (and it is just as normal for those to change frequently!)

But, since you are concerned, I will be a bit contrarian here and mention this, and you can see if it applies at all or not to your situation.

Usually when moms call me about low supply at around 3, 4, 5 months, it is a false alarm. But when it is NOT a false alarm, almost always, the history shows baby has been either sleeping long stretches at night and/or, mom has been soft sceduling. When i say mom is soft sceduling, I mean, that she is perhaps missing some of the more subtle nursing cues because she 'just' nursed and baby 'could not possibly be hungry again." Or, she is avoiding nursing baby to sleep, maybe because someone warned her to never do this, or she avoids 'comfort nursing' for the same reason, or baby gets pacifiers fairly regularly, or basically anything that works to place an artificial limit on nursing frequency.

A mom with a fantastic supply can often soft scedual for the duration, with little effect. But a mom with normal supply may find it becoming an issue at some point.

so I would say-you cannot overfeed a breastfed baby. So there is likely no harm in offering the breast and thus adding a session or two a day. This should not mess with baby's normal move to a more routine nursing scedual, but may help ensure you will have a great supply for as long as you nurse.