When Should My Baby Eat?
Short answer:
Whenever they want.
Baby will...โฃ
โ ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐๐ก ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ซโฃโฃ
Trying to feed a sleepy baby often results in a shallow, more painful latch. Waiting for the baby to be awake and ready to eat allows them to fully participate, open their mouth wide, and latch deeply.โฃโฃ
โ ๐๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒโฃโฃ
The deeper, more comfortable latch allows baby use their tongue more effectively and helps baby to fill up quicker than when latched shallowly. Shorter feeds = more time for other stuff...like sleep.โฃโฃ
โ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ญ๐กโฃโฃ
Did you know babiesโ brains grow when they sleep? When babies wake naturally to eat, they are following their biological sleep patterns. When we wake babies, it interrupts their sleep cycles and disrupts their sleep quality. Good sleep = good brain growth!โฃโฃ
โ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐!โฃโฃ
It is a scientifically proven fact that all parents want more sleep. The End๐
Long answer:
Healthy babies who are maintaining their growth curve and having lots of wet/dirty diapers do not need to be woken up by parents to eat. When we allow babies to wake on their own, they do a great job of managing their meal times. They also do a great job managing how much food they should eatโฆunlike many adults (*raises hand*).
Health babies who are climbing percentiles on the growth curve* especially donโt need to be woken up to eat. When you wake a baby to eat, youโre telling them, โItโs time to eat now.โ If theyโre not hungry, this results in overfeeding, particularly if bottles are involved. Why? If a baby is latching to breastfeed but they are sleepy, itโs hard to get a deep latch or even a good seal in order for them to nurse well. They might take a few sucks and fall back asleep. If a baby is bottle feeding (regardless of whatโs in the bottle), we can push the nipple into the babyโs mouth. Babies less than about 12 weeks old will reflexively suck on that nipple and swallow because liquid will flow, despite being sleepy. All bottles also drip without sucking so this combination can result in unnecessary eating. This is one reason feeding on a schedule can increase the risk of obesity later in life. Waking babies unnecessarily changes their brain programming. It overrides their sophisticated ability to eat when hungry and stop when full.
Thereโs an app for that!
Who here uses a baby tracking app (*raises hand again*)? Great! Apps that track baby feeds/diapers/meds/weights are a great resource. They can help estimate when baby will eat, tell your fried, new parent brain how long since your baby pooped, and even sync between phones so everyone is in the loop. I love mine, even for my 7 year old (successfully weaned) son. I use it as his baby book now (shout out to the Baby Connect app*. Been using it for 7 yearsโฆtotally worth the $4.99).
Use the app to figure out when you might need to feed your baby in relation to going to the store (โHe usually eats every 2.5 hrsโฆdo I wait 30 min to leave or plan to feed at Trader Joes?โ) Avoid using your app to determine when your baby should eat. Been 4 hours since feeding? Live it up! or sleep it up. Your baby may not do another 4 hour stretch til tomorrow. Watch your baby, not the app.
Remember, babies latch for reasons other than nutrition! Itโs OK to offer the breast even if theyโve just fed. They may need comfort, warmth, love, relaxationโฆ. Fussy baby? Put a boob on it (Portlandia anyone?)
On demand feeding = cue based feeding = ad lib feeding = baby-led feeding = responsive feeding = feed baby when baby is awake and hungry. Try it. Youโll like it. And so will your baby.
*Edited to add: Babies who climb percentiles on the growth chart with exclusive, at-breast feeding, are doing great. No need to limit their feeds. They can eat more than expected if theyโre doing it on their own. On demand feeding refers to timing and volume. Theyโll be nice, rolly polly little ballsโฆgreat for squishing. They are NOT overweight. Go ahead and love the squish. You can assume that babies who drink a lot of volume at breast will take more than expected in a bottle as well. Theyโre just trying to match their norms. Follow their lead.
The Baby Connect link is not an affiliate link. I do not get paid for mentioning it. I just like the app.