Baby’s Early Breastfeeding Weeks: Expect No Regular Pattern!

Newborns do not typically breastfeed at regular intervals. While it is true that babies tend to feed 8-12 times every 24 hours, the usual laws of mathematics simply don’t apply here.

During the first 6 weeks or so, your baby probably won’t feed on any kind of regular schedule. Most new babies tend to bunch their feedings together at certain times and go longer between feedings at other times.

If you’re lucky these longer stretches (up to 4-5 hours is fine) will be at night--but don’t get your hopes up at first. Those longer stretches will probably be during the day. So while it is a good idea to keep track of the number of feedings every 24 hours (keep a written log) ignore the intervals between feedings for now and don’t expect any consistency in the intervals between feedings until your baby is older. There may be times of the day or night when your baby breastfeeds every 1/2 hour or every hour. That’s all just part of normal breastfeeding in the early days and weeks.

If your baby is like most newborns, during these first days there will be times when he is breastfeeding almost constantly, possibly for hours at a stretch, going back and forth from breast to breast. When you try to put him down, he will begin to fuss and show feeding cues. Some people use the word ‘squirrelly’ to describe how babies act during this time. This is not unusual, and if it happpens to you, it’s not a sign that baby isn’t getting enough or that breastfeeding is not working. It is a sign that your baby is doing his job well in the days before your milk increases.

Oh, and one more thing: during these first few days, these long feeding stretches are most often at night.

From Breastfeeding Made Simple, Mohrbacher and Kendall-Tackett 2010