How many times do you feed a 3 month old baby


3 Month Old Baby: Development and Milestones

3-Month-Old Baby

What a charmer! At 3-months-old, baby is probably smiling plenty, and they’ve likely started to imitate what they hear and see (so watch what you do, mama!). You should chat with baby throughout the day, describing what you're doing, how you're doing it and where you're going—this is how they’ll eventually learn to talk! Just don't go too crazy though. Baby is a quick learner, but they need you to keep things clear and simple, and to recognize when they need a break.

As your 3-month-old baby continues to grow and develop, there are lots of things you’ll want to keep an eye on and a few key 3-month-old baby milestones to watch for. With a whole three months under your parenting belt, you may feel more confident in your child-rearing skills, but you likely have a lot of questions: How often do you feed a 3-month-old baby? How can you play with a 3-month-old? And let’s not forget: When will my 3-month-old sleep through the night? Ready for the lowdown? Here’s everything you need to know about your budding little person.

In this article.
3-month-old development
3-month-old health
3-month-old feeding
3-month-old sleep
3-month-old schedule
Activities for a 3-month-old
3-month-old baby checklist and tips

3-Month-Old Development

Baby is becoming even more active and social at the three-month mark, right? They’re more in control of their body and more aware of people and interacting with them, which makes for lots of fun at playtime.

3-month-old baby weight and length

Parents want to know: How much should a 3-month-old weigh and measure? The average weight of a 3-month-old baby is 12.9 pounds for girls and 14.1 pounds for boys; average length is 23.5 inches for girls and 24.2 inches for boys.

Whether baby’s close to the average or not, the important thing is that they’re growing at a healthy rate. They’ve likely gained another 1.5 to 2 pounds and grown 1 to 1.5 inches this month. The size of baby’s head may have gone up by a half inch too.

It’s common for a baby to experience a 3-month-old growth spurt. Signs of a growth spurt are having an especially hungry or cranky baby. Baby might wake more at night too. Don’t worry—growth spurts are temporary! Let baby eat, sleep or cuddle more if that’s what they seem to want, and try not to get too frustrated by the sudden change. It can be exhausting for you, but growth spurts usually only last one to three days at a time.

3-month-old’s five senses

At 3-months-old, baby’s senses have developed rapidly.

  • They’re working at becoming a great communicator, making eye contact with you, and they can now recognize your face.
  • They follow moving objects with their eyes.
  • They smile when they hear your voice.

3-month-old baby milestones

Read for all the cuteness to ensue? There are impressive developmental milestones approaching. So what should a 3-month-old be doing? Here’s a peek:

  • They’re mimicking some sounds, movements and expressions and starting to babble.
  • Let baby play on the floor or under a baby gym, since they love to kick up a storm and swing at things and bat at any dangling toys they see.
  • A 3-month-old at tummy time probably raises their head and chest, holding up their upper body with their arms.
  • They open and close their hands.
  • When you hold baby upright, they’ll push down with their feet onto the floor or your lap.
  • They bat at hanging toys above.
  • They can grasp and shake a toy.
  • You might be wondering, can a baby sit at 3 months of age? Every baby is unique, but many begin sitting up with support anywhere between the three- and five-month marks. The bigger and stronger baby gets, the easier it will be for them to sit up solo.
  • Another big question: Can a 3-month-old baby see the TV? At this age, babies are beginning to see more vivid colors and can recognize faces at a distance. Regardless, most experts advise against introducing television or digital screens at such a young age.

You’ll also want to look out for these signs of a developmental or medical problem at the three-month stage; they’re worth a call to the doctor:

  • Baby doesn’t respond to loud sounds or smile at the sound of your voice.
  • Baby doesn’t follow moving objects with their eyes.
  • Baby doesn’t smile socially.
  • Baby can’t grasp or hold objects.
  • Baby doesn’t bring their hands or objects to their mouth.
  • Baby’s eyes still seem crossed most of the time.
  • Baby doesn’t babble.
  • Baby doesn’t pay attention to new faces.
  • Baby doesn’t push down with their feet when they’re held upright and they’re placed on a flat surface.

3-Month-Old Health

There are lots of health questions parents of 3-month-olds have. Below are some of the most common, with links to detailed articles to help you answer them:

3-Month-Old Feeding

In the last couple months, baby’s appetite has certainly increased! And they know how to tell you when they’re hungry. Of course, you’ve probably gotten in such a routine with feeding that you know when they’re about to do that hungry cry.

How much should a 3-month-old eat?

  • Bottle feeding: How much formula for a 3-month-old baby? Typically five ounces about six to eight times a day will suffice.
  • Breastfeeding: How often should a 3-month-old nurse? Feedings are typically about every three or four hours at this age but each breastfed baby may be slightly different. What’s important is that baby seems content, your boobs seem to have been emptied (they’re soft) and baby’s gaining weight healthily.

To double-check that baby’s getting enough breast milk, you can also track their diapers. How many wet diapers for a 3-month-old baby? About four or five very wet ones per day indicate that your little one is getting ample milk.

Three-month-old babies may start eating less than they did previously. Breastfed babies do get more efficient, so it’s normal for your baby to feed in about half the time it took them to feed as a newborn. If you see all the signs that baby’s getting enough to eat, it’s perfectly normal. If not, it could be a sign of a problem, so talk to the pediatrician.

What can baby eat this month?

Baby is still only able to eat breast milk and/or formula. Many parents ask: “Can I give my 3-month-old water?” Nope! Most doctors recommend parents wait until baby’s ready for solid foods before they get water. Don’t worry, baby’s getting plenty of hydration from breast milk or formula and needs the nourishment it provides.

How often do you feed a 3-month-old baby?

Three-month-olds will likely still need to be fed every three to four hours during the day. When in doubt, look for hunger cues. Before crying for their food, baby may lick their lips, stick out their tongue, repeatedly open their mouth, suck on things or touch their hands to their mouths. These can all be signals that it’s feeding time.

3-month-old feeding schedule

Image: Megan Rubey

3-Month-Old Sleep

Three months in and you’re ready to get this whole sleep thing settled. Want answers to the most common sleep questions among parents of 3-month-olds? Curious minds want to know:

How long do 3-month-olds sleep and nap?

Three-month-olds typically sleep about 15 hours a day, and more of those hours are falling at night. In fact, it’s common for 3-month-olds to sleep about 10 hours at night, maybe with at least one five- or six-hour stretch. Baby is probably taking three naps totaling five hours of daytime sleep.

How can I get my 3-month-old to sleep?

It’s harder than you might think to get a tired baby to actually go to sleep! You’ve probably heard the usual advice: Keep the room dark and cool, rock and sing to your baby, and put baby to sleep while they’re sleepy but not yet asleep. Still, there are some nights when none of that seems to work. Try some other parents’ tried-and-true tricks for calming a fussy baby; they just might help you get your little one to snooze—finally.

What should my 3-month-old’s bedtime be?

The ideal bedtime for a 3-month-old baby depends on your family’s schedule, but many experts believe 7:30 p. m.—give or take—is ideal at this age. As baby begins to sleep for longer stretches at night, you’ll want to gradually make bedtime earlier, which (surprisingly!) encourages baby to sleep even longer.

Does my 3-month-old baby have sleep regression?

You may notice a bit of 3-month-old sleep regression. Baby might be waking more often at night because of a growth spurt, or it might be a developmental thing. Around 3 or 4 months, babies’ brains are becoming more alert and because of that, they want to be using that brainpower more often. Growth spurts can last a few days but true sleep regression (which typically happens closer to 4 months) can last two to six weeks.

3-month-old sleep schedule

Here’s a peek at a typical 3-month-old sleep schedule:

Image: Megan Rubey

3-Month-Old Schedule

Three-month-old babies are creatures of habit—bedtime, nap and feeding routines keep them happy.

3-month-old schedule example

A 3-month-old’s daily schedule might look something like this:

Image: Megan Rubey

Activities for a 3-Month-Old

Be sure to squeeze in some playtime with your 3-month-old baby each day. So how can you engage and play with a 3-month old? There are tons of ways to entertain your cutie pie at this stage.

  • Give baby a mirror and let them admire their reflection.
  • Sing, read and talk to your 3-month-old baby; encourage them to make sounds of their own. This sweet back-and-forth is the basis of an early conversation!
  • Place a soft and colorful toy on baby’s chest and let them look, touch and play with it. A play gym or mobile can also provide plenty of amusement.
  • Continue to put baby on a mat for tummy time. The more baby gets used to being on their tummy, the more they’ll be inclined to start working toward a scoot or crawl.

3-Month-Old Baby Checklist and Tips

  • Make sure you have your four-month baby checkup scheduled.
  • Look for signs of readiness for eating solid foods. The pediatrician may recommend you start as early as the four-month mark.
  • If you’re going back to work after maternity leave, best wishes! You’ve got this!
  • How often should I bathe my 3-month-old baby? Don’t worry about giving baby a bath more than once every few days.
  • Find some new things to do with your 3-month-old baby.
  • Take baby’s 3-month-old baby milestone photo.

A heads up that in the coming weeks, you’ll be entering new and exciting territory. Baby will work on those important 3-month-old baby milestones, and you’ll have even more to look forward to as they approach month four. Baby will master the art of holding their head up and maybe even begin rolling over from their tummy to their back.

Medical content was reviewed by Dina DiMaggio, MD, a board-certified pediatrician at Pediatric Associates of NYC and NYU Langone Health in New York City, and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. She is also the coauthor of The Pediatrician’s Guide to Feeding Babies and Toddlers.

3 Month Old Baby Sleep and Feeding Schedules – Woolino

Sleep and Feeding Schedule For Your Three Month Old Baby

Remember your newborn night feeding schedule? Those days when your baby would almost instantly fall asleep in your arms, in the car seat, in the grocery store… pretty much anywhere? Well, those days are over, mama. The good news is that your baby is developing new skills and soaking in knowledge at an amazing rate. By 3 months, your baby is probably smiling plenty, and she's likely started to imitate what she hears and sees (so watch what you do!). She is becoming even more active and social at three months. She’s more in control of her body and more aware of people and interacting with them, which makes for lots of fun at playtime. Your child needs a good 3 month old sleep schedule to be alert and confident during those awake times. She’s learning so much at this stage! Things can get a bit bumpy when it comes to your 3 month old baby’s routine, so we’re solving your biggest problems when it comes to your 3 month old baby schedule: feeding & sleeping.

Feeding. . .

Three-month-old baby feedings may become less frequent than they were in the early newborn days. Whether their nourishment comes from breast milk alone, or from formula, or from some combination of the two, most babies this age are able to consume more milk at each feeding than they were able to in the previous two months (now 5 to 6 ounces on average), so their feedings are less frequent (perhaps six to eight feedings in a 24-hour period).

More distracted: At three months old, your baby has also started to wake up! She grew out of that sleepy newborn stage, and is suddenly interested in everything! Every little sight and sound will keep her head spinning with curiosity. These distractions can affect feeding time, and while she may be hungry, she may also be too distracted to get a full feeding.

Feed sleepy, secluded, and often: The key is to feed her when she is sleepy, feed her when she is secluded, and feed her often. Make sure to catch her as she wakes up from a nap. The sooner you can get in there and feed her, the better she will nurse. Make her nursery into a nursing cave. White noise, and lights off. Try to limit or block out any noises or lights that would distract. Sometimes you can provide all the right conditions for your baby to feed well, and she just wants to look up at you and smile instead! When that happens, just wait 30-45 minutes and try again. If you need to feed her when she’s sleepy before a nap, just be sure you still try to lay her down drowsy but not yet asleep. Though falling asleep while breastfeeding happens easily, you want to train her to fall asleep on her own and not depend on the breast or bottle.

How much or how often: For bottle feeding with formula, a 3-month-old baby typically consumes five ounces about six to eight times a day. For nursing, feedings are typically about every three or four hours at this age but each breastfed baby may be slightly different. What’s important is that baby seems content, your breasts seem to have been emptied (they’re soft) and baby’s gaining weight healthily.

Diaper check: To double-check that baby’s getting enough breast milk, you can check her diapers. A 3 month old baby will produce about four to six wet diapers per day. As a newborn, your baby may have passed a bowel movement after every feeding, but your 3 month old baby may only pass one once per day, or even once every two or three days.

More efficient: You may notice your 3 month old baby sleeping more and eating less. Breastfed babies do get more efficient, so it’s normal for your baby to feed in about half the time it took her to feed as a newborn. If you see all the signs that baby is getting enough to eat, it’s perfectly normal. If not, it could be a sign of a problem, so talk to your pediatrician.

What can baby eat this month: Baby is still only able to eat breast milk and/or formula. Many parents ask "Can I give my 3-month-old water?". Most doctors recommend parents wait until baby’s ready for solid foods—around 4 to 6 months of age—before they get water. Your baby is getting plenty of hydration from breast milk or formula and needs the nourishment it provides.

Sleep. . .

Three month old babies will tend to nap anywhere between 30 minutes and 3 hours at random times of day, but you will hopefully see that they are starting to sleep longer stretches at night. This tends to be an age where you start to see a little more predictability to your days and nights.  14-17 hours of total sleep is common and considered healthy at three months. Your baby might still be fussy in the evenings, but more than likely you will soon see that settles down and they are ready for an earlier bedtime. 

Night wake-ups: Some babies may be sleeping through the night, but it's important to remember that this doesn't apply to all babies and that “through the night” often means a stretch of about five or six hours. Night wake-ups still vary at 3 months. Anywhere between 2 and 6 times a night is normal. If you’ve got a baby who’s been waking up 6 times a night for 2 months straight, you might feel at your wit’s end, but you should know that this is not something to be alarmed about. If your baby is more on the 2 times a night end of the spectrum, you could consider yourself lucky, though you might not feel it.

Differentiate day & night: If you are not yet seeing a differentiation between night and day, you can help them along by keeping their sleep environment quiet and dark at night and keeping night feedings in the dark with minimal stimulation. On the flipside, make it clear that daytime is for fun and games. Try and have those daytime feedings in a well-lit room and you can start to encourage some playtime after a feed. Plus, be sure they’re getting exposed to some sunlight.

Sleep habit checkup: At three months old, it suddenly becomes obvious whether or not your baby has developed bad or good sleep habits. Some babies need to be rocked or nursed to sleep, and resist the crib! You need a solid foundation of good sleep habits for your baby. Try to do a sleep habit checkup and ask yourself these three questions: What do the surroundings look like? What is my baby wearing? Who is doing the work?

What do the surroundings look like: Make sure your baby’s room is made for sleep and not play. Keep entertaining toys and distractions out of sight and out of the crib, and in a box or playroom instead. At three months, your baby has become more alert and distracted, so you want to make sure their room does not stimulate their curiosity when it is time for bed. Your baby’s room should also be cool and dark, with white noise. If you haven’t put blackout curtains in your child’s nursery, you should consider doing so now. Trash bags work as a great alternative.

What is my baby wearing: What babies wear to bed can affect their sleep tremendously. Not only should they feel comfortable, but because they have a hard time regulating their own body temperature, they need to be wearing sleepwear that will keep them just the right temperature through the night. Babies will often wake up because they are too hot or too cold, and then cannot self soothe back to sleep. So what’s the solution?!—A Woolino wearable blanket, or sleep bag. Woolino 4 season sleep bags are made with the finest and softest merino wool that naturally helps regulate body temperature, so you never have to worry if your baby is too hot or too cold. It is also the perfect transition from the swaddle, giving them just enough weight for security, and a plenty of room to kick and squirm for healthy hip development.

Who is doing the work: Are you doing all the hard work for your baby? Rocking her completely to sleep? Now is a good time to shift some of that responsibility to your baby. At three months, a nap time routine could consist of diaper change, sit in chair, hum and sing for a minute or two, then place baby in her crib while she’s still awake. Offer a pacifier and let her go to sleep on her own. No bouncing or rocking required!

Aim for longer naps: Newborns sometimes nap in short spurts, or only 30-45 minutes at a time. For a 3 month old sleep schedule, naps can start to lengthen a bit more if you’ve got a good sleep foundation in place. A short nap is typically less than 30 minutes long. There are two main causes of short naps. The first cause is baby’s wake time is either too long or too short. The second is a lack of self-soothing skills. Don’t worry! Both of these problems can be solved with a plan and a little work!

Wake time: For your three-month old, the perfect wake time is around 1. 5 hours. If your baby is struggling with short naps, don’t stress! Just put your baby down 1.5 hours after she wakes up regardless of how long the last nap was.

Self-soothing: A baby’s lack of self-soothing skills can cause short naps. Try dimming the lights or just put on a hallway light in your baby’s room. Change her diaper and put on some white noise. Then sit in a chair with the lights out. Hum and pat your baby on the back for no more than two minutes. Remember, you’re not rocking to sleep, you’re just setting the stage for sleep! Put your baby down sleepy, but not sleeping. Say goodnight and leave the room! If she starts crying, set a timer for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, go in and soothe your baby. Try to do the least intrusive thing first. So instead of jumping right to rocking or nursing, try just your voice, then a pat on the bottom, then put her pacifier back in. See how each step takes a little more of the responsibility of self-soothing from your baby? Each time you have to go check, try to start with the least intrusive step again. Pretty soon, you’ll notice that your baby needs less and less help with self-soothing.

When should bedtime be: The ideal bedtime for a 3-month-old sleep schedule depends on your family’s schedule, but many experts believe around 7 to 9 p.m. is ideal at this age. As baby begins to sleep for longer stretches at night, you’ll want to gradually make bedtime earlier, which (surprisingly!) encourages baby to sleep even longer.

Sleep regression: Look out for the 3-month sleep regression! It can suddenly appear, with your baby starting to wake up like a newborn—every few hours—and want to play or cuddle, but refusing to sleep alone. Baby might be waking more often at night because of a growth spurt, or it might be a developmental thing. Around 3 or 4 months, babies’ brains are becoming more alert and because of that, they want to be using that brainpower more often. Growth spurts can last a few days but true sleep regression (which typically happens closer to 4 months) can last two to six weeks.

Transition from swaddling: At 2-3 months of age, your baby may start to startle more, roll more, and wake many times a night. Swaddling can become dangerous with the risk of suffocation if baby rolls over. The next step in transition for a baby who loves feeling covered or swaddled is a wearable blanket. Wearable blankets allow baby to stay covered throughout the night without the risk of loose blankets being pulled over their head. Their arms are free, and there is plenty of room to kick and squirm for healthy hip development.

The 3 Month Schedule. . .

Note: Not all babies are able to follow a schedule at this age, but for some it can be worth trying to get them started on a schedule, especially as they get closer to 4 months. These are general guidelines and all babies are different, so your child may not be able to strictly adhere to this schedule. Always use your best judgment as a parent when setting your child's schedule.

Creating baby feeding and sleeping schedule for your three month old is no easy task, but you can do it! You can be rocking a routine in no time. If you put in the hard work in these early months, it will get so much easier as your baby grows older. 

 


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Breastfeeding on demand

You can often hear from a nursing mother: "I feed on demand, my baby requires a breast every 3.5 hours." Or: “I have always fed on demand. In a year, we already had 1 feeding in the evening, and my child calmly refused to breastfeed. Before talking about the demand of the child, it is necessary to find out what modern women mean when they say - "I breastfeed."

Modern mothers consider breastfeeding necessary for feeding their baby. Just for feeding. Breast milk is food, the mother supplies the baby with the nutrients necessary for growth and development. When a baby suckles at the breast, he eats. Breastfeeding makes sense only as a process of supplying proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and microelements.

During suckling, the baby receives the nutrients it needs with mother's milk. This is the absolute truth. There is another unconditional truth, which is not given any importance in modern society, it is not taken into account and is not considered. Breastfeeding for a child is communication with the mother. We need to figure out how the child understands feeding on demand? Can he understand anything at all? Is there any difference for him how he is fed, for 15-20 minutes after 3.5 hours or in some other way?

What is on-demand feeding

On-demand feeding of a newborn baby means putting it to the breast for every squeak or search. Squeak and search movements in newborns, even as early as the second or third day of life, begin to appear much more often than after 3.5 or 2.5 hours. The need for attachments increases rapidly, and by the 10-12th day of life, the need to attach to a child may occur 15-16 or more times a day. Applications vary in duration. The baby can fall asleep and sleep while sucking for, for example, 1. 5-2 hours. Can release the breast after 1-2 minutes. And then ask her again. Why does a child need such frequent contact with his mother's breast?

That's why. Being in the mother's belly, in a calm, familiar environment, listening to the noises of the mother's body, being in a warm, cramped, confined space, the baby sucked his fist, fingers, loops of the umbilical cord, swallowed amniotic fluid. Learned to suck and swallow. After birth, experiencing discomfort for any, the most insignificant reason, the baby tries to get rid of it. You can get rid of discomfort by getting into the usual conditions of a comfortable stay. The only place where the baby after birth can feel the sensations familiar to him is in the arms of the mother. The only familiar action is sucking. The only familiar taste and smell is the taste and smell of milk and lube in the areola. Milk and lubricant have an odor and taste similar to the taste and smell of amniotic fluid. Therefore, experiencing discomfort, the baby squeaks, or begins to look for an object to suck with his mouth. Ideally, it is immediately applied to the chest. The baby becomes warm, cramped, he hears the beating of his mother's heart, breathing, grumbling in the intestines, he sucks and feels the familiar taste and smell. If such an action happens constantly, the baby gains confidence, no matter what happens, he will solve all his problems with his mother. The place of comfort is now under the breast, and you can suck on the breast.

This whole process is biologically justified. A newborn child does not feel the feeling of hunger, this feeling is not formed in him. It will begin to form at about two months of age. How to feed a creature that does not experience hunger ?! How to encourage him to take some action to get food? This can be done only at the expense of some other incentives. This stimulus for the newborn is constant bodily discomfort, thanks to which he wants to suckle all the time! The most intense, frequent and prolonged sucking in infants is observed in the first two or three months of life. It is in these first months that the main weight gain of the baby occurs.

Feeding in the first month

Baby falls asleep with breast in mouth, sleeps sucking for a while. Falling asleep deeply, lets go of the chest. After sleeping for a while, he wakes up, and is applied on waking. After sleep, he can stay awake for some time, for example, an hour and a half. During wakefulness, he may feel discomfort 2-3 times, for example, from a completely natural desire to pee, and having called his mother for help, having kissed for a couple of minutes, he will do his deeds. Then he will want to sleep, feel discomfort and, kissing his chest, will again fall asleep sucking. After some time, he will wake up and attach again. Then again a little "walk". And after some time, he will fall asleep at the chest again.

The daytime naps of a one-month-old infant feeding on demand vary in duration and number. There can be 4-6 dreams during the day, and they can last from 5-15 minutes to 2-2. 5 sometimes 3 hours. "Around" each dream, the baby is applied to the chest, and applied between dreams several times. At night, the child falls asleep at the breast. Usually in the early morning hours, he begins to fuss and apply. In the morning, he almost never fully wakes up. The baby sleeps, from time to time, sucking on his mother's breast. Waking up in the morning, the baby is again applied to the chest. If you count all the attachments that have happened in a baby of one month of age, then approximately 16-20 attachments are obtained. This is how a newborn human cub behaves if it is given the opportunity to behave in accordance with physiological and psychological needs, which, by the way, are genetically determined. The child of the first months of life does not separate his personality from the personality of the mother and from her breast. Mom and her breasts, and everything connected with them, are the universe of the baby and himself.

In most cases, a modern woman, being afraid to “accustom a child to hands”, strives to limit his requests for sucking. A pacifier and a bottle of tea or water come to her aid in this matter. They, too, can be sucked ... The need for sucking seems to be satisfied. But only the need for communication with the mother during suckling is not satisfied, the peculiar chain of mutual assistance and cooperation between mother and baby is destroyed, the formation of maternal affection and concentration is disrupted. Is the difference in the two actions noticeable to the reader: the baby cried, the mother took him, put him to her chest and started rocking him, or gave him a pacifier and started rocking the stroller, even with the words “Why are you crying, my sun?”

The modern woman who gives a pacifier and pumps a stroller is not a bad person deliberately harming an infant. She is simply in captivity of prejudices regarding the relationship between mother and baby. She does not know how to behave correctly, does not know what to do in accordance with the natural needs of the child. If you tell her what the child really needs, she will exclaim in horror: “What is it, don’t let him get away with?!” Indeed, the child of the first months of life must not be let off the hook. For a woman who does not know how to comfortably carry a baby, and who does not know how to feed him in various positions (sitting, lying, standing and even moving), this can be very difficult. Especially if she is not sure of the correctness of her actions.

An action that should become automatic for the mother of a newborn: when the baby cries or shows other signs of anxiety, put the baby to the breast.

What's next?

The baby is growing. A fairly stable rhythm of daytime sleep begins to form in him, and a 3-4-month-old baby behaves quite differently from a newborn. Feeding on demand at this age looks something like this...

  • At three months, the baby has 10-12 feeds during the day and 2-4 at night. There are frequent applications for a short time, but their number is reduced. There may be a long night break in feedings, about 5 hours, but this is very rare. Much more often the night break is 2.5-3.5 hours. By this age, the baby's body is noticeably rounded.
  • At four months, the baby begins to breastfeed noticeably less frequently. The main feedings are associated with sleep: the baby suckles before bedtime, during awakening and during sleep, both daytime and nighttime. In this regard, he has a fairly accurate feeding regimen. And many babies stop breastfeeding when they wake up after daytime sleep, sometimes as early as 2.5-3 months.
  • At five months, the baby has 8-10 daytime feedings and 2-3 nighttime, attachments as well as in the fourth month of life, are organized around dreams - the baby eats when going to bed and some babies suck during awakening.
  • At six months, the feeding regimen changes. The most active sucking shifts to the last 2-3 hours before waking up from a night's sleep. The period of daytime wakefulness can be divided into two periods: in the morning, when the baby sucked during the night is rarely applied to the breast, and in the evening, when attachments become very frequent. In total, there can be 7-10 day applications and 3-4 night applications. At this age, the baby begins a period of acquaintance with new food - pedagogical complementary foods. Sometimes there are attachments associated with the introduction of complementary foods, the baby “washes down” samples of new food with mother's milk. But many children do not want to drink complementary foods. When complementary foods are introduced to an on-demand baby, it is never meant to replace feedings with complementary foods. This is practically impossible, because the main feedings of the baby are associated with sleep, and mother's breakfasts, lunches and dinners, during which the baby gets acquainted with new food, are located between the baby's dreams, during his wakefulness.
  • At seven months, the frequency of application is about the same.
  • At eight months, the feeding regimen changes. Since the baby shows high motor activity and is very busy exploring the surrounding space, in the daytime he forgets to breastfeed. In this regard, the number of daily feedings can be reduced to 6-8 times. The baby compensates for the reduction in daytime feedings by increasing the frequency and duration of nighttime feedings up to 6 times.
  • In the second half of the year, babies who stopped breastfeeding when waking up after daytime naps recall this habit again. The baby’s daytime sleep in the second half of life, as well as in the region of a year and older, looks something like this: the baby falls asleep sucking, sleeps quietly for a while, for example 1-1.5 hours, then starts tossing and turning, fiddling, worrying, at this moment the mother lies down next to , gives him a breast and the baby can fill up 10-15-30 minutes sucking. Mom may well use this time for her own rest - lie down, read, while the baby sleeps while sucking. I know my mother, a lover of embroidery, who used this time specifically for embroidery ...
  • Breastfeeding becomes more frequent at nine to ten months. In the daytime, this is 4-6 full feedings and about the same number of attachments for various reasons. The baby has new reasons for attachment. If, during active actions to master the world, the baby fills a bump or gets scared, he calms down with his mother's breast. There may be situations when you can comfort the baby by sitting next to him and hugging him. At night, 4-6 feedings remain, the baby begins to suckle more actively in the morning between 3 and 8 hours.
  • At eleven months, a baby can already have 2-3 complete complementary foods. Initiation to adult food in the mind of a child is not associated with breastfeeding: attachment to the mother's breast is something other than the desire to get enough of the product they like. As a rule, after the baby has eaten, he feels the need to attach himself to the breast. The number of daily feedings remains the same in the child, but the number of short-term attachments increases. There are active mid-morning feedings between 4 and 8 o'clock in the morning.
  • At ten or twelve months, the baby, if he is already walking, can sometimes breastfeed every time he comes to his mother, i. e. about every 15-30 minutes. Attachments around dreams and night sucking persist. Therefore, if a mother says that a child suckles once or twice a day, this means that there is no feeding at the request of the child. There are restrictions imposed by the mother, with which the baby has come to terms. He treats breast sucking like food, sucks on a pacifier or a finger to fall asleep or soothe, or falls asleep just like that, without calming down.
  • At twelve months, the baby is applied in about the same way.
  • At the age of one and a half years, there may already be one daytime nap, so there are fewer attachments associated with sleep. Preserved for morning sucking. The baby is very free with his mother's breasts. Sometimes it happens that he comes up to suck just for pleasure. For example, like this: he comes up, climbs on his knees, looks into his mother’s face, smiles, starts to swarm in his shirt, gets breasts, smiles at his breasts, sucks for 30 seconds and leaves.

As for the number of feedings per day when feeding a child on demand, their number is almost never less than 12. A newborn has 12 or more attachments, mostly they are all associated with dreams. And a child, say 1.5-2 years old, can also have about 12 attachments, only 3-4 are associated with sleep, and the rest are short-term attachments for various reasons. I suggest to all mothers reading this text - do not count the application, do not notice their duration. Breastfeed your baby as often as he asks, when you feel the need to.

Moms who don't think about breastfeeding without looking at the clock may get the impression that when breastfeeding on demand, the mother can do nothing but feed the baby. This is not true. After the birth of a baby, a mother begins another life, she is called life with a baby. That's all. The child is with the mother, not the mother with the child! Feel the difference! You need to be able to organize your life in a different way, in the first months, of course, the help of loved ones is very necessary. In the tradition of many peoples, it was customary for the first 40 days after childbirth to remove a woman from any housework and household chores, she was engaged only in a child. In some nations, objects that the mother of a newborn touched were considered “unclean”, therefore, they preferred to protect the mother from the rest of the household, allocating her a separate “corner” of the house, where no one bothered her and she did not interfere with anyone. Among the Slavs, such a restrictive custom was called a six-week. By 1.5-2 months, the rhythm of daytime dreams begins to form, and the baby has a kind of “regime”, the mother becomes more free.

For a mother who can't imagine breastfeeding without looking back at the clock, and who is sure that the “right” baby is the baby lying quietly in her crib all the time, feeding on demand will be a complete hassle. It will be much easier for such a mother if she stops looking at the clock and ties the baby to herself with a large scarf or uses a patchwork holder (sling). It will become easier for her if she stops running between the nursery and the kitchen, but takes the baby with her to the kitchen and carries him around the house with her, doing housework, in a box, a cradle, a special chair, if she tries not to put him off often, and pick up as soon as possible, postponing the baby only in case of emergency and not for long.

Breastfeeding is not the same as house arrest. In the conditions of modern society, it is possible to organize the exit of a nursing mother to work from about 6 months of age of the baby. If necessary, you can start working from the age of 4 months, but, of course, it is better not every day of the week and not full time. It is the responsibility of a breastfeeding consultant to help a mother organize her return to work.

Sometimes, when I advise mothers on breastfeeding, I suggest that they forget for a second that they are already living in the 21st century. I propose to return, for example, to the cave and ask what they will do if the child woke up at night, how to calm him down? If you are walking through the forest and trying not to attract the attention of predators, how to make the baby silent? If the child is thirsty, what will you give him? What is the baby used to, for thousands of years of its existence? To the fact that he sleeps on his mother while she wanders through the forest with a digging stick in search of roots, and wakes up when mother stops. Since mom stopped, then there is time to wake up and suck. Therefore, even now the child sleeps well, tied to the mother with a patchwork holder, wakes up when the mother, having done a few household chores, sits in a chair to take care of the baby.

Some mother, reading about the cave, will be offended, saying that she is a civilized creature. But please think. Man, mother's breast and mother's milk have been created by evolution over millions of years. They are made for each other. Baby food has created progress and more recently. The skills of motherhood and breastfeeding have also been lost by our society quite recently. A person is not physiologically adapted to artificial feeding and a pacifier. The mother's breast will not produce enough milk at 6-7 feedings per day. Nature did not know, when creating man as a mammal, that the time would come when the need for breastfeeding would be satisfied by some kind of pacifiers and nipples.

Changes that occur during the formation of the personality of a child who did not have full contact with the mother during prolonged breastfeeding are noted by modern research by psychologists and sociologists. These are changes with a minus sign. It would be better if they were not, these changes.

Breastfeeding is not only important for the baby, it is also important for the mother. During on-demand feeding, the woman's feelings change, a stronger attachment to the baby is formed, the woman becomes more sensitive to the needs of the baby. Deeper affection and understanding are not only preserved in infancy. They persist for life. For clarity, imagine what happens to a woman’s feelings if she tries to “withstand” a child, endures his crying, anxiety. What happens to a woman if she uses the recommendation from one very popular parenting book: "Go to the child if he cries for more than 15 minutes"? Speaking in abstract terms, humanity is interested in reviving the practice of breastfeeding. The revival of this practice is impossible without mothers realizing the true reasons for the child's need for attachment to the breast.

Lilia Kazakova, pediatrician,
Lactation and Child Care Counselor

How Much Should a Newborn Baby Eat

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Like every new mom, you're probably wondering, "How often should a newborn eat?" and “How many milliliters does a newborn baby drink at a time?”. A mother's body is designed to provide her baby with all the nutrients she needs, but every mom needs practical advice and confidence when it comes to how much milk a newborn should drink.

Whether you are breastfeeding, bottle feeding or a combination of both, here you will find all the information you need to know how much food your baby needs to grow and develop properly.

Signs that the child is hungry


Every mother has a great maternal instinct, but we cannot guess the desire of the child from the first time. Over time, you will learn your child's unique gestures and body movements, as well as signs that he is hungry. In the meantime, here are some of the most common signs that a baby is hungry:

  • turns head towards your breast or bottle;
  • clenches her fists;
  • puts pens in mouth;
  • pouts, smacks or licks lips.

If your child is showing any of these signs, they may be trying to tell you it's time to eat. Ideally, your baby should be fed on demand when he is hungry. If you're breastfeeding, on-demand feeding is a good way to keep your milk supply going as your body will naturally respond to your baby's needs and continue to produce the required amount of milk. Bottle-feeding on demand can also be beneficial for your baby, as it allows him to self-regulate his feeding needs.

How much breast milk should a newborn drink?


So, how much should a newborn baby eat? A remarkable feature of each child is its uniqueness, so it would be wrong to feed the baby strictly according to the instructions. Don't panic if the recommendations below don't fit your own feeding schedule, but please contact your healthcare provider or pediatrician if you have any questions.

Although all babies are different, newborns typically eat every two to three hours, for a total of 8 to 12 meals a day.

How many milliliters does a newborn baby drink? At the very beginning, your body will only produce a small amount of yellowish and thick breast milk called colostrum. This milk is an ideal source of nutrients that your newborn needs, in addition, it has many immunological components. 1

How much milk does a newborn baby drink? Infants drink 30-60 ml per feeding, while this volume increases to 60-90 ml by two weeks of age. So don't worry if you don't feel like your body is producing much milk in those first few days after your baby is born! Feeding times will also vary, ranging from 10 to 30 minutes at the very beginning and then gradually increasing as your baby grows.

How much breastmilk the baby takes if bottle feeding


If you choose to bottle feed your baby from time to time, do so at the same intervals and for the same period of time as if you were breastfeeding. Pumping is a great option for breastfeeding your baby. It will allow you to separate from the baby if necessary and at the same time retain all the benefits of breastfeeding.

It's also important to get a bottle that helps make bottle feeding more natural for both you and your baby.


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