Examples of Breastfeeding Schedules

For the first three month you should feed your baby when they are hungry any time during the day or night. Believe me, trying to get them on a schedule that early will only stress you out and make your baby miserable and hungry!

At about 3 months I started to feed about every 2.5-3 hours and once at night. When my son started solids at 6 months, he breastfed much less and now only nurses at 6:30am upon wakening, 11pm after his first nap, 3pm after his second nap, and 6pm before bed. There are millions of books out there that will give you examples of feeding schedules, but honestly, your baby will eventually make their own with a little bit of your guidance. For example, I always wake up my son at 6:30am to feed him because it fits in my schedule (I also have a 6 year old to take care of and send off to school). I also wake him from his naps if he sleeps later than 11pm or 3pm. I never let 4 hours go by without nursing him now (he is 8 months old). I will probably continue this until he is 1 year when we introduce milk.

I suggest getting a copy of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It is a great book for new moms.

Best of luck and congratulations!

OK these are the secrets that I can pass on and what I remember. Relax now, spend alone time with your hubby,go to the spa,enjoy and relax! The world is going to revolve around your beautiful baby when it comes. You've probably heard that, but take those words and run with it!!! Now to answer your question. I was shocked at how much my baby was eating and I read ALL the books, nothing will prepare you and it's ok because the baby knows, inherantly, what to do-thank goodness. Us moms usually don't listen because of the books! My baby changed on a daily basis, like I asume most babies do. One feeding he would nurse 45min on each breast after 20 min be ready to feed again. This is where I was going,"the nurse said don't feed for longer that 20 min each side, but the book said it's ok to feed for up to an hour....". My point is have the books to prepare yourself, but listen to your baby! Even when he sucks, and you feel like a pacifier, he's preparing your body for his growth spurts! He/she will feed all day and all night! The next secret is breast care. Air is the best healer. At times you will feel like a poster child for National Geographic letting your girls hang out, but do it for breast feeding success. The last thing is food for yourself;plan ahead and stock the freezer! You will be hungry for months (and you will still loose weight). You will also not have two hands anymore to prepare meals. That's it! For now :) Best wishes!

schedule? ha! Seriously, my advice is try to follow your baby's lead, at least at first, and try to go with the flow. That way, when you've cluster fed 6 times in 3 hours, you will be slightly less annoyed :)

oh yeah, and for me, it did hurt for the first month or so, despite having my latch officially checked and approved. Then one day, as my midwife predicted, it simply stopped hurting and was fun from then on. Good luck!

Don't worry. Your baby will make the schedule at the beginning. Make sure the first 3 weeks her/she breastfeeds every 3 hrs. This is to insure initial weight gain for her and for your supply to come in. After that she will start dictating more or less. I always offered my breast every 3 hrs, even into the night. Given, my son woke me up automatically at night and at 6 weeks suddenly gave me 7 straight hours :) Happy mommy hahaha.

Key thing, from the beginning, make sure your baby gets a full feeding! Don't let him/her fall asleep at the boob until done. Take off his or her clothes, whatever you have to do. Since it wasn't cold here when my son was born, I basically took off his pants each time he breastfed. He stayed more alert if he wasn't too cozy. This is just until they start staying up on their own. They need to feed all the way back to the back milk. Start on one breast, have them finish it (you'll feel the difference) before switching. Burp, maybe even change diapers. I took about 10 min between offering the other breast, then offer other breast. They won't usually finish it. Start the next time on the opposite side. Every 3 hours at the beginning! Don't let them sleep during feeding! They must eat. Then you can start to relax. Get through the first month and it's very easy. I demand fed the first 3 months and followed the babywise feeding schedule after that. I didn't follow anything else in babywise. I think the book is a bit crazy but the routine and the flexibility between demand feeding and scheduled feeding was really nice. Basically, I took the feeding schedule philosophy and made it work for me. I think that's what everyone needs to do.

Oh, and don't stress when you are feeding. Your milk won't fall if you are stressing too much. It's very frustrating for both you and baby. I had a hard 2 days at about 4 months because stuff was going on and I couldn't just relax a bit. And keep in mind that we're all here if you have questions during the process.

Btw, if your nipples break, just give it 3 weeks. They will heal and it's totally worth it!

I am a schedule person too so I can totally empathize with how you are feeling right now. I read tons of books and talked to tons of baby moms. I have 5 other moms I talk to that all our babies are born within 1 week (so they are the exact same age pretty much), and there is one thing I have learned for sure: No two babies are alike.

I would suggest just not thinking about it now and you will see when your baby gets here! I know it sounds crazy, but your baby will have it's own schedule and it will show you. In the beginning you are pretty much just feeding them all the time and they sleep in between. :) Good luck!

One thing that may be helpful is to find a breastfeeding support group. They are offered through Scripps and Sharp hospitals, as well as other groups. It sometimes gives you an excuse to get out of the house with a newborn and you will be surrounded by other 1st time moms and wonderful lactation specialists who can help you. Just try to relax and enjoy your new little one. Good luck.

Hi There~ I hate to say it, but I have ONE MORE book you should read...it'll be TOTALLY worth it-I PROMISE! :) It's called The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg. (It's on Amazon for under 8 bucks!) My Mother In-Law's hairdresser told her about it so she bought it for me. A LIFE SAVER! My daughter will be turning 1 in 2 weeks and I still can't believe how easy this past year was. (I was 39 and panicked when she was born!!!) :)
I kept saying my only regret was that I waited until AFTER I had the baby to read the baby whisperer instead of practically memorizing all of the "traditional" books during that last month of pregnancy. I still refer back to it all the time. Good Luck...and Congrats!! :)