9 Week Baby Feeding Frenzy

9 Week Baby Feeding Frenzy 1
9 Week Baby Development
9 Week Old Baby
9 Week Baby Feeding Frenzy 2
9 Week Baby Ultrasound

Aug 05, 2019 My now 4 week old baby is cluster feeding. Usually in the evening ( at about 17.00 until 21.00 ) but sometimes also during the day. I have a 9 week old who.

Two weeks in, and we seem to be doing ok. I have managed to get both children up, dressed, fed and out the door by 9am twice this week by myself. I’m expecting my medal any day now.

My husband is taking a bit of a staggered paternity leave so this has obviously meant me having to negotiate handling a three and a half year old who adores her new brother, but who is also learning how to share her mum for the first time. We have had mixed results…

As well as table graffiti and cereal tantrums my daughter also decided she would refuse to take part in a single race at her sports day, despite her practising for weeks on end. But rather than getting frustrated or angry at this whilst I sat between the other proud parents watching all their children partake, I did what most early postnatal women do and I just cried my little heart out. So much so that another mum had to come and console me on the side lines – mortifying!

9 Week Baby Feeding Frenzy 1

So I am therefore concluding that my postnatal feeding hormones have kicked in this week. Not only because of the irrational teary outbursts but because I am absolutely ravenous. I feel like the hungry caterpillar; on Monday Claire ate one giant bar of Dairy Milk, on Tuesday she had two peanut butter and banana sandwiches (at 4am!) and on Wednesday she devoured 3 platefuls at the Pizza Hut buffet – seriously!

But I am in good company, as Rowan has also found his appetite this week. After initially losing weight on day 5 (a very normal, physiological part of early newborn life, a post to follow on this) he was weighed this week and he is 300 grams above his birth weight. He put on 10 ounces in 4 days – chunk!

It is always so reassuring as a mum to find out your baby is thriving and gaining weight well. This is especially true I find when women are breastfeeding. It is extremely common in our society for breastfeeding mothers to question ‘whether they have enough milk’. And unfortunately frequent feeding is often misinterpreted as a sign of insufficient milk supply. I totally understand why, though. If women are brought up to believe that babies feed every 3-4 hours and that the clock plays such an important role in feeding (duration, intervals, sleep), and then their babies come out wanting to feed every 1-2 hours, sometimes with gaps of no longer than 5-10 minutes and lasting occasionally over an hour, they will naturally deem their child to be starving.

Some babies will feed every 3-4 hours but most babes certainly will not. That is why ‘baby led’ feeding or ‘responsive feeding’ is so important. Neither your mother, your neighbour, your midwife, and especially not Gina Ford, knows how regularly YOUR baby will want to feed, but luckily your baby will. So follow your baby’s lead and feed them whenever they show signs of being hungry. This way your baby and boobs will be in sync.

For the purpose of the blog and to hopefully give mums a ‘normal’ perspective of a healthy, breastfed, newborn’s feeding pattern I have recorded Rowan’s feeds over the past 24 hours.

9 Week Baby Development

22:20 8 minutes right breast
22:30 8 minutes left breast
22:47 7 minutes left breast
01:06 9 minutes right breast
01:29 5 minutes left breast
02:57 6 minutes left breast
03:04 5 minutes right breast
04:38 7 minutes left breast
06:29 7 minutes right breast
07:00 5 minutes left breast
08:09 3 minutes right breast
08:55 4 minutes left breast
09:02 3 minutes left breast
09:37 8 minutes right breast
09:55 4 minutes right breast
11:31 6 minutes right breast
11:39 8 minutes left breast
12:55 9 minutes left breast
14:35 15 minutes right breast
16:05 10 minutes left breast
17:05 8 minutes right breast
18:55 9 minutes left breast
19:20 6 minutes right breast
19:42 6 minutes right breast
19:58 3 minutes right breast
20:18 4 minutes left breast

He’s a feeder!

Counting each individual episode at the breast that is 26 feeds in just one 24-hour period. I honestly had no idea that Rowan actually fed this often. But this schedule is HIS very own ‘baby led’ feeding log. It’s a boring read, I am well aware, but hopefully mums can take away from this that frequent feeding is often NOT a sign of low milk supply. You can also see from the feeding log that not one of Rowan’s feeds lasted longer than 15 minutes, and that I am rubbish at remembering which breast I fed off last.

Miraculously in between all this feeding I still managed to take my daughter to and from preschool, care for my new son, let our cleaner in (I’m such a trooper) and obviously I made time for a food shop.

9 Week Baby Feeding Frenzy 1

9 Week Baby Development

9 Week Old Baby

9 Week Baby Feeding Frenzy 2

9 Week Baby Ultrasound