How to Stretch out time between feedings

[liziz]

LO is 7.5 months old, and nurses every 2-3 hours (between 6-8 times/day) on demand (but somewhat on a schedule because of work, etc.)

In my dream world, I'd like to have her eat every 3 hours, but I don't think we can just jump to that....anyone have advice for how to transition from on demand to more of a schedule (still would be flexible for growth spurts, etc.)?

Thanks!

[melody330]

Feb 25, 2015 14:29:23 GMT -5 liziz said:

LO is 7.5 months old, and nurses every 2-3 hours (between 6-8 times/day) on demand (but somewhat on a schedule because of work, etc.)

In my dream world, I'd like to have her eat every 3 hours, but I don't think we can just jump to that....anyone have advice for how to transition from on demand to more of a schedule (still would be flexible for growth spurts, etc.)?

Thanks!

At 7.5 months, I don't think there is too much you can do.  Solids shouldn't replace feedings for another few months so I wouldn't offer solids before nursing at this point.  

TBH, three hours in between feedings is a lot.  DS didn't do that until about 11 months old.  Before that it was anywhere from every 45 minutes to every 2.5 hours.  I just got comfortable nursing anywhere, anytime no matter what we were doing.  

[liziz]

That's good to hear. I'm happy to nurse wherever, whenever, but I've seen other babies around me stretch out their schedules, and was curious. I'm happy to keep going by LO's cues.

[ellabee]

6-8x a day seems right on track to me for a 7.5 month old. We were at 2.5-3 hrs between feedings for a long time too. Around 9.5-10 months DD became really interested in solid foods. It wasn't until then that I saw any sort of shift in the time between nursing.

[flcl]

My LO ate every 2-2.5 hours until just recently b/w 10-11 months and became more interested in solids. While I was always concerned before that he was nursing so frequently and not eating solids as much, everyone said that it was normal. Hang in there... It won't be long before LO starts spacing out those nursing sessions and dropping a few. I miss all the cuddle time that I got with LO while nursing.

[casey]

I think This is very dependent on your lo. My girl didn't stretch out her feelings until much closer to a year. Agree with PPs.

[mully626]

Yup, still at every 2-2.5 hours here with maybe once a day she'll go 3 (usually around lunchtime when she gets solids about an hour after a nursing session, hence why she's only really getting a "meal" once a day). She's a little over 8 months.