My son is 5.5 months. My question is about the frequency of breastfeeding.
My son eats every 3 hours from 6am to 9pm. (he eats a total of about 6 times in the day) He goes down for the night at 9pm & wakes at 6am. He does not eat during the night at all. I am wondering if this nursing every 3 hours is too often or if he should be spacing out the feedings at all. He is not on solids at all yet.
Is there a point at which he should only be eating every 4 hours?
I am worried that I am over feeding him!
Please let me know
Jacquie

Is he gaining weight at a normal rate? Has his doctor voiced any concerns? I'd say if you are getting 9 hours of sleep out of him every night continue doing what you're doing! He'll be more content if he's the one to stretch out the time between nursings than if you do it.
There are many of us who got up more than once through the night to feed our infants.

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Originally Posted by jjclarke

My son is 5.5 months. My question is about the frequency of breastfeeding.
My son eats every 3 hours from 6am to 9pm. (he eats a total of about 6 times in the day) He goes down for the night at 9pm & wakes at 6am. He does not eat during the night at all. I am wondering if this nursing every 3 hours is too often or if he should be spacing out the feedings at all. He is not on solids at all yet.
Is there a point at which he should only be eating every 4 hours?
I am worried that I am over feeding him!
Please let me know
Jacquie

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This is the same schedule as my little guy, who is also the same age. He is my 4th one and this is perfectly normal. Great job to you!

I breastfed three of my four kids and to be honest it is really hard to overfeed a baby. Your milk production will fall in with his feeding routine and since your body adjust to produce only what is necessary for his satisfaction there is no need to worry about overfeeding. And as for him eating every three hours mine all had different routines as to how often they ate to how long they ate for. One liked to eat every 2 hours on the nose while another ate every hour but for only for 10 minutes and only on one breast and yet the other was all over the place with there feeding schedule all together. I hope this is of help to you and good luck.

My baby is the same age and she still eats every 3 hours. Your baby knows how much he needs. If he is wanting to eat more I would start introducing solids. Also with him sleeping through the night, its normal for him to eat more during the day. I wouldn't worry about over feeding until he is a bit older. Great job breastfeeding!