Mrs. G at Our Growing Garden just had a baby boy, James. She is making the trek through breastfeeding land and had some great questions for her pediatrician. I’m so glad she decided to share her pediatricians answers – such valuable information for a wondering mama! Check out her full post here.
- Now that James has surpassed his birth weight and is 3 weeks old, do we still need to nurse every 2.5-3 hours? No. If he is asleep or just not hungry, don’t force the breast on him. Try not to go past 4 hours without nursing.
- Is it okay that he is not nursing 10-12 times a day? Sometimes he only wants to eat 9 times a day. It’s fine.
- I asked her then if it is okay that I just go solely off his hunger cues. She said yes. Again, let him sleep at night. Try to wake him after four hours.
- Do I need to pump when Dad gives the one o’clock bottle? Will it affect my supply if I don’t? No. It’s okay to let my breasts to go unstimulated from 11pm-3:30-4:00 am. She said for me to sleep during this period.
- Is it okay that James sometimes only nurses for 10 minutes and then he is done? Yes. He is probably becoming more efficient.
- How many ounces should he be getting (for his bottle)? 2.5-3 ounces.
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The first few weeks of breastfeeding were hard for me because you just don't know exactly what to expect. Like this, you just have a lot of questions! But I found that exclusively breastfeeding is a major relief to a certain extent. Because whatever the baby does is ok. Like my daughter would only eat maybe 7 minutes at a time at first, but she could go a while between feeding. I later found out she's just a really fast eater! And she would take like 7 oz in a bottle from a really young age. BUT when I pumped in place of a feeding, that's how much I would get! I was worried that she was eating too much & my doctor was like, "if you're breastfeeding exclusively, there's no such thing as eating too much. Your body adjusts." It adjusts the calorie content & everything accordingly. It's really the most amazing thing! You're going to love it!