demand feeding

[hub2004]

Hi! My baby was born 8 pounds and the last time we went to the doctor's (which was a week ago) she was already 11 pounds. i've read enough books to make me nervous about how often i should be feeding her. she's not on a regular 2 or 3 hour feeding period and sometimes i feel that she feeds every hour. she's a happy baby but there're times when it seems like she's always hungry. i've heard of growth spurts where she needs to feed more often so that i produce more milk. i guess i'm just writing to see if other parents have experienced the same thing. at night she wakes up once, sometimes twice to feed. during the day she seems to have a hrd time going to sleep. i have to carry her and sing to her before she takes a nap. and sometimes she's so tired that she cries even more and even louder before i can help her sleep. am i doing something wrong? my older daughter is 10 and i've completely forgotten what it was like with her!

ps i just read your answers about growth spurts and it looks like she is going through that. but what about regular feedings? i've tried putting her on a schedule and she just won't. any suggestions?

[auzziekat]

Hi,
It can be very overwhelming can't it!! :) I would put your daughter on a 3 hour schedule during the day, the best way to do that is to make her wait by using a pacifier or your finger until it's three hours the first time then she will drink enough to sustain her for another three hours, so you will have a very hard one - two hours!! Not too bad really!!

As for growth spurts, they usually only last between two and seven days, so if this has been going on longer than that then it's not a growth spurt, it's just snacking!!

As for the sleep it's very hard for me to give out any advice because I don't know how old your baby is!!

Hope this helps

Auzziekat

[hub2004]

hi kathy! thanks so much for your advice. it is very overwhelming indeed!!! i will try your suggestion. hopefully i'll have th courage to follow through since sometimes when she's fussing it gets really hard to calm her down. i felt bad about giving her the pacifier but i think i have no choice. sometimes carrying, rocking and singing to her doesn't calm her down, only the paci does. :huh:

[hub2004]

oh and i wanted to add that she's 7 weeks old this sunday and she's about 13 pounds now. that's why i was wondering when she'll be sleeping through the night. is it true that it's really just waiting for her digestive system to mature before she sleeps through the night?

will picking up my baby when she cries spoil her?

it's a lot i know but we have a belief in my country where carrying babies too much spoils them and they'll end up asking to be carried all the time.