Every 2 hours

I totally get that. I myself gave my little girl more during the day, which slowly but surely changed her rhythm so she didn’t need it at night anymore. I noticed right away if there were several hours between feeds during the day, because then she’d be hungry again at night. She was very sensitive to that. Maybe it’s an idea to offer your little one more or more regularly during the day? Or do you mean just waking up or actually drinking? I didn’t quite understand your message.. But hopefully you got something out of my answer! Love, sweetheart

Hi hi

my little boy also came so often, it turned out he has a lot of sucking needs.

Is your little boy getting a pacifier?
I didn't want to start at first, but once we did, things really got a lot better!

Hi!

Have you ever weighed your baby before and after a feed? Then you know how much he drinks per feed.

Do you also give both breasts every time? Maybe it helps to let him feed longer on one breast so he gets more hindmilk and is thus fuller for longer..

If my son comes to the breast a bit earlier sometimes, I give him the breast I gave longest during the last feed.. then he's happy right away..

And with sleeping through the night, it's very important to let him drink as much as he wants in the evening.. then they often cluster feed to get through the night.

Only feeding at night, no playing around and no bright lights also helps.

Maybe this helps you a bit.

Our youngest was also so hungry around this age. I couldn't take it anymore either. At some point, I gave him a bottle for his late feeding, and he slept straight through until the next morning (early). He clearly was really hungry and wasn't getting enough from my milk. So I'd definitely go get weighed as suggested, and maybe give him a bottle of formula for the late feeding and breastfeed the rest? Or you could look for a good naturopath or homeopath who can give you something to boost your production/quality. Good luck!

Have you already figured out how many cc he’s allowed to drink and pumped yourself to see how much you had? I also had to feed every 2 hours until a week ago and was going crazy. It turned out I had too little breast milk and had to give him 30cc of formula. Then I could go to feeding every 4 hours. My little boy would naturally fuss after 2 hours, but instead of feeding him, I gave him comfort, and to my great surprise, he fell back asleep, so I could wait until the 4 hours were up. Sometimes I had to rock him for 2 hours, but I was already used to not having time for myself, and after 2 days he could wait 4 hours for his feed, and my breasts now have enough milk, so I don’t need to supplement anymore.

Yeah, Iza, that's exactly what I was about to say... Sometimes one woman has less milk than another, which can definitely happen...

The osteopath has also helped our little one a lot.

In my opinion, weighing yourself only makes you more insecure, so that’s basically the first step towards stopping breastfeeding. Not a big deal, of course, but if you really want to keep going with breastfeeding, I wouldn’t start with that. The total amount doesn’t necessarily mean much anyway. When I take frozen breast milk from three months ago out of the freezer, it looks completely different from the milk I pump now—I mean the layer of nutrients that forms on top of the water. That layer is important, and it’s not just about the water content because he’ll just pee it out quickly anyway.

So you need to make sure he gets as much hindmilk as possible; that’s what he thrives on. You can do this by block feeding (you can Google this). Probably, your baby is getting a splash of water each time with too few nutrients to digest, which means he quickly feels unsatisfied again.

So if I were you, I’d give one breast for 3 to 4 hours, meaning the same breast twice in a row, so he always gets some hindmilk at least once. You do need to let your body adjust to this production level, so give it a few days if you want to try this.

At first, I was worried this might be bad for my long-term production since giving both breasts is standard, but I’ve been doing this for 4 months now, and my son is growing above average. He’s almost 5 months old now and only gets breast milk, no solids yet.

Oh yeah, a baby also needs to learn how to fall into deeper sleep. So if you're ultimately sure that he shouldn't be hungry, you can try letting him lie there anyway, turn off the lights, gently stroke his little head, or let him suck on his thumb/pacifier, and wait until he falls asleep again. A distressed, crying baby won't manage this, but a whimpering baby often falls back asleep.

Hey, how are you and your little man doing now?

Sleeping through the night is a luxury. My oldest didn’t sleep through until she was a year old, and even then it was from 8 to 5, so not 7 to 7. And in the first 6 months, she woke up every 3 hours. My youngest is also breastfed and sleeps from 8 to 2 or 4 am, and sometimes wakes up every 2 hours during the day. Many people think breastfeeding is just about food, but it’s also about comfort and security. Especially in the first 3 months, a baby lives not only on nutrition but also on feeling safe and held.

Hi Indy, I've started pumping so he can drink later and get hindmilk. He was a bit upset at first because he had to suck longer before getting any milk, but he's gotten used to it by now. He comes every 3 to 4 hours now, so we're on the right track. I'm a bit of a zombie, but I'm functioning a bit better again.

Another idea is to keep pumping to get to the hindmilk. Glad you're feeling a bit better!