Episode 190 Forget the Clock: The Real Guide to Feeding Your Baby

This episode, hosted by International Board Certified Lactation Consultant Lo Nigrosh, discusses common misconceptions about baby feeding schedules. Lo challenges the often-given advice to feed babies every 2-3 hours and emphasizes the importance of understanding individual baby's hunger cues over rigid schedules. The episode covers how to identify early hunger cues, the impact of swaddling on recognizing these cues, and exceptions to regular feeding patterns. Additionally, it provides guidance on how to recognize adequate milk transfer, ensuring that babies are fed according to their needs rather than the clock.

00:00 Introduction: Common Baby Feeding Advice
01:20 Debunking the Average Feeding Schedule
02:39 Understanding Your Baby's Hunger Cues
05:23 Exceptions to the Rule
07:47 Final Tips and Seeking Help
08:43 Conclusion and Contact Information

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Were you told to feed your babyevery two to three hours? Were you
unsure about whether or not this wasfrom the start of the feeding to the
start of the next feeding, fromthe end of one feeding to the end
of another feeding. Did your babyseem hungrier than that amount of time or
sleepier and was hard to arouse forfeedings? Today we're going to talk all

(00:22):
about understanding when you should feed yourbaby and why the most common advice given
is something I tried to debunk allthe time. My name is low Ni
Gorash. I'm an International Board certifiedlactationian consultant and host of this podcast,
The Milk Making Minutes. I'm ona mission to help breastfeeding parents feel better

(00:47):
about feeding their babies and to understandwhen to reach out for help. So
you have read the breastfeeding books,you attended a breastfeeding class, or you
ask your friends about what feeding theirbaby was like, and you get told
by those in the hospital and byyour obgyn and perhaps a pediatrician if you

(01:11):
meet them before your baby comes,that you will feed your baby every two
to three hours, for ten tofifteen minutes on each side. I'm going
to tell you right now that yourbaby's feeding patterns may vary vastly from this,
and here's why. That advice isbased on averages. So in the

(01:34):
studies that have been done on howfrequently breastfed babies eat and how long they
nurse, the average is that theyfeed every two to three hours for ten
to fifteen minutes on each side.But the thing I say to my clients
all the time is, your babyis not an average. Your baby is

(01:59):
an ind vidual. So we don'tknow how frequently your baby will want to
feed. We don't know how longthey will feed, and it might vary
from the days that they're a newborntill when they are six weeks old until
they are twelve weeks old, andit might be different again when they are

(02:22):
six months old. So, ifyour baby is not an average, and
if you want to make sure you'refeeding your baby frequently enough, what should
you do? What should you goby to know when to feed your baby?
The key to this, the answerto this is in getting to know

(02:44):
your little baby, starting to understandyour baby's hunger cues, having somebody hold
the baby in their arms as frequentlyas possible, being skinned to skin with
that baby as frequently as possible,even when they're sleeping. Now, of
course, we all need to rest, and there are times when you do

(03:08):
need to put the baby down,But often what I see is that babies
will be wrapped up like little babyburritos in the swaddle. That will keep
them from startling themselves awake. Italso keeps them from being able to show
some of their hunger cues. Soif they're always swaddled and they're always laying

(03:30):
down flat on their back, thenit makes it harder for you to identify
the baby's earliest hunger cues. Andthen when they start to cry, that
is a late hunger cue, andso they may fuss more at the breast,
They may have a harder time latching. You may be really confused about

(03:50):
why they're not eating if they areso hungry, and it's because they have
gotten to a hungry point and theyare disorganized and they do not have the
patience or the energy to attempt latchingin a way that optimizes milk transfer.
And so watching your baby, holdingyour baby constantly will allow you to watch

(04:14):
for their hunger cues. Do theystart to move their eyes around and you
see that underneath their closed eyelids,Do their eyes start to flutter? Do
they make little squeaky sounds? Dothey start to smack their lips? Do
they start to bring their little handto their mouth? All of these are

(04:36):
early hunger cues. And when yousee these things, if you bring your
baby to the breast, they morethan likely will be able to latch,
be able to get organized, andcome on to the breast without feeling super
duper hungry. And your baby mightshow these cues every hour. Your baby

(04:59):
might show these cues every two hours. Your baby might show these cues an
hour after you have fed, andthen three hours later. Again, it
might vary. So the most importantthing to do is to pay attention to
your baby and to your breasts insteadof to the clock. Now, there

(05:24):
are a couple of exceptions to this. One, if your baby is sleeping
longer than three hour stretches, thenyou definitely want to wake your newborn in
order to ensure they feed frequently enoughand are getting enough calories throughout the day,

(05:45):
because some babies, if they aren'tgetting enough, they will kind of
shut down and they will begin sleepingvery long stretches to preserve calories. And
so a baby who has not surpassedtheir birth weight, who is still in
the first couple of weeks of life, will sleep way longer stretches than what
would be ordinary in order to preservethose calories. So you definitely want to

(06:11):
be waking babies that are not feedingevery two to three hours. The second
exception is the baby who wants tonurse all day long, no matter what
time of day it is. Andyou know that they are transferring milk because
they're gaining plenty of weight, theyhave plenty of peas and poops. You

(06:34):
maybe have done a weighted feed withan IBCLC and you know that they are
transferring an expected amount of milk.Yet all they want to do is nurse
all day long. Now, ifyou don't mind, and you want to
bring them to the breast or chestat that frequently, there's nothing wrong with

(06:57):
doing that. But if you're feelingexhaustrust, if you're tired, if you
need a break, and you knowthat their hunger has been satiated, they
were relaxed, they fell asleep atthe breast, their body wasn't tense.
Yet the minute you bring them offthe breast, they just want to suck
again. And you heard sex andswallows. Then you could offer something else

(07:20):
to suck on, like a fingeror a pacifier to satiate that suck reflects
that they have when they are ababy that constantly wants to suck. The
caveat I give there is to ensurethat you understand your baby's hunger cues and
that you are not offering the pacifierin place of a feeding because you think

(07:43):
they're feeding too frequently, if it'smore than every two to three hours.
On average, the breast fed babyfeeds between eight at the very low end,
and twelve times a day. Soif you do the math, if
they're twenty four hours in a dayand the baby is feeding twelve or thirteen

(08:03):
times a day, that is everytwo hours or even more frequently than that.
So the best way to know howmany times to feed your baby is
to pay attention to the cues yourbaby is giving you and to your breasts.
Do your breast feel less full afteryour baby has nursed? Do you
see signs of milk transfer when yourbaby has nursed? Are you hearing a

(08:28):
swallow for every two to three sucks? These are the ways that you know
that baby is getting enough. Andthen You're gonna focus on feeding the baby
when they show their cues and notworrying about the time. If you have
any further questions about your individual babyand your individual body, please reach out.

(08:52):
I would love to be the personwho helps you understand your baby and
your body better and who works withyou as a team to come up with
the plan that makes the most sensefor your family. So go to my
website www. Dot Coobymber Services dotcom. You can book online right away.
It'll send you my forms and Ican work with you virtually from all

(09:15):
over the world or in person herein Massachusetts. I can't wait to see
you soon. Bye.