DS seems so different from what I read in here

[HeatherNicole79]

I read all of these posts about babies cluster feeding and wanting to nurse non stop and it makes me wonder: why doesn't my little guy do these things? He is EBF and will be 12 weeks on Monday. I was nursing him on a 2 1/2 to 3 hour schedule (long story short, he had a tongue tie that got fixed at 8 weeks and had been taking bottles with pumped milk until he was able to nurse properly). So we have been used to a schedule and I am trying to follow his cues and nurse him on demand. But I feel like he would go all day without nursing if I let him. There is never a point in the day that he will just want to nurse. When he is nursing, he is all over the place and pulling off and back on. There are times that he will only nurse for like a minute on each side. I've heard of snackers. But he will snack and then still go 3 hours (and only because I try not to let him go longer than that - I will nurse him after 3 hours unless he is asleep). I feel like he would seriously go all day without nursing if I let him! Is this normal? We worked so hard to finally be able to nurse. I am terrified of losing my supply because of his completely sporadic nursing and crazy pulling. Is it okay for him to only nurse for one minute and then not nurse again for 3 hours or so? Will this affect my supply? I really appreciate the help from this group! Nursing has not been easy this time around! And because of that, it's making me crazy worried about losing it.

[ikesmommy200]

I don't know my son is 5 weeks and he eats about every 3-5hrs with one extra feeding around noon. Every baby is different. Some eat very often and others don't. My ff neice used to eat every 1 1/2 hrs in the day until almost 1 yr

[Paradys]

bump

[Autumn355]

Does he have 6-8 wet dipes a day? Thats the best way to tell that hes eating enough, also watch his weight. If all is well there your supply should be okay. When he needs more he will cluster feed. How long has it been since u stoped giving bottles? He may just need time to adjust.

[mama02040608]

 I only ever had one cluster feeder. I had one every 2 hour feeder, and 2 every 3-4 hour feeders.  Please keep in mind that this is a support group, so you're going to see lots of posts that if you have an "easy" baby will make you doubt yourself :)

My DD was in NICU and on a schedule and that's how we did things even when she got home, and she was EBF by 10 days.

[HeatherNicole79]

Oh yeah, he has well more than 6-8 diapers a day. So I keep telling myself that it is okay. I just still worry though. We stopped bottles 4 weeks ago when he got his tongue tie fixed.

Quoting Autumn355:

Does he have 6-8 wet dipes a day? Thats the best way to tell that hes eating enough, also watch his weight. If all is well there your supply should be okay. When he needs more he will cluster feed. How long has it been since u stoped giving bottles? He may just need time to adjust.

[LKRA]

Then all is well. :) Keep offering, follow his cues and enjoy the ride!

Quoting HeatherNicole79:

Oh yeah, he has well more than 6-8 diapers a day. So I keep telling myself that it is okay. I just still worry though. We stopped bottles 4 weeks ago when he got his tongue tie fixed.

Quoting Autumn355:

Does he have 6-8 wet dipes a day? Thats the best way to tell that hes eating enough, also watch his weight. If all is well there your supply should be okay. When he needs more he will cluster feed. How long has it been since u stoped giving bottles? He may just need time to adjust.

[maggiemom2000]

Is baby happy, healthy and growing? if so, nothing else matters.

There are always exceptions to the rules. I'll never forget talking to a mom with a baby of this same age (who, coincidentally also had a tongue tie but got it clipped at about 6 weeks old). I was asking her how often he nursed and he was nursing 5 times in 24 hours ("normal" is 8-12 times, anything below that can lead to low supply and low weight gain). This baby was 20 lbs at 3 months old!!! Did I tell her he was not nursing enough? Nope. Accoding to the number he was not, but one look at this chubby baby, and it was more than clear he was getting enough. 99% of babies would have starved on that schedule, this kid was huge!

[larissalarie]

Every baby is different. If he's healthy, growing, and developing it's perfect :-)
I think we harp on how "difficult" babies are here because so many expect the perfect angel baby and blame breastfeeding when that doesn't happen and think formula is the "cure".

[aehanrahan]

Yep!

Quoting LKRA:

Then all is well. :) Keep offering, follow his cues and enjoy the ride!

Quoting HeatherNicole79:

Oh yeah, he has well more than 6-8 diapers a day. So I keep telling myself that it is okay. I just still worry though. We stopped bottles 4 weeks ago when he got his tongue tie fixed.

Quoting Autumn355:

Does he have 6-8 wet dipes a day? Thats the best way to tell that hes eating enough, also watch his weight. If all is well there your supply should be okay. When he needs more he will cluster feed. How long has it been since u stoped giving bottles? He may just need time to adjust.

[HeatherNicole79]

Well, we're trying this out this morning. I usually don't let him go more than 3 hours between feedings so he definitely gets at least 8 in a day. He nursed at 6:45 this morning. It is now 9:45. He started acting hungry about 30 min ago so I was getting ready to nurse him. He fell asleep before we started. Normally, I wouldn't have let him fall asleep and nurse him instead. Of course, then he would most likely have fallen asleep while nursing, probably after only about a minute. So he is now sleeping and it has been 3 hours since he nursed last. I'm letting him go. Hopefully this is okay!