does anyone know where the 4 hour "rule" came from???

[misasue]

what is the logic behind it??? i've never understood it and never met a baby , bf or ff, that "follows" it.. hell I'm an adult and just ate an hour ago and i'm hungry for something else!!

[sreichelt26]

I've never heard of a 4 hour rule. I've heard 3 hours, but that's for FF babies so they don't overeat, since they're given such large quantities at a time. Drs and nurses started prescribing it for all babies since most were FF anyway and they aren't educated in infant nutrition.

It also stems from certain parenting books that focus on putting babies on schedules so they don't interfere with the parent's life, and the number wasn't based on anything scientific.

[MrsApple]

Never heard of the 4 hour rule either.I breastfed my daughter on demand and I know she ate more often than every 4 hours.

[tabi_cat1023]

Theres no such thing as a 4 hour rule, now you may have heard someone who believes in Babywise talking about it, BF babies should be fed on demand...and generally FF babies should be too

[mommaslilmen]

mine ate on demand, no clue where it came from

[mommyintrain23]

I seen a post aboout this earlier for schedule purposes. Personally, when I am not pregnant, I don't eat anywhere close to every four hours. I thought it seemed like a decent theory, but everyone was carrying on like you were starving your child.

[misasue]

my mil her sister etc all seem to think my lo should only be eating every 4 hours now ( hes 3mo) but he still feeds on demand. he's goind through a growth spurt and eating 1.5-3 hours now and if i hear one more person say he should be at every 4 hours and sleeping through the night i might scream!!! 

[MommyO2-6631]

He's fine! My 5.5 month old never goes longer than 3 hours lol. We are having a growth spurt too :( he cries everytime i take him off the boob! Tell them that putting a bf baby on a schedule like that can cause him to stop developing

Quoting misasue:

my mil her sister etc all seem to think my lo should only be eating every 4 hours now ( hes 3mo) but he still feeds on demand. he's goind through a growth spurt and eating 1.5-3 hours now and if i hear one more person say he should be at every 4 hours and sleeping through the night i might scream!!! 

[mostlymaydays]

I've breastfed 4 babies and never heard of a four hour rule!

[mostlymaydays]

My *best* sleeper hit through the night (and that's defined as 5 hours or more) at 8 months. My others nursed through the night and didn't hit 4 hours until about 15 months old! If everyone is telling you otherwise, you need to start hanging out with some new people! Putting babies on schedules like that contributes to FAILURE TO THRIVE and even the AAP is clearly against that (Babywise method).

And at 3 months, they were nursing every 2-3 hours during the day.

Quoting misasue:

my mil her sister etc all seem to think my lo should only be eating every 4 hours now ( hes 3mo) but he still feeds on demand. he's goind through a growth spurt and eating 1.5-3 hours now and if i hear one more person say he should be at every 4 hours and sleeping through the night i might scream!!! 

[misasue]

apparently in the 70's- 80's this was what was told to south georgia mothers.. that's all i hear it from! lol 

Quoting mostlymaydays:

I've breastfed 4 babies and never heard of a four hour rule!