30 May The Best Feeding Schedule for Your Baby
As a new parent, you are going to want to do whatever you can in order to keep your baby as healthy as possible. For most mothers, this of course, means breast feeding. One of the easiest, and best things that you can do in order to ensure your baby’s optimal health while breast feeding, is to put your child on a feeding schedule.
A feeding schedule is best for both baby and mom. After all, newborns will need to be fed a great deal early on in life. In the first few days of life, most babies will feed about eight times per day—once mom and baby are home from the hospital, feedings can be even more frequent. As babies start to grow and really gain weight, they can feed anywhere from 8 to 15 times per day. This is about every 2-3 hours from the time you start one breast feeding session until the time you start the next one.
This can seem like a lot of feedings, but this is why being on a feeding schedule can be helpful. And don’t worry, thanks to modern technology, there are now a lot of apps available that can help remind you of these feeding times.
Getting on a feeding schedule is important, and it all starts with that first week of life, as you start to determine whether or not your baby is feeding well. A few things to pay attention to:
- How often your baby is feeding
- How well the breast feeding is going
- How the baby’s urination and bowel movements are
These are all indicators of whether or not your baby is off to a good start with their feeding routine—and these are all questions that you can expect your pediatrician to ask during those first few visits. Of course, at this time, your doctor can also help you get your feeding schedule set and help with any challenges that you may have regarding your baby’s feeding schedule.
If you have more questions about putting your baby on a feeding schedule and what the right schedule is for your child—give us a call here at Continuum Pediatrics. We know that the right feeding schedule can go a long way in helping your child to grow up to be healthy and well-balanced and can also help with their sleeping and activity schedule as well. You can give Continuum Pediatrics a call at 817-617-8600 to schedule an appointment and learn more about the right schedule for your baby.