This is your permission to put away the timers and cover up the clock. Just watch your baby.

In an ideal world for a baby, baby would be at the breast more like 16 hours a day!...

Before you say it...yes, that's just unrealistic for most. But there's definitely a middle ground between this and the Formula company rhetoric of babies feeding huge amounts every 3 hours.

Of course, if you can stay resting with baby skin-to-skin most of the day and night, letting them find and feed from the breast on demand, then go ahead! Amazing! In some cultures across the world this is actively encouraged with family members rallying around to care for the parent-baby diad so they can entirely focus on each other for the first weeks and even months.

But, for everyone else, just forget what you've read or been told by Aunty Susan about baby needing to learn to wait for the next feed time. 8-12 feeds in 24 hours is a minimum to aim for so you don't need to be counting when feeds are 'due' if it feels pretty recent and baby is already rooting around for a nipple. 

Watch for baby's hungry cues and offer a feed, letting them take what they need or want. Remember their tummy is tiny! Give them breaks for burps as needed, swap sides - including during paced bottle feeding - and perhaps do a nappy change to wake them a bit and offer more or confirm if they're full.

As long as baby is showing signs they're transferring milk (see previous post) and growing well and there aren't any concerns around this from you as the parent or your health or feeding support professionals, there is no need to force a baby to finish a bottle (as wasteful as pouring it down the drain may feel). In fact, it's always safest to initially offer just a little milk...whether expressed or formula and only top-up or add more when baby has finished the first offering, had a moment to pause and digest, and is still showing signs of hunger.

Just keep watching and listening to your baby as they tell you when they're hungry or full, try and avoid offering a dummy during the day which might mask their cues and don't let the clock be the boss. The clock is not the boss of baby's belly or your boobs!