Feeding Plan

Age in weeks	1–2	3-4	5-6	7-8	9-10	11-12	13-14	15-16
Feed in ml	60–80	80-100	100-110	110-120	120-140	140-160	160-180	180
Feed in oz	2-2.7	2.7-3.4	3.4-3.7	3.7-4	4-4.7	4.7-5.4	5.4-6	6+
1	7am	7am	7am	7am	7am	7am	7am	7am
2	10am	10:15	10:30	10:45	11am	11am	11am	11am
3	1pm	1:30	2pm	2:15	2:30	2:30	2:30	2:30
4	4pm	4:30*	5pm*	–	–	–	–	–
5	6pm	6pm	6pm	6pm	6pm	6pm	6pm	6pm
6	9pm	9:30	10pm	10pm	10pm	10pm	10pm*	–
7	2am	3am	4am	5am*	5:30*	–	–	–
8	5am	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

* This means it’s a top up that you gradually reduce as you prepare to drop that feed. For example if the baby is lasting until 4:30 am, the next feed is at 7 am so you can give two thirds of a feed, at 5:30am it would be a half feed.

Napping

Morning Nap around 9am – 10am for around an hour

Lunch Nap around 12pm – 2:30pm for about 2 1/2 hours

Afternoon Nap varies from 20 minutes to 1 1/4 hours depending on the lunch nap

Bed Time between 6:30pm and 7:30pm

Five key pointers supporting the feeding and sleeping program

1. Every baby and each day is completely different so these are purely guidelines.

2. The baby needs to feed well between 7am and 10pm to last through the night. In the first two months babies will fall asleep on the breast so it is essential to keep waking them up to ensure they take a full feed instead of snacking. Tickling and a cold cloth help stop them dozing off half way. Feeding in the first few weeks therefore takes a long time but this is critical to establishing a routine. The feeds can take an hour (½ hour each side) and gradually come down to 30 minutes as the milk gets more plentiful and the baby better at sucking.

3. If a baby is hungry always feed him/her. However often a baby will cry for different reasons, wind, a wet nappy or simply boredom. The baby often forgets he/she wanted milk if the baby is distracted and will then last an extra 15 – 20 minutes.

4. Sleeping patterns are normally formed in the first 5 months. Sleeping patterns after that are habits, and changing habits, rather than making them, is much much harder. Activities like ‘controlled crying’ are very stressful for the baby and parents. A dummy (pacifier) help the baby drift back to sleep or delay a night feed for an extra 20 minutes. It is tiring to lie by the cot popping the dummy in their mouth but it is a very useful aid in teaching them very gradually to have longer gaps with bigger feeds. The pay-off in sleep after the first 3 months are very rewarding! Dummies have had bad press recently, but if they are used only for extending gaps between feeds at night, and not as a pacifier at other times, babies have no problem dropping use of the dummy before they are 6 months old.

5. Make sure the baby is tightly swaddled at night for the first 3 months so he/she isn’t woken by flaying arms and legs.

Six key points in support of expressing

1. In the early days it is important to ensure your breasts are completely empty by expressing after feeding on the breast to encourage the milk to come in.
2. If you do 1 or 2 feeds a day of expressed milk you can get a feel for how much your baby is taking. It is a myth that babies suffer from nipple confusion as a result of interchanging between bottle and breast.
3. Babies tend to sleep on the breast because they find it comforting. To discourage many snacks during the night a bottle makes the feed bigger, quicker and with longer sleeps in between.
4. Your partner can do some of the night feeds to give you a rest. Sleep deprivation is the difference between a joyous new mother and a depressed one.
5. Extra milk expressed after a feed on the breasts stored in the freezer means you can go out for lunch or for a half day and the baby can be fed from this supply.
6. Expressing is tedious so get the most powerful units on the market. These are expensive so can be rented.