Chronic Snacking and Babies

Whether your baby is breastfed or bottlefed, snacking can be a real pain AND it can also affect sleep by causing short naps and night wakings. I’m not talking about cluster feeding, I’m referring to chronic snacking; baby eats just enough to top themselves off or take the edge off, but doesn’t take a full feed. Then an hour later they’re still hungry… and if they’re breastfed they’re likely taking in more foremilk and less hind milk which also leaves a breastfeeding mother feeling uncomfortable and full. I have been there, it’s not fun. And often, babies that chronically snack are nice and chunky, so they get plenty of calories, but the short frequent feedings can cause crumby sleep!

Here is how to move from a snacking cycle with short naps and frequent night wakings to a routine with full feeds and improved naps and nighttime sleep.

Let’s assume baby is on a 3 hour feeding routine.

STEP 1: Choose a dimly lit room with white noise to feed your baby in.

STEP 2: Start the day off with a bottle if you’re breastfeeding (for measurement purposes) or after you know baby has taken a full feed. Then, stretch baby to their next feed! That means, you’re going to wait 3 hours until their next feed. A baby that is growing on their curve can go 3 hours between feeds just fine. Some even do better with 3.5-4 hours. For example, if you fed baby at 7am, WAIT until 10am to feed them again.

STEP 3: If baby only eats for a few minutes and/or takes in a few ounces and won’t eat more, get up and move along with your day.

STEP 4: 20 minutes later, offer to feed them again. If they still don’t eat, do something else for another 20 minutes, then offer to feed once more. This gives them a 40 minute window to feed.

STEP 5: Whether they do or don’t eat more, WAIT until their next scheduled feed! So, if they ate a little at 10am, you tried again at 10:20am and then at 10:40am, wait until 1pm to feed them again. If they took in ounces at any of these times they will be okay to wait until their next scheduled feed. Maintain this routine throughout the day. After 3 days of this you will likely see improvement and your baby will be encouraged to take fuller feeds!

Please speak to your child’s pediatrician for reassurance regarding routined feeds or before dropping any feeds.

If you would like a breakdown of sample routines from ages 4 months to 5 years, drop your email here!