What I usually tell moms is:
"After the first couple days (whenalmost anything goes) most babies
nurse an average of 8-12 times in 24 hours.  This works out to 2-3
hour intervals.  The key word is AVERAGE.  Some intervals will be
short and others may be longer.  Look at what baby is doing over
24-48 hours rather than getting "hung up" on any one or two feeding
intervals."
"Remember the 8-12 times is also an average.  There will always
be"outlyers" -babies who nursemore or less often.  On the other hand
for some babies nursing more often could mean not getting enough or
less often may mean baby is "giving up" on getting what he needs.
If your baby is consistently nursing more or less than 8-12
times/24, be sure to count the diapers.  If they are consistently at
least 6-8- wet and 3 or more dirty in 24 hours, then most likely
your baby is one of those that falls outside the average range.  If
you have concerns, have someone knowledgable about effective
latching observe a feeding.  If everything is fine, sit back, enjoy
your baby and celebrate tha fact that he/she is an individual, not
one to conform to the averages!"

The point is that whiule some babies do fine with consistently more
frequent (or less frequent) nursings, for others it may be an
indication of a problem.  I also see some babies who put out less
that the minimul diaper count and do fine.  In either case, it's not
something to panic over immediately, but an indication that it
wouldn't hurt to get a further piece of information (weight, feeding
observation, etc.) and if that is OK, no problem.
Winnie Mading IBCLC

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html