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How often is breastfeeding too often?

Sep 30, 2025

Are you breastfeeding again? Why don't you try a different way to soothe your baby? Your breast isn't a pacifier!

Does this sound familiar?

My name is Tanja, a scientist in the field of human biology, but also a mother of three children and lactation consultant. I heard questions like these almost 10 years ago, after I gave birth to my first child and was trying to establish a functioning, harmonious breastfeeding relationship, just as I had envisioned during pregnancy. However, these questions and the differing opinions from friends, relatives, as well as midwives and pediatricians, unsettled me. Should I try to extend the intervals between breastfeeding? Was my child perhaps not hungry at all, and should I calm her down in another way? Would she really get too fat from all that breast milk?

If you too are asking yourself these questions or are sometimes confused by the many suggestions, then I would like to give you a few thoughts and suggestions from my experience as a mother and lactation consultant about what is important in this early period of your breastfeeding relationship with your child.

Not so long ago, babies were breastfed according to a schedule, every four hours. It was meant to provide structure for both the baby and the mother. A schedule with fixed rules is often helpful, shows you the way, and at a time when you find yourself in a completely new situation, it's comforting to have something to orient yourself towards that works.

But does it really work?

If we consider the needs a baby has in the first few weeks, we'll discover that there's a strong need for closeness, a need for food, a need to suckle, and a need for sleep. Distinguishing these two things is very difficult, especially in the first few weeks and even months. Therefore, when a baby cries, a very convenient way to satisfy all of their needs at once is with the breast. The baby has everything it needs there: close proximity to you, it feels your heartbeat, it receives nourishment, satisfies its need to suckle, and drifts off to sleep in a relaxed manner thanks to the hormones released during breastfeeding. Over time, you'll get a feel for exactly what your baby needs, but that can take a while. At some point, you'll notice if it's crying out of frustration, because it can't do something yet, if it's tired, or hungry. But until then, it's perfectly fine to always offer your baby the breast when it cries. It's the all-inclusive solution.

The vast majority of babies cry much more often than every four hours, because your child's need for food isn't determined by the clock. You've probably been in a situation before where you couldn't breastfeed, so you calmly talked to your child and tried to reassure them. Just pay for the groceries and then it's your turn. This usually doesn't work very well or even very well at first, because babies have no sense of time and therefore no patience. By meeting your child's needs quickly, they build basic trust. Don't be afraid to spoil your child or to train them to get their way because you respond to their need. Infants' brains aren't yet capable of calculating behavior. Instead, they learn that their needs will be noticed and met. A solid foundation for all future relationships.

And what if your child's crying wasn't caused by hunger and had a completely different need?

If you breastfeed your baby and they aren't hungry, they will let go of the breast after a while or even fall asleep, because sucking is exhausting. Many mothers can relate to this, as their young babies don't have the strength to nurse at the breast for long and sustained periods at first. If your baby wants to satisfy their need for closeness or their need to suckle, they may spit out some of the milk they ingest. But rest assured, they will definitely not drink too much breast milk or become overweight. Even if there are phases in which your baby resembles a little sumo wrestler, they will soon enter a very active phase of crawling, creeping, and walking, during which your child will burn off a lot of fat. So don't worry that breastfeeding too often will contribute to your child's obesity. In fact, the opposite is true; several studies show that breastfed children have a significantly lower risk of becoming overweight or obese as adults.

Babies undergo incredible development in their first year: they triple their birth weight, usually gain up to 30 cm in length, and their brain weight almost triples in the first year. This requires a lot of nutrients.

You too have the most beautiful, smartest, and greatest baby at home; none of us wants an average baby. It's therefore not very understandable that all babies are hungry at regular intervals; our children are individuals with individual needs in this regard too. For example, the number of daily breastfeeding sessions varies from baby to baby, from 4 to 13, as does the amount of milk per breastfeeding, which can be between 50 and 250 ml. Some babies take in almost three times the amount of milk per day compared to their peers. So you see, there can be no set instructions for your child as to when they should be hungry and when they shouldn't. Therefore, trust your gut feeling when to offer the breast, and don't let the clock or other people's opinions put pressure on you.

Many mothers are often confronted with the statement that babies' stomach aches and gas in the first few months are caused by frequent breastfeeding. This causes stomach pain when the fresh milk meets the already digested milk in the stomach. Don't let this worry you. Breast milk has an extremely short digestion time; depending on the amount, it leaves the stomach in about 30 minutes. And even a look at indigenous cultures, where babies are carried and often have free "access" to the breast, thus breastfeeding several times an hour, shows no increased digestive problems. Therefore, for health reasons, there is no need for fixed breastfeeding intervals.

And last but not least, I would like to address the argument that the breast is being "misused" as a pacifier substitute. A look at evolution is enough to see that the breast clearly existed before the pacifier and conversely, the pacifier was invented as a breast substitute to relieve the burden on the mother. Therefore, if it suits you and the situation allows, then of course you can satisfy your baby's need to suckle at the breast, because that is what the breast is there for. This often means less mobility, but you can use this, especially in the beginning, as an opportunity to enjoy the postpartum period and simply relax in bed or on the sofa with your baby at your breast. If the latching technique is right, then even frequent or prolonged sucking at the breast will not cause pain.

So you see, there's no reason why frequent breastfeeding shouldn't be done. As much as we like to stick to strict rules or look for instructions to avoid making mistakes, that doesn't work in this case. The best way to avoid mistakes is to trust your gut, your child, and your relationship, which no one knows better than you. Don't feel guilty if you don't have a set breastfeeding schedule yet, or if your baby drinks for longer or more often than other children. This won't harm them in any way; in fact, they will benefit from it. And in many situations, especially in the beginning, it will be much easier for you to offer your child the all-inclusive solution of breast-feeding.

Always seek medical advice

Important note: This article contains only general information and should not be used for self-diagnosis or treatment. It is not a substitute for a consultation with a doctor.

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