Feeding and weight problems

[Rosebay]

Hi,

I'm hoping that some of you might be able to shed some light on our feeding and weight problem.

Basically Elliott is 5 weeks old tomorrow and he's 10lb 15 oz. He was only 7lb 12 oz at birth so he's put on more than he should have since birth according to the Health Visitor.

Also he's been increasingly demanding food, at a rate of 2oz more a day in the past few days. He was on SMA Gold, taking 6oz every 4 hours. We've had him on a rough schedule but it never seemed to be that much at odds with when he was hungry anyway and he has always been an enthusiastic eater. We haven't given him anything extra, haven't forced him to eat when it looks like he's finished and when we've tried to encourage him to stay at a certain amount (say 5oz) by giving him boiled water or a dummy after the feed to see if it's a sucking thing rather than actual hunger he wails the place down!

Anyway, the HV yesterday said she thought he didn't need that much food and that he was just greedy. Is this possible do you think? One of the midwives told us it wasn't a few weeks back when we mentioned it- she said that they don't overeat unless you give them extra stuff like sweet drinks or force them to eat and that if you tried that he'd just puke it up anyway...? The HV suggested putting 5 scoops of formula in 6oz of water so that he gets 5oz plus 1 oz of water if you see what I mean? So the same bulk but less calories. Or that I swap to White.

Well I decided to do both yesterday. At 3 he took the 5oz + water ok but by 6 he was really grizzly, at 7 he took it again but my DH (who had him from 7 until 11) said he started screaming the house down at 9 so much so that he fed him more water which he did not fall for at all and then fed him earlier than normal at 10.30 because Elliott was so frantic. (I had my earplugs in ) At 10.30 he had a proper 6oz feed

After this he fussed until 12.45 (normal sadly!) but slept until 3.45- just over 5 hours since the last feed. He wasn't going mental for food either- so... was it hunger after the 3pm and 7pm feeds if he can go 5 hours at another time? Hmmm?

Has anyone had problems like this? How much are your babies taking at 5 weeks or at this weight? Any bright ideas?

Thanks!
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[stephlw25]

The HV suggested putting 5 scoops of formula in 6oz of water so that he gets 5oz plus 1 oz of water if you see what I mean? So the same bulk but less calories. Or that I swap to White.
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I was told never to so this...
i quote from the back of my formula box.....

"Add the corect number of scoops to the water.Adding too many or too few scoops can be harmful"

Sorry not much help with the weight thing!

I would question your HV about this!

 

[Urchin]

Does it really matter if your baby is a little big?

My first son was above the 99th centile on the charts... basically less than 1% of other babies the same age were bigger!
I was breastfeeding him at the time so I had no idea how much he was getting.
The HV's loved me and used to use me as a good example of breastfeeding!

I think a bigger baby is best because when they do get a bit ill and lose weight (as all baby's will) at least they have a bit to lose, if they were already underweight it's more of a worry when the weight comes off.

Incidently: Brody was born 8 lbs 2 oz, went down to 7 10 in week 1, now he's 4 weeks old and whenhe was weighed last week he was 10lb 3.5oz! My HV was very happy!

 

[Rosebay]

Stephlw25- That's what I said when she suggested it but she said that wheras you should never put in more fornula scoops than they say putting one less in is the same as always giving them water afterwards- it would be a problem if he were underweight but as he isn't she suggested it as a special case.....? Weird though

Urchin- thanks for that! She went on about a lack of mobility if he gets fatter though and wound me up a bit- I guess if he were to carry on putting this much it would be worse but like you say all it would take would be one illness anyway....? Hmm.

So far so good today though on the white, he only took 4oz at 10 and lasted 4 hours until he wanted some more and then only took 5oz- yesterday he would have been grizzly after 6oz at each feed. Maybe the crying last night for my dh was a fluke?

I think that what's got me so worried is that both my dh and I have to be careful about our weight and were both fat children who got bullied so it is an issue for us so when she said that he might have problems if he continued putting on weight we both got upset and concerned. It's one of the reasons I really wanted to breastfeed actually as I read that formula babies are more likely to be obese later in life. I guess I read too much and panic too quickly and take it all to heart...

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[Urchin]

It's normal to babies to look chubby until they get moving around more....Mason was a right bruiser....I'll try and rememeber to post a pic.
When he started crawling it all dropped off and now he's just about average size I guess.

It's way too early to go worrying about your child's weight... seriously if you think it might be an issue later on I would only judge it from around age 1 anyway...they need all the calories they can get when they're tiny if you ask me so don't worry about it!

 

[kelly_chunn]

well sounds like he need to go on to sma white !! thats for hungerier babys. Emma is 9wks old and has 6oz every4 hours

 

[Freya]

When I had my daughter she was also very hungry. I followed everyones advice and ended up driving myself mad. One time she had just been fed when the HV came and said she was shaking from lack of food and was I feeding her enough. I followed instructions on tin and was paranoid about over feeding due to the guilt that had been laid on me about bottle fed babies being fat and greedy when I stopped BF. Anyway my daughter was a chubby and hungry baby and when I put her on hungrier baby food and increased amounts she became a very content baby. She is now a skinny 4 year old who certainly has more energy than me. she eats a very varied diet is not greedy and is very happy and content still. This time I will do what I feel is best for my baby who I am living with 24/7 and not listen to the advice of someone who pops in and out of my house and does not have to deal with the problem!!!!!!!!

 

[Ragna]

Hiya Rosebay

Grrrrrr @ your HV.

Rose your little man will only eat if hes hungry, and I dont believe that babies can be greedy !! Wonder if she actually has any children or is she a text book HV. Does it actually matter if hes not put on the correct amount, every baby is different, with different metabolisms and if Elliot is drinking all his formula then hes obviously wanting it and is hungry. I know that Hv are there to help and give out advice which and they are do and are brilliant but ultimately he is YOUR baby and YOU know best and at the end of the day you are the one that is having to cope with the unhappy baby if hes hungry....not them. Im not anti HV either, mine is absolutely fantastic and I think they do a great job.

My son who is now a strapping 6 foot four 19 year old was a 9lb baby and was always bigger than his peers. He was never "overweight" just a big lad and he was the same as Elliot on SMA gold and then Baby rice at 6 weeks old (this was 19 years ago...and now i know its not recommended) cos he was so grizzly and hungry. I agree with Urchin once hes up and about he will loose any weight he has gained. Adam did.

As for the putting in less scoops.....surely that goes against everything we are told bout bottle feeding !!!

Aidan was 11lb 4oz at birth and is a month today and weighs 12lb 4oz and my health visitor just says feed him what he needs. (im still breastfeeding which is probably why im walking round like the living dead) She said if I was bottle feeding him he might demand 8oz bottles !!

Ragna xxxx

 

[emma1976]

Jayden is 10lb 4 now and 5 weeks Tuesday. She seems to eat and eat but had bad belly on SMA White so HV said go back on gold. She looks chubby but cute. I wouldn't worry about the weight honey, my neice was also a porker like Jayden and she's looking lovely now, she was anyway, she's 2 and fine. Jayden is really cute and lush even with 2 chins, chubby cheeks and chunky thighs.

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Here she is

 

[Rosebay]

Thanks everyone, you've made me feel a lot better about it all!

I think the move to white has made quite a difference to his hunger actually. From taking 35oz of SMA Gold on Wednesday yesterday he took 25oz of SMA White and didn't grizzle when it got up to feeding time. In fact the reason the drop is so big is because he slept through his normal night feed at about 4. I woke up at 7 and thought something had gone horribly wrong but he was fast asleep and fine! I rather think that was a fluke but it goes to show that he's not feeling as starving hungry as he was thank goodness.

I'm not happy about the whole extra water in formula thing either (I'm sure I read somewhere about too much water upsetting the balance of the body) but since his poos were a bit solid yesterday and in fact he only took 3oz of boiled water in total yesterday I'm going to continue it today to aid his slight constipation as he won't take plain boiled water otherwise but I'll not do it tomorrow and just hope he doesn't notice the drop in volume.

Anyway, thanks again! What would I do without this forum?!
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