Feeding

[Lulu90]

I suppose only mummies who bottle feed will be able to answer this question for me...

My son, who will be 3 weeks old in a couple of days has 3oz, falls asleep and then screams for more an hour later. I've tried just another oz but he still roots for the bottle and screams if I take too long. I'm worried I'm over feeding him. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Hes on aptamil, is the answer as simple as just moving on to hungry baby? Sorry, first time mum, lots of silly questions xx

 

[kitten2014]

cant say for sure but at that age our lil miss was feeding just as frequent, dont worry about spacing out and building up bottle qts just yet, only started tracking her qts and intervals when she was 8wks old, at the moment she will be finding her rhythum with it all, we were often doing 1oz per hr then built up to 3oz but each baby different...

 

[Browneyed Girl]

I can't help but will be following this with interest. I mainly breastfeed my 3 week old but the last few days he's been feeding non-stop so I'm going to introduce formula feeds more regularly. Today I gave him 4oz of formula as he just wouldn't settle after feeding from me on and off for hours - I was hoping this would settle him for a while and was surprised that 45 mins later he was back on the breast for more!! Starting to think I have the hungriest baby ever especially as he's only 6lb 13 now so still small for his age. I'm using Hipp Organic xx

 

[Lulu90]

Well, I breast fed Luca for 4 days and the midwives told me that he was using the boob for comfort and to take him off. Could your little boy be doing the same hun? xx

 

[Jessiecat]

A baby so little really shouldn't have hungry baby formula, it just sits heavy in their tiny tums. Yes it stops them feeling hungry but they need to keep getting the nutrients from frequent feeds.

Brown eyed girl, also know it is completely normal for baby to fuss and feed like hat. It isn't because they're not getting enough or because breast milk isn't filling enough it's just normal. They need to sort your milk supply out and breast milk is so well digested that they will need more very quickly but it's nothing to do with not bein satisfied.
So many women stop breastfeeding because they think their babies are starving in the first few weeks, why women can't be educated that babies will feed this way in the early weeks and could want the boob for 20 hours a day whilst working out their needs I don't know.

You're both doing a great job, believe in yourselves. Everything you have described is normal so give the babies what they need xx

 

[kumber]

Completely agree with Jessiecat!

Lulu, it's impossible to overfeed a baby, some will do 3-4 hours, some will need little and often and it seems Luca is a little and often kinda guy! It's really tough but in the next 2-3 weeks he will take more and start going slightly longer between feeds. He's doing loads and loads of growing atm so needs lots of feeds to bulk out those chicken legs of his

Browneyed, your baby is clusterfeeding atm - that is feeding a lot in order to boost your boob supply as his tummy is getting bigger. In this period I would just offer boob boob boob and give bottles in the mormings (clusterfeeding tends to be afternoon/evenings/nights if I remember rightly). Offering bittles when they cluster feed means your supply isn't keeping up with their need, which can create a bigger reliance on bottles. Not a bad thing as such, but not ideal if you want to bf/combi-feed long term.

HTH

 

[Emmajaine]

Is he falling asleep on the bottle? How long does he take to have the 3oz?


When my lg was a similar age she was falling asleep on the bottle, my hv suggested that she was tiring herself out working so hard to get the milk out, I moved her onto the bigger teat size and everything changed! Drained the bottle first time out, within 15 minutes and didn't want another feed after an hour.

Xx

 

[Lulu90]

He usually falls asleep yeah. He takes about 15 mins to do the 3oz. I have the mw coming today so I'm going to ask her about it anyway. It's just exhausting during the night having to feed him every hour xx

 

[xxcharliexx]

Lots of people are against hungry baby but when my LO was 2.5 weeks we changed his day feeds to hungry baby aptamil and kept his night feeds to aptamil 1. My LO was doing 5oz at 2 weeks old though. My health visitor has said I'll be lucky to get to 6 months to give him solids as he's just a milk monster. She has told me to hang on until 17 weeks if possible.

Hungry baby food can constipate them but using the aptamil 1 at night this hasn't happened. My LO has 2 poops a day.

From around 2-5 weeks my LO was having 5oz every 90mins-2 hours during the day and 3-4 hours at night, as he was having a growth spurt. The last few weeks he goes 4 hours during the day and 6 hours at night.

Xx

 

[MysticTeen]

Won't he take more than 3oz at one time? When he wakes up in a hour how much does he drink?

My daughter is 11 days old & the past few days she has been having between 2.5oz & 3oz every four-five hours. Sometimes I do put her on the boob before the bottle.

 

[Lulu90]

He falls asleep after the 3oz then wakes up an hour later and has another 3. I've tried 4oz but he still falls asleep after 3. Oh the joys haha xx

 

[MysticTeen]

And there is no waking a new born is there :/ sounds like you're gonna have to just go with it & hopefully he will settle more as they change so much the first few weeks

 

[Lulu90]

I'm going to try a bigger teat today and see what happens xx

 

[Karenb]

Well, I breast fed Luca for 4 days and the midwives told me that he was using the boob for comfort and to take him off. Could your little boy be doing the same hun? xx

Why would a hv advise against comforting your baby?! It's completely natural to comfort that way. Also normal for three week old to be on breast constantly, no need to supplement unless advised by doc or hv xx

 

[Lulu90]

I think it was because he was latching and falling asleep Karen, he wasn't feeding at all. Tried everything, different positions, undressing him etc. I have to feed him sitting up else he falls asleep instantly. Never been more disappointed, not being able to breast feed him xx

 

[Karenb]

Ohh ok if he wasn't taking any I get that. My lo often falls asleep but she has had milk first so it's ok. Don't be hard on yourself, you tried- that's what matters. Have u tried expressing? (I struggle to get much that way) x

 

[kitten2014]

Charlie - how do you manage every 4hr feeds? I tried for a wk to stretch out lil miss to 2.5/3hr feeds and taking bigger bottles but it didnt become habit, always seemed forced, feeding took 30mins as had to burp in between instead of 15mins and seemed hard to maintain so she's back to every 2hrs...is this normal at 4months old? she will go occasionally 3-4hrs if she has a good nap but generally naps dont last longer than 45min-1hr 30mins....she goes 8 then 4 hrs between 7pm and 7am so that tells me she can go longer but just wont atm, if busy/out and about/somewhere new its 1hr 40mins as its comfort related I think...any suggestions how to get her to go longer...sorry to boycot this thread but Charlie got me thinking....

 

[xxcharliexx]

I didn't do anything he just done it himself. I just try to make sure I get as much as I can down. Sometimes he will drink 4oz and doze for 10-15 mins then do the rest. If he doesn't drain a bottle I'll wake him and give him some more before the hour is up for the formula to not be used. He will always go back to sleep. He's a pretty good drinker and good napper in the day so I'm pretty lucky. It was only those few weeks during his growth spurt that he refused to sleep and just wanted a bottle allllll the time during the day. I'd love him to sleep longer at night, your lucky to have that I'm lucky if I get 6 hours. Last night it was every 4 hours! Oh the joys! Xx

 

[Lulu90]

Yeah I've tried expressing but getting nothing really. Saw the mw this morning and she said to swap the teats and increase his milk and see if that helps. I mean, he's happy and healthy so I can't complain. He was 7lb4oz last Tuesday and today hes 8lb1oz, really pleased with that xx

 

[Karenb]

Yeah I've tried expressing but getting nothing really. Saw the mw this morning and she said to swap the teats and increase his milk and see if that helps. I mean, he's happy and healthy so I can't complain. He was 7lb4oz last Tuesday and today hes 8lb1oz, really pleased with that xx

That's great weight gain x