Spoonfeeding.

[Piglet10]

OK madison is huuge. lol she was weighed 12lb 1oz at 5+5. i cant keep her filled. she is 7 weeks old today and she is finishing 6ozs every 2 hours sometimes 3. she will not be fobbed off with dummy. she also drinks water on top of this!!!

i tried to give her bigger bottles to see if she would last longer but she just drank 6 ozs and looked again in 2 hrs stubborn wee madame... lol

so yesterday i spoonfed her... just one teaspoon of baby rice mixed with 10 teaspoons of her milk. she devoured it. none came back out i had no scraping or cleaning to do. she drank 4 ozs of milk and went 5 hours!!!! which is amazing, i done the same today and she wanted more but i gave her same again. she is sleeping now after 2 1/2 hours. she wants more than that but with her being so young id rather she got used to the rice before i stuff her lol

i feel i know my own baby and that she needs this but everyone is telling me im mad and her digestive system wont cope etc etc .... i need some reassurance!!!! anyone in similar boat?? sorry for long winded thread xxx

 

[charliebear]

Hi hun.



Have you tried hungrier baby milk? There is also a growth spurt around 6/7 weeks if I remember rightly and these make one really hungry baby!
Sorry if youve already thought/tried this.

IMO I do feel that she is too young at 7 weeks and her digestive system isnt developed enough to cope with food yet. She may just be a hungry baby.
Sometimes AJ would go for hours with out milk other times he's want milk within a couple of hours.

 

[Rowesb]

no idea hun, but has ur HV given u any advice??

 

[Rosie's Mummy]

I agree with CharlieBear - at this age their digestive system isnt prepared for anything but milk; I would try some hungrier baby milk

 

[FebMum2Be]

Odhrán went through that too, he even took almost 9oz one night! I didn't know what to do, but he has settled down now and is on 6oz and goes at the very least 4 hours.. Try the hungrier baby milk, are you using SMA?x

 

[Piglet10]

aptamil. i asked HV and i think she thought i should try a spoon of reallly runny rice cos she said that she would do it but couldnt advise me as she can only advise guidelines!!

thanks for advice
i dont mind people being brutal lol

BUT it def isnt growth spurt... bcos when she had her growth spurt she finished 6ozs in like 5 mins and was still hungry and when i rang MW she said if she still hungry feed her and she drank ANOTHER 6 ozs.

im blessed that she drinks quickly lol

as for hungrier baby i was advised against by both midwife and gp as madison is so healthy and poos are not hard not runny they said that the hungrier baby milk would be as hard if not harder on her stomach than the rice as she would be getting it every feed and teaspoon of rice only once a day.

i do feel im doing what she needs. i mean shes constantly hungry and i cant not feed her but its not healthy for her to drink 70-80ozs of milk a day....

CONFUSED xxx

 

[PippaJ]

Thats a hard one if you've been advised aganist the extra hungry baby milk?

My Evie was a big baby (8lb 13oz when born) and went through phases of being really hungry. After my breast milk ran out I gave her Aptamil and I know they do an extra hungry one which I was told it was fine. I ended up increasing her bottles so I fed her every 2 hrs when she was hungry instead of 4 and that did the trick with us.

I personally wouldn't give baby rice at 7 weeks purely because their tummy's are not ready to digest it yet, but you know your baby better than anyone so I'm sure you'll do the right thing xx

 

[nancy]

My friend had the same problem as you with both her children and had to wean early, she gave hungrier baby milk for a little while before solids. I don't know if she did the right thing or not because I wasn't in her position but both her babies were happier and contented when they went on to the solids.

I won't even say what my MIL used to do when milk wouldn't do because it's against all modern advice lol.

I think what you're doing would be the safest way if solids is the only route left to go down, though if you can hold out for a bit longer that would probably be better for her belly imo.

 

[JJ Mum]

Lisa is she coliky (where they get full of wind over all the feeds and cry at set times of the day like evenings from 6 till 10 pm etc) becasue of the pain from the wind?

When they are sucking this takes away the pain so they keep wanting milk so they can suck

Dummys are good if you can keep it there rather than more milk, years ago we used to have something called infacol from the chemist and give a few drops before milk to stop the wind or bring it up better)

Just an idea

 

[FebMum2Be]

If that is the case, (colic) defo get the infacol.. Odhrán has been on it for a few weeks now and I have seen a huge improvement.. Are you using anti colic bottles? I had to switch from Tommee Tippee to Avent, Dr Browns are supposed to be v good too.. I was tempted to give Odhrán a little something extra but held out and it calmed itself down, but he was never as hungry as Madison seems to be.. Poor you I'm sure you are exhausted feeding every 2 hours .. Can't give much help tbh Lisa as I am still learning myself, just giving my opinion, comparing the 2 xx

 

[charliebear]

I've never used them but colief drops are supposed to be the best for colic.

We used Infacol with AJ.

 

[hollyes]

Hello there. My mother is one of the countrys leading experts on infant feeding, if I get a chance to chat to her today I'll ask her advice. Just to let you in on some info tho- the guidelines for weaning in the uk have been wrong for a while, my mum spent ages fighting the government about putting out misinformation based on world health organization recommendations for developing countries where there is high infant mortality due to low birth weights and lack of sterilisation equipment. The guidelines suggesting delaying weaning til as late as 6 months is actually harmful to healthy babies in developed countries who are bigger. They need to be weaned earlier in order for their digestive systems to develop properly. The paper was picked up by people with political motives and when they finally admitted they'd made a mistake they tried to pass it off as a printing error!

Take care and I'll see what info I can get

 

[hollyes]

Hello again. Spoke to her quickly this morning. She says for a big hungry baby, baby rice is fine in your circumstances though normally she would advise delaying til 3 months. And apparently she's been looking at some European research where they introduce baby rice early and don't even count it as introducing solids! She's also recently had a case of a 6 week very hungry big baby being given baby rice with no problems. She says just stick to the rice tho and definitely nothing with gluten before 3 months. You could start introducing more variety at 3 months- and a quick tip- her research shows if you introduce a wide range of pureed veg first rather than fruit, she will grow up to eat her veg when she's older! Hope this helps!

 

[nancy]

I'd be interested reading up on your mum's ideas hollyes, I've suspected for a while that the government advice is unreliable.
When I had my son the idea was to wean at 17 weeks, which I did and there's nothing wrong with him - he was ready for it at that point. By the time I had Sophie it was 6 months but I started weaning her at around 5 months as I was going on courses and needed her to last a bit longer - expressing and bottles is one skill me and my babies have never mastered.
Ellie is 5 months and has been exclusively breast fed til yesterday when she grabbed a piece of cake off Sophie and put it in her mouth! I'm thinking about sitting her down for tea with us tonight with some soft veggies to see what happens. I got some baby rice ready for starting in a couple of weeks but now I'm thinking of going down the route of baby led weaning.
I personally think that each baby is different and we should trust our instincts as mothers more than we do. Obviously it pays to read up on all the advice that is available and most of it does make sense but ultimately the "experts" are not the ones bringing up our babies, we are.

 

[Me, My Girls & I]

i started katie on baby rice at 11 weeks, cos i was literally feeding her every hour for an hour! 7 weeks does seem a tad young, but if its wht your GPs advised then it cant be too bad for her! what i would advise tho, is to make sure you give her a full milk feed before she has any baby rice. so give her a full 7oz bottle, then if she's still after more, give her a little bit of the rice. just that baby rice has no nutritional benefits, it just fills them up, so its better that they fill up as much as possible on milk, and then just have that little sort of top up from the rice!

we held off on veg until katie was 16weeks and then didnt give her meat until about 7 months, but she's never had any problems with eating or allergies, except that she likes to throw her food and share it with the dog now

 

[Tonks]

At 6-8 weeks babies go through a massive growth spurt, meaning they need more milk to satisfy them. It usually lasts up to a week. I would give her more milk, and if you are still having problems after a few days then speak to your HV.

Not sleeping through the night, waking early from naps, and going less time between milk are all typical signs of a growth spurt.

Common times for growth spurts are during the first few days at home and around 7-10 days, 2-3 weeks, 4-6 weeks, 3 months, 4 months, 6 months and 9 months (more or less). Babies don't read calendars, however, so your baby may do things differently.

You say it's not a growth spurt as she's eating differently, but Niamh was different for every one of hers. As the change developmentally, their growth spurts change. For instance, they are not going to need the same thing they did at a 7 day old growth spurt, than at 6 months when they are learning to roll over, sit up, etc.

 

[Toonlass]

Some interesting comments in this thread. Every one has their own opinions on feeding etc and only the mammy knows her own baby. I suppose its only right for a mother to follow her instincs and guidance from a health professional and at the end of the day, every baby is different.

However, my friend has a 11 week old baby and she has been cramming bottles and solids down her neck to try and get her to go longer between feeds for the last 3 weeks. The baby now weight 18lb (yes at 11 weeks) the baby is so overweight she cant suck a dummy because her cheeks stick out further than her mouth. She was only 6lb odd born and is quite small but boy is she chubby. The HV went mental with my friend about her weight but it was her who reccommended she give her a little baby rice to start with

Personally i wouldn't offer anything but milk untill my baby was at least 3-4 month old, but like i said, its up to the individual.

Good luck chick xx

 

[Piglet10]

ohhh god... so much advice!!! thanks everyone ALL advice is welcome!!

shes not colicky or windy. she sleeps thru the night pretty much most nights and is v content. she sleeps but is awake a right bit of the day and smiling all the time.

ok ive been researching and from what i find if i only give her baby rice for now it wont do her digestive system any harm if its runny.

imo i am spoonfeeding not weaning her onto solids. i think she is getting plenty of milk for nutrients and the baby rice is after her lunch feed cos im not trying to stuff her just dont want to leave her hungry . she is still pooing. there is little fat in the rice so if its replacing some of the excess milk and keeping her satisfied surely that saves her from obesity???

its such a controversial subject !! lol i have settled myself a bit and think im doing the right thing for my baby. i dont believe in spoonfeeding to make babies sleep thru the night or for my own benefits lol.

oh as for the dummy she will not have it when shes hungry she only takes it when shes tired for 5/10 mins till she goes to sleep and then pops it out. theres no fobbing my piglet!!! lol

thanks for all the advice girls!!! xxxx

 

[hollyes]

Nancy- I've started a new thread to reply to you so as not to start another conversation within his one. Take care.

 

[mrsH2009]

If you feel you need to give baby rice ensure she has had her milk first
I went through a stage like this with jack I 've just looked through my notes and at 5+3 he was taking 10 5oz bottles a day he took was big 12lb 5 at 5 week.

This intake slowed down after a coulple of weeks and we went onto 6 months with no problem