Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Saved Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Flip

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Infant feeding

Bottle fed baby who wants to eat every 2 hours

15 replies

mwro · 26/01/2007 17:23

My daughter is almost 10 weeks old. We are bottle-feeding her (formula and breast milk) as she doesn't take milk well from me.

I was exclusively breast-feeding at first and she never recovered her birth weight until we started giving her bottles. At that time she was in the 25th percentile height and weight-wise but is now in the 75th percentile height and weight-wise. The doctor is happy with her weight and height but says we need to be giving her about 6 meals of 120ml a day (i.e. don't over-feed).

Since she only wakes once in the night, this works out at a bottle every 3 hours or so during the day. My daughter, however, screams every 2 hours after a feed. We assume she is hungry as nothing else really settles her (although she can be distracted, this doesn't last long). We have tried giving her water and camomile in a bottle and she drinks this but still screams (for milk). She also doesn't want to drink a whole bottle at each feed - she is normally happy with less and we don't force her to eat more.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any tips for spacing out feeds? Any advice appreciated! Thanks.

OP posts:

Report

lulumama · 26/01/2007 17:26

at 10 weeks... i have and would say to feed on demand......and this is approaching growth spurt time

also, if she was still breast fed, you wouldn;t see how many ounces she was getting ! don;t worry too much, and feed her when you know she is hungry not when the doctor thinks you should x

Report

alex8 · 26/01/2007 17:27

can you try feeding her less more often?

Report

mummymagic · 26/01/2007 17:36

Hiay, our daughter was (and still is to somed extent) a snacker. I bottlefed on demand prob every 2 hrs or so - she'd sometimes not have v much but just went with the flow. Around 4/5mths (I think) she stopped crying for food and then I started spacing her bottles out a bit and she drank a bit more each time. She is now 9 mths and does not cry for food/bottles at all (in fact I have forgotten to feed her once or twice... shameful mummy ).

Tbh if she is only waking once in the night I would carry on as you are - if it ain't broke, don't fix it!!

Report

mwro · 26/01/2007 19:39

Thanks for the responses. I think my main concern is over-feeding (being a first time mum and not being entirely sure about what I a doing) but then again my baby does seem to make it v clear when she doesn't want to eat any more.

Not sure if another growth spurt is approaching as she already gained 5 cm in length in one month and apparently this is a lot!!

That being said, my instinct is just to feed little and often (despite what doc says) as if a baby screams and screams for food then surely you should feed it...

And while only waking once in the night (she has been known to sleep 8 hours straight), she barely sleeps at all during the day - she'll fall asleep in our arms but the max she'll sleep in her cot during the day is 20 mins. I wonder if she is getting over-tired as sometimes seems irritable and like she wants to sleep - any advice on this??

OP posts:

Report

mummymagic · 26/01/2007 19:48

Hmm.. sounds like ours (apart from the sleeping at night... altho actually in the early days...). IMO babies are not designed to be put in cots so thats why they sleep better on you. I also don't think you can overfeed a baby - they do let you know when had enough.

My advice (for what its worth) is to go with the flow, mothers instinct and that!

Report

lulumama · 26/01/2007 19:52

it is very easy to overstimulate a new born,,and getting over tired from screaming for a feed, won;t help

i used to feed , wind change if necc..then if DCs were alert , chat, cuddle, hold up a toy for them to see...lay down on a blanket.maybe under a baby gym..then when they seemed tired, popped them in the cot or pram...

you need to do what works for you...and follow your instincts re feeding her,.if you feed her too much, you;ll know !

Report

clairemow · 26/01/2007 20:01

I agree that it's difficult to over feed a baby if you're not forcing her to finish bottles and letting her drink as much as she wants each time. If she takes too much, she'll probably chuck it back at you! The irony is loads of mums who are able to bf directly worry about their babies not drinking enough! There's a downside to everything..!

After I read your first post I thought perhaps your LO is tired rather than hungry when she screams, and then I read your post about her not sleeping much in the day. My 21 week old DS2 is sleeping for a good 3 hours in the day, over 3 naps usually, and he then sleeps through. IME, it can be really easy to misread over-tiredness for hunger, as they both usually result in crying. When DS2 was littler, I used to ask myself whenever he cried - what has he been doing? If he had a feed only an hour ago, and last slept 2 hours ago, the chances are he was tired, rather than hungry. Also watch out for signs like eye rubbing and frantic moving of her arms and legs, as this could also indicate tiredness rather than hunger.

Maybe try putting your DD down for a nap rather than feeding again. Sometimes DS2 will cry before going off to sleep. If you're unhappy about putting her down in her cot, then you could try a sling or baby bjourn, I found both DSs would go off to sleep really happily in one - and the bonus is you can move about!

Report

mwro · 26/01/2007 20:13

clairemow-thanks. i think what you are saying makes sense as sometimes when she is screaming and i pick her up and cuddle her she does fall asleep. of course then i try to let her sleep and don't give her a bottle.
the problem i have is that the minute i put her down in her little moses basket she wakes up.
i have tried to put her down for an afternoon nap (after feeding i changed her and put her in her cot in her room in the dark - she screamed BM). i have mentioned to the dr that i think she is overtired because she is not sleeping enough during the day time and only sleeps on us.

OP posts:

Report

mummymagic · 26/01/2007 20:32

Ah, you will learn ways to settle her in cot - it is just time and learning about your baby, you have only known each other for 10 weeks!!

I mostly use the sleep times as my rest times, get a cuppa, book, tv (espesh when they are so little) or go to bed with her and get some well-earned rest. This may or may not work for you, but I think our little one would have slept more if had just gone with it instead of getting stressed out that she wouldn't sleep on her own.

Report

macneil · 26/01/2007 20:46

I have this worry, mine's 8 weeks, am doing exactly the same kind of feeding as you, and lately in the day she's started eating every 2 hours about 4 of the feeds, so has 7 or 8 a day - yesterday drank 1000mls! However she pukes up so much of it I don't think she's getting that. I realise the puking is overfeeding, but she pukes if you only give her 80mls too. She just pukes a lot.

Anyway, she usually drinks about 800mls a day and is 10 pounds now. We were told 25th percentile today, but she was born 2 weeks early. Do give a dummy a try, she often just likes to suck after eating, and doesn't want to eat more but likes the teat in her mouth, I quickly realised this, and she'll cry and cry and stop in 1 second flat when dummy goes in, and then is happy.

Report

clairemow · 26/01/2007 20:49

have you tried also putting a tshirt of yours (worn) in the moses basket with her - she can smell you then and that might comfort her. Also warming the mattress so it's not cold, and maybe tilting it slightly by putting a book under the legs worked a treat for DS2. I find going for a walk wrapped up warm in the buggy usually results in sleep as well if DS is tired.

good luck with it all! If it's any consolation, I found with both my boys that 12 weeks seemed to result in a new magic ability to go to sleep and stay asleep longer than half an hour! so keep trying!

Report

clairemow · 26/01/2007 20:51

oh yes, macneil has a good point - the dummy. forgot about that! DS2 had one for a few weeks, and then when he found his fingers to suck (permanently in now...) he didn't need it any more. It just helped to calm him.

Report

mwro · 26/01/2007 20:57

Our DD doesn't throw up after eating so don't think I am over-feeding. Don't know much about it but if your baby throws up all the time you may like to get this checked out by someone who knows more.

DD doesn't like her dummy - I do try it but she normally makes a face and spits it out.

My baby was also 2 weeks early but made up the weight!

Will try your tips clairemow. BTW have absolutely no problem at night - she settles herself just fine - it's just daytime naps that don't work!

OP posts:

Report

clairemow · 26/01/2007 21:05

again with both of mine, the day time naps took much longer to establish than the night time/evening sleep. You'll get there. Just try to make everything as calm as possible and follow your gut. And do try a sling, they are great - but not so good as they get bigger and your back starts to suffer!

With Ds1 I remember going for walks for hours to get him to sleep in the day. On the very plus side, I got fit! But seriously, once he'd got into a pattern of sleeping in the buggy/sling it soon became possible to put him down in his cot. Depends what you want - I like a bit of routine to my day so was desperate to have some predictability.

One more thought, is he getting too big for the basket? I moved DS2 out when he was 3 weeks old as he kept hitting the sides with his arms and waking up...

Report

mwro · 27/01/2007 20:36

just to let you know that we had a v successful day with baby! she woke at 8am after a 10 hour sleep (waking once for food). i fed her at 8am and then she looked sleepy again so put her in cot (not moses basket) and she slept for 45 minutes ( and that was along nap for her).

we spent most of the day outside and she either slept in her pram or was quite happy kicking and looking around. i ignored the doc and fed her little and often and we I added the total amount she ate today, it was just under the recommended amount!

All-in-all, I had one happy baby who only cried when she wanted her food so that you all for your advice and reassurance. This was my first post on Mumsnet and I'm very impressed!!!