New mum- is this normal?

[Blgb]

Hi
My LO is 13 weeks old and was 8lb 11 at birth and has continued to be big throughout (95th centile)
He went onto hungry baby milk at 7 weeks cos the 1st infant wasn't filling him and it seemed to do the trick until a couple of weeks ago - even managing to get him to sleep between 8 and 6.30 some nights.
But these last couple of weeks he has regressed again and is getting up twice in the night for a feed and wants a bottle every 3 hours (and that's when I push it he can start winging from 2.5 hours) he has 7-8 oz every feed and would drain the bottle in 5 mins if I let him. I've tried giving him bits of other foods but it makes no difference to him and don't want to go overboard as he's not 4 months and don't know wether his stomach would take it!
Is this normal or can anyone advise anything to help?

[KnittingForMittens]

Right.

1. Get your baby off hungry milk and put him back onto first infant milk. Hungry milk is full of thickeners.
   
   
2. Stop feeding him food! He is only 13 weeks and it is way too early!
   
   
3. AND sorry to say this but feed him as and when he wants feeding. My son was up every 2 - 3 hours draining 6-7oz bottles at his age and I just fed him.
   
   Finally, at 13 weeks, you cannot simply expect your baby to sleep through the night and be in a routine!

[Falafel19]

It's normal for babies to be hungry and feed often, of course, his stomach is still tiny. What food have you given him? 13 weeks is far far too early to be doing this, the current guideline is 26 weeks for solid food. It's completely normal for babies up to 1 year (and over) to wake at night for feeds, again their stomachs are tiny and later still small, they often need refueling regularly. Sleeping so long with hungry baby formula just means baby is basically in a food coma, his body is focusing so hard on digesting it that he stays asleep longer because all other unnecessary functions are stopped. Hungry baby formula is usually not necessary at all. I would speak to your gp or phn for advice really, baby is so young (just out of fourth trimester) , so normal to wake at night for a very long time yet, and definitely not necessary to introduce solid food to try and make baby sleep adult hours.

[HennyPennyHorror]

He hasn't regressed, he's tiny still. What do you mean you've tried giving him "bits of other foods"? He's too small for solids!
Many babies will wake in the night for way longer than this! Some keep it up until after one year old OP...even longer.

There's nothing you can do...just feed him his milk. And no solids!

[anothernotherone]

It's completely and utterly normal for 3 month old babies to feed every 3 hours at night, the ones who don't are the unusual ones!

50% of babies don't sleep through at 12 months let alone 3!

My dc1 was 9lb and followed the 91st centile roughly and was up most of the night til she could get herself into a sitting position by herself. She fed 2 hourly til about 9 months, when I night weaned, and slept through from 12 months.

My dc1 woke 3 hourly and I thought he must have read a text book in the womb. He was 8 lb 6 at birth but a few weeks early and 56cm long - his weight was off the centile charts on breastmilk alone. He slept through from 8 months old.

Every baby's different, but a 3 month old waking 3 hourly is text book normal!

[lostfrequencies]

Totally agree with all the other posters.

[AllFourOfThem]

He’s possibly up more because of the hungry milk. He needs the nutrients from first milk.

[OnlyFoolsnMothers]

Come off hungry milk and do not give your LO anymore food. Waking in the night sucks but its what happens with little babies....the answer is not to stuff more and more into your baby before bed time, just let him feed on demand.

[anothernotherone]

Sorry dc2 woke 3 hourly, last but one paragraph should say. It's about as good as it should get at 3 months old tbh - loads of 3 month olds feed 2 hourly.

[BarberBabyBubbles]

What everyone else said. Please don’t give your baby any more food - he needs milk on demand.

It’s normal for babies to start sleeping longer stretches and then to need more night feeds as they go through growth spurts etc. They may also be thirsty overnight as it is so hot.

[WishingILivedOnAnIsland]

OP do you have anyone in real life who can give you help and advice? Your expectations of your 13 week old aren't typical, it might help to talk to an expert and get a plan for how you're going to formula feed and then eventually introduce solids.

As PPs said, he's too young for real food. He should be on breastmilk or formula exclusively at this age.

It's normal to feed 3 hourly. It's normal to wake during the night. The formula type probably had nothing to do with him waking or sleeping, it's just that he's little and not in a pattern yet.

I agree with PPs just put him back on normal formula.

[mummmmeee]

Please speak to your health visitor about this asap as if you speak with your older relatives they might give you outdated dangerous advice (like to give the baby food).

Please feed the baby on demand. And give him normal not hungry baby milk. Waking up every 3hrs a night at that age is really good. My DD was formula fed and I fed her on demand. She's a healthy 11yr old now. My DS is breastfed and up until recently (he's nearly 9 months) he was waking up every 1-2hrs. So count yourself lucky