how can i get my 9wk old to last longer between feeds

[pugsmum]

My 9 month old son is formula fed but recently he has gone from previously having 200ml every 3 hours to havin 100ml every 2 hours and sometimes will even just sip small ammounts every half hour to an hour! I have tried hungry baby milk as advised by the doc but it seems to fill him up quickerand still needs to b fed just as frequenlty its becoming really difficult at night as he seems to be taking smaller and smaller amounts but really frequenlty! Any tips wud b great!!!!

9 weeks or 9 months?

no tips really. A baby will take what he/she needs. Make sure he isn't overtired though, as tired babies don't feed well at all. And if he has a cold etc, I'm afraid you just have to go with it

how is he burping? If his burps are gettign stuck he wont be able to finish the bottle.

Can you get him to hang on for another 10 minutes every few feeds by giving him a dummy? Then he should take a little more. You'll be able to extend that to every feed over a few days, then extend again when he's got used to it.

Oh sorry baby brain... He is 9weeks

I can sometimes get mine to sleep for ages if she is really warm and cosy and very quiet. Just be careful they don't over heat. Then she has a bigger feed which then makes her sleep longer. Try swaddling him.

Don't feed every half hour.... take him for walk to delay a feed, or go somewhere in the car... and if its been 2-3 hours he'll be hungry and take more. Maybe he's not crying from hunger, maybe he's tired or has a stomach ache? If he only takes a sip it means he wasn't hungry. If he's hungry he'll drink 3oz-4oz.

Forget the hungry baby formula...

The baby whisperer routine is quite good for this - very flexible 3 hourly cycles - feed, then play, then sleep in each cycle.

I tried all the tricks too before resorting to the dummy 'test' and it worked well here. Not a fan of dummies but I was ever so miserable with not getting a break between feeds and the screaming from over-tiredness (which I constantly mistook for hunger) got to me, emotionally so when I did my back in & couldn't carry her around to comfort her, the dummy was a real lifesaver. We've gone from hourly feeding to three hourly (also nine weeks) and I'm enjoying my BF so much.

I know it's not everyone's idea of best parenting but if used judiciously, it can be a good weapon in the arsenal, IMO.

I'd love to be chilled out enough to offer real nipple, not dummy, every time but with a struggling toddler, I found it impossible to keep calm in the household and I feel better 'in control' now I know hunger from tiredness from whatever! Also then started loosely setting a feed-awake-(try for)sleep pattern and it all has made everything much happier chez us.

I worry people judge us for dummy use (not as prevalent here in NZ as in UK) but if you're feeling low and you've exhausted more 'palatable' options, I think it can really help, even just to try see wood for the trees.

Good luck.

Definitely think the 'snacking' every half to hour is a really stressful situation to be in, if it doesn't resolve itself quickly. I've also found DD2's wind to be much better now as she's not over-filling and wee tum gets a wee break now.

Just wanted to add that to my already incoherent ramblings!!