1 wk old 'sucky' baby after stopping bf

[SaraL77]

I had to stop BF after a week after getting cracked/bleeding nipples etc and decided to go onto formula. He has taken to it well but seems to want to feed every 2 hours and acts hungry most of the time! I can only think that he misses the comfort of sucking for longer on the breast (to add to my guilt- I now feel bad for denying him this

have given him a dummy to comfort him but still hard to know if he's just a 'sucky' baby or genuinely hungry.

anyone else changed from breast to bottle and found this?

Congratulations Sara on your new one.

Very simply, if he is a sucky baby then a dummy will soothe him. If he is hungry he will have a few sucks and then spit it out in disgust when he gets nothing out of it.

Babies feeding requirements do change depending on whether they are heading for a growth spurt or not. Unfortunately, 2 hourly is not unusual at this age.

Congrats on the baby!

Ditto to what Jaybird37 said - IME a hungry baby won't be soothed for long by a dummy.

But then he might not like the dummy even if he's not hungry as it's not as comforting as boob anyway. My DD (8 weeks) has now pretty much rejected dummies. Sucking on a finger will still soothe her if she's not hungry but I think she's now old enough to realise that dummies are cold plastic things that come without cuddles.

2 hourly feeds are normal at that age.

Would you consider re-starting bfing?

thanks for your replies - he does seem to like the dummy though holding onto it at this stage is more of a challenge- he hasn't quite got to grips with keeping it in his mouth!

I don't think I'll re-start bf-for one my nipples have such deep cracks I think it'll take at least a week to heal, secondly i was just miserable trying to do it- I felt like I would do well when mw came over but when she left it wasn't working and you can't have someone to help you 24/7.

he will still get plenty of love and cuddles so I'm looking ahead and feeling more positive now...