4 week old feeding query

[Bonkerz]

Hi all, I need some advice. It may be my PND paranoia but im concerned about DS and im not sure if i should be or not!!1

DS is now 4 weeks old and was initially breast fed for 12 days solid. He wasnt a happy boy and i got mastitis and had to express and he went ont formula for one day to give me a rest and in 24 hours he had a severe reaction and was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with intersusseption of the bowel but this rectified itself with anti biotics and he was placed on nutramigen lipil 1 and diagnosed with Cows milk protein intollerance.
I settled down nicely on the nutramigen and has now been on it for 12 days.

The problem i have is that he is still wanting to feed every 2 hours. I manage to stretch him to 2 and half hours but that half hour is him crying generally. I think he is suffering with colic and have been giving infacol and dentinox (not at same time) but he still struggles.

Health visitor has been coming every week and his weight gain is fab....he was 7lb15oz at birth and is now 10lb3oz and he has regular soiled and wet nappies and health visitor has said i should perservere with stretching his feeds for another 2 weeks and see how we go. She says this is normal for a breast fed baby who is used to feeding on demand.
I make 4 oz bottles but he generally only takes 3 oz and is then a little sick after feed so i cant be sure he is taking and retaining all 3 oz. he has on average 9 bottles a day with intake abot 27oz which is about right for his weight apparently.

so my question is.....should i perservere and try to stretch him to 3 hours despite the crying or should i continue to feed on demand and allow him to sort himself out. this is my 3rd baby and im also a nursery manager but right now im totally sleep deprived and cannot think and like i said i have PND and am not sure if im just over anxious and paranoid.

any help would be gratefully recieved! THANKS

Some babies just want to feed little and often. I think you're supposed to feed on demand whether breast or bottle aren't you?

Is it the night times that are a problem?

I would feed him whenever he wants. (don't they have a growth spurt around 4wks?). DD2 is 7wks & sometimes doesn't want to wait 3hrs. The way I see it, the more calories I get into her during the day, the less likely she is to want feeding at night (I hope!!)

night feeds are wearing me down YES but he doesnt settle straight away so im lucky if i get an hour before he wakes.
Im so panicky that im over feeding or that something is wrong......
he is growing great, not over growing at all and is still on 50th centile so i suppose thats an idicator im paranoid lol

At 4 weeks with previous bowel issues I would definitely cue feed to ensure baby wasn't taking more than they needed because they were extra-hungry. Go with little and often, giving him lots of time to drink his bottle so he's not glugging it down and getting gas.

This might help (yes I know it's for the bf baby but if it's trying to emulate a bf that surely is good for all babies not just the ones who get an occasional bottle feed). You will probably find you are doing all of it already so it might be a bit of teaching Granny to suck eggs

Maybe just offer 3oz bottles if he's taking a bit too much and puking?

He sounds like he's fine to me though!

thanks all, he is only taking 3oz, health visitor told me to up his bottles to 4 a few days ago to try and stretch his feeds out but it isnt working. Will go back to offering 3 oz although he does drain 3 oz bottles but you are right he may be taking too much.

i did wonder if he had reflux as well as the intollerance and health visitor is monitoring this. would gaviscon infant help with this and colic or not????????

My head is telling me that although he is taking 3oz per feed he is also being sick so probably only holding onto 2oz hence the feeding 2 hourly!

i will perservere and try not to stress. My sister has offered to take him for the night tomorrow so i may take her up on that offer in order to rebuild my energy and get a good nights sleep.

So I have been trying to stretch DS feeds now for a week. He is now going between two and a half and three hours but has done some four and five hour blocks too although he also cries for milk sometimes after just an hour. Am I asking to much of a five week old I wonder?? He is taking about 27oz still a day and I guess he weighs over 11lb now easily. I did spend a small fortune on anti colic bottles (dr browns and mam ones) and have also started adding half a sachet of gaviscon infant to his bottles which is definitely helping as he is no longer screaming and pulling his legs up to his belly after his feeds.
What age should I expect to see more routine feeding??? You wouldn't think this is my third child and that I have a degree in early years would you!!!!! Not to mention working with kids for the last 16 years lol

What is it that you are aiming for with him - what routine do you want him to be in?

I breastfed so obviously a little different but my ds didn't manage 3 hours between feeds in the day til he was 6 months, and would often want feeding hourly at 5 weeks. His feeds were more predictable at about 4-5 months as his naps were more predictable, so he fed on waking up and going to sleep basically.

Personally I would feed on demand, as often as he wants during the day with the hope of getting some 3-4 hour stretches at night.

Bonkerz - not sure why you are trying to stretch the gaps between feeds?

It's perfectly normal for a young baby to have unpredictable/irregular/short gaps between feeds, whether they are ff or bf. He is unhappy when you try to do this, you are unhappy and worried if you try to do this....wouldn't it be win-win if you just went with the flow? :)

It's the health visitor pushing the one hour wait for each ounce taken rule. I'm ok to feed on demand. He does generally cluster feed inthe afternoon and I get a five hour stretch from 8-1 at night.

A 5 hour stretch is pretty good!

This one hour rule sounds a bit arbitrary - did the HV have a reason for it?

Just feed feed feed for 12 weeks my ds fed like that until he was nearing 5 months very hungry baby.
All the best, youre doing great x

HV needs to justify that, IMO. I have never heard of this, it sounds very prescriptive, and is unlikely to meet the very normal needs of babies who are just not programmed to feed in this way :(

If the HV has a reason then let her share it with you and you can decide - because you are experienced as a mother and a child professional - whether it's worth putting your baby and you through this distress.

Bonkerz, did you ever come across the '1 ounce for 1 hour' thing during your degree or during your work?

Did you not, instead, read a ton of stuff about the normal needs of young babies for reassurance and comfort by being held, fed, and soothed according to their individual needs?

Honestly, unless your HV has a convincing medically-based explanation of why her advice to you is so prescriptive, I think you have an HV problem and a confidence problem with yourself, not a feeding problem :)

What do you think?

Thanks. It's weird cos if anyone else asked for advice I would say same as you tiktok. Confidence is an issue.
Have pnd which isn't helping!

If confidence is an issue - maybe the issue? - and you have PND (certainly linked), trying to fix a non-existent feeding problem isn't going to help...and I suggest trying to do this is making things worse, for you and your baby. You don't become more confident, or happier, hearing your baby cry to be fed before the 'appointed time'....trusting your experience and your knowledge is better than trusting your HV (unless, as I say, she can explain to you why this odd prescriptive advice has been given to you).

Hope things get better for you.