Not drinking enough

[snailythomas]

My DS is 9 weeks old and will only take 4oz max each feed (he's formula fed). He wants to feed every 2 1/2 hours. He will only stay awake for an hour and a half at a time then gets grumpy and goes to sleep very easily but doesn't have a very long sleep, generally because he wakes up hungry again so quickly. He does much better at night and wakes up two or three times between 10 and 7. He's had silent reflux (now under control with medication). He's a very happy little thing and I wouldn't mind this at all if it weren't for the fact that he's dropped from 70th to 25th centile in terms of weight. When I try to get him to take more he fusses and ends up screaming, yet he's rooting again after 2 1/2 hours. He's my second child and my first was BF and a snacker too, also with reflux. Any ideas on how I get him to take more during a feed?

I'm not sure it's a good idea to try to persuade babies to take more than they want to - overfeeding is a risk with bottles if you push them. Feeds every 2.5 hours and only staying awake for an hour and a half sounds normal for a 9 week old.

I agree - this is normal. If your baby really does need more to eat (and this would need to be checked by the HV) then he might do better to have more frequent, slightly smaller feeds, if you can fit this in. Chances are he is doing just fine and will be happier if you follow his lead and feed him the amount he wants when he wants :)

Thanks both. Saw the HV yesterday and she looked appauled that he was only eating a little bit and eating so frequently, and also got told by breastfeeding counsellor that I probably caused my DS1 to have reflux by feeding so regularly, so wasn't sure what the best thing was for DS2. HV's advice was to try to keep him going for longer between feeds and encourage him to eat more. Spoke to GP on phone today who said the same, but my instinct is to feed him as much as he wants when he wants. Only problem is really that he's not gaining weight as quickly as he should.

Mine didn't gain weight as quickly as average either, but not everyone is average! He's slim, happy and healthy though.

snaily sounds like you need a second or third opinion on this.

Heaven knows who the 'breastfeeding counsellor' was who told you such utter rubbish - she's not a real breastfeeding counsellor and should not be using the title, as this is sort of diagnosis and knowledge is w...a....y outside her boundaries.

Hope you get good help. I can't imagine why the HV thinks what you are doing is so bad!

Gosh what a crock of crap you're being peddled by the health care professionals.

Feeding little and often is frequently advised for babies with reflux - you didn't cause reflux by feeding frequently: honestly, what nonsense. Widely-spaced, large feeds lead to some almighty pukes in reflux-prone babies in my experience!

Agree with others, it's not usually a good idea to try and get a baby to take more per sitting than they seem to want - and this is especially so with reflux babies who are at greater risk of developing feeding aversions anyway, owing to the potential for forming an association between discomfort and eating.

On the sleep thing, some babies are just short sleepers in the daytime. Both my children have been like this; DD eventually decided to sleep longer in the daytime, but only when she was about a year or so IIRC. Ds has only been able to be comfortably awake for longer than a couple of hours since he was about 6-7 months - he's one of life's short nappers so he needed them frequently.