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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

I think my 4 week old DS is eating way too much, I really need help!

69 replies

SchrodingersMew · 25/10/2011 21:59

Hi there, my 4 week old eats what I think is a lot and the other night wouldn't settle at all and just wanted to keep eating.

He was born at 38+1 and weighed 6.1lb, he went down to 5'7lb the next week but has went up to 8,7lb in the past 2 weeks...

He takes about 160ml (so 6oz?) every 3 hours but the other night at one of his feeds took 260ml (9oz?) Shock I have mentioned to my health visitor and she told me if that's what he wants to take then just give him it or give him water in between, I tried the water earlier and he just kept choking so very reluctant to give him it.

This isn't normal is it?

OP posts:
organiccarrotcake · 25/10/2011 22:01

Is your baby FF or are you talking about expressed breastmilk? If FF is he breastfed at all?

There are differences in how you look at the amount a BF and FF baby is taking, you see.

If you're not directly BFing at all, how many oz a day (24 hrs) is he getting?

Original poster
SchrodingersMew · 25/10/2011 22:07

He's FF, he was being mixed fed but I had to stop because of medication I am on.

And I have just added it up, he gets about 40-42 oz a day..

OP posts:
organiccarrotcake · 25/10/2011 22:15

Yeah, this is a lot. Normally I would expect him to need around 20-25 oz, but from time to time of course they may well need more during a growth spurt - so it depends on whether he's going to carry on with this.

I guess you've tried a dummy/sling/other distractions?

I would consider having another word with your HV to see if they've got any more advice.

Just so you know, IF you would prefer to BF, there is a useful telephone line where you can check the safety of your medication for breastfeeding (often drugs are listed as unsafe as they're untested, not actually unsafe). It may just be another option to look at, if you want to as you would almost certainly not be too late to go back to BFing. This is in no way anything other than just making sure you know it's an option :)

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/drugs-in-breastmilk.html

Original poster
SchrodingersMew · 25/10/2011 22:32

I've tried a dummy and he just screams and spits it out, no matter how hard I try with it, I have also tried bouncing him around, putting him in the swing, basically anything to divert his attention.

The last straw was trying the water and I really don't want to try that again.

I should mention, when he took the 9oz in one feed we weren't in our own house we were in PIL's house staying the night. After that feed he woke 3 hours later and had another 6oz and then repeated it again 3 hours later where he was finally sick. :(

Thanks for the link :) I really am unsure though as he ended up in special care because of the painkillers they put me on when I was pregnant and I sometimes still need them and am terrified they would affect him again. I am also on another drug which I think is believed to be unsafe. I got the info from something written by Hale (?).

The HV has told me to add up what he has in a day and we'll see after that. He has jumped I think 3 centile lines since he was born so 1 a week, she told me we will have a problem if he continues to do this.

I am shocked as he really was tiny!

OP posts:
organiccarrotcake · 25/10/2011 22:40

:(

OK, Hale is a great resource, and to be trusted, but the BfN drugs line may be able to make suggestions for alternative drugs. You never know :) And thank you for taking that as it was intended :)

I'm a bit stumped as it's out of my area, I'm so sorry :( He clearly doesn't need the calories as he's leaping up the centiles, but he needs "something". I hate to not be able to make any suggestions :( :(

colditz · 25/10/2011 22:42

yes it is normal. Ds1 ate like this. Give him what he wants. If his stomach really can't handle it, he'll throw up. no harm, no foul.

colditz · 25/10/2011 22:44

oh, I see other people think it's odd.

Ds1 is now 8 and a perfect physical specimin. But he always did, and still does, eat massive amounts compared to his peers./ I don't know why, he's not even tall for his age and his BMI is perfect.

organiccarrotcake · 25/10/2011 22:45

I'm not totally sure I agree, colditz, because overeating stretches the stomach and can lead to the child having a reduced ability to understand when he's satiated.

It may be a phase, or there may be something else that would soothe the child. I just can't think of anything which hasn't been tried :(

colditz · 25/10/2011 22:46

Even though he's leaping up the centiles, he may have been underweight for his frame in utero - ds1 was. He was born 8 lb 7 but for the length of him, he should have been about 11 pounds. This is probably why he ate so much from the get go - certainly 6, and 7 oz bottles were normal from birth, and 8 and 9 oz bottles were going down from a couple of weeks old.

organiccarrotcake · 25/10/2011 22:47

(Xpost with you there).

Some boys are like that, aren't they (and some girls, I suppose, too!).

Like my DH - who had hollow legs until he hit 40 Grin. Not any more.

And as you say, many are fine, but I would not be comfortable assuming that this baby couldn't benefit from something else. It is unusual to need twice the average amount of formula.

colditz · 25/10/2011 22:47

It's only your opinion that he's overeating. Certainly Ds1 knows when he is full, as he's never been pushed beyond it.

organiccarrotcake · 25/10/2011 22:48

Also a good point (another Xpost).

It would be interesting to see if it settles down.

colditz · 25/10/2011 22:49

Unusual but not harmful. And I really don't think trying to distract a baby from his hunger is helpful. By now, the baby is 4 weeks old and I'm sure his mother recognises a 'hungry' cry. Just let him eat.

organiccarrotcake · 25/10/2011 22:50

(continual X posting)

No, it's not my opinion that he's overeating. It's a fact that the recommended amount of formula is nearly 1/2 what he's getting. But I'm not taking the opinion that this means he's overeating. You're absolutely right that this may be right for him - I'm just not sure that it should be automatically accepted as ok, even though it may well be - do you see what I mean?

colditz · 25/10/2011 22:50

It's a funny thing - Ds1 was my first child, and when I had DS2 I rang the midwife to howl that "He'll only ever take 2 or 3 ounces, he's going to starve!"

She assured me that this was perfectly normal. That's what I mean about the opinion thing - if he was on the breast nobody would think he was eating too much because nobody would know.

colditz · 25/10/2011 22:51

Yes I do see what you mean.

organiccarrotcake · 25/10/2011 22:52

For a BF baby I'd totally agree, but not necessarily with a FF baby, that's all.

I think the OP needs more advice from elsewhere :)

(Not saying you're wrong, just saying that I don't think you - or I - are necessarily right and therefore I think that the OP might be best to consider looking for more advice)

lilham · 25/10/2011 22:53

Sadly you can overfeed a ff baby. So unlike the boob you will have to find something else to settle him. Like organiccarrotcake says there is something he needs and you just have to figure it out. I'd suggest keep trying with the dummy and sling too. I believe they say going up 2 centiles is ok, anything more isn't.

Anyway one of the mums in my group has a baby like this. She is against dummies. She used cooled boiled water on the advice of the HV.

buttonmoon78 · 25/10/2011 22:56

Just as an aside... what dummy are you using? I kept trying ds with a silicone orthodontic teat which he hated but I tried an old fashioned cherry shaped latex one and the look on his face was hilarious - pure bliss!

DS is a v sucky baby and overeating for him is not an option - he has severe reflux so the dummy is our joint bff. I think we currently have 6 on the go as I'm petrified of losing them!

FWIW, at one point, ds was having 35-37 oz a day when he was roughly 11-12lb at 8/9wks. At 14wks and 15lb (2wks ago) he now has between 25-30oz per day. So it doesn't necessarily follow that he will continue to increase his appetite exponentially.

Good luck.

PetisaPumpkinHead · 25/10/2011 22:58

I'm no expert but would agree with colditz. If he's drinking it and not being sick then surely he needs it. All babies are different, and it could be a massive growth spurt, and he could be drinking half that in a couple of weeks' time, and then the OP would worry about him not getting enough! I remember the midwife telling me dd1 would drink about an ounce in hospital, and I was terrified when she scarfed 4 ounces in minutes and thought I'd broken her! Grin

Ask your hv OP, as we are mere internet sprites and are not experts.

buttonmoon78 · 25/10/2011 22:58

Sorry - that wasn't clear - he is now 14wks and he was 15lbs 2 weeks ago.

PetisaPumpkinHead · 25/10/2011 23:00

I'm not convinced that overfeeding ff babies exists, despite what the official advice says. Surely a baby regulates its own appetite? But again I'm no expert.

MAM dummies are a great one to try OP as they have big fat teats and stay in their wee mouths better.

colditz · 25/10/2011 23:02

Ds1 also had a dummy. It was a cherry teat (yes, orthodontic terror is soon lost in the face of a screaming baby, and by God do they love those cherry teat dummies!) and he was a very sucky baby.

HOWEVER.

He loved his dummy. He adored it - when he wasn't hungry.

When he was hungry, he creamed so hard he used to blow it out of his mouth in a rage.

I tried taking him off the bottle teat after four oz (this was at 2 weeks old) and slyly slipping a cherry teat in. I even made sure there was a dab of milk on the end of it to try and fool him. It worked. For seven or eight seconds.

I had to heat another bottle. He took another 3 ounces.

And I must reiterate - he isn't and never has been at all overweight.

RitaMorgan · 25/10/2011 23:07

Overfeeding bottle fed babies does exist, so is something to be aware of. It's harder for a baby to regulate the amount of milk it takes from a bottle compared to a breast - the milk comes faster with less effort.

Think about it - if you eat quickly you can overeat before you realise how full you are. And throwing up is quite a late sign that you have eaten too much - I have overeaten plenty of times but rarely eaten so much I am sick. I don't think it is accurate to say that as long as a baby isn't vomitting then they aren't taking too much.

PetisaPumpkinHead · 25/10/2011 23:07

That's so true colditz, the look on their wee faces when they realise there isn't any milk coming out... Grin

Surely baby knows best about what its tummy is telling it, and if it's hungry it's hungry? And if they've had too much they'll make sure the excess is ejected? I'll shut up now though as I'm no expert as I keep saying Grin and dd1 never drank alarming quantities, and I can understand how you'd be concerned.