FF 2 week old feeding all time, but taking hardly anything

[raininginbaltimore]

DD is 2 weeks (16days) and is really unsettled. She is rooting all the time. She is feeding every hour, but only taking a tiny amount and then falling asleep. 10 mins later or less she is awake crying, rooting, chewing fists.

I tried the sling and ended up dropping the only dummy she will vaguely tolerate down a drain. She isn't that keen on it anyway.

Is this normal. I have no idea how much e has as she basically grazes on a bottle of over a few hours.

raining, what is her weight doing?

Is she really not taking in any milk? How long has this been happening?

Weight gain has been fine, she was last weighed in on weds and is above birth weight.

This has been happening since yesterday. She will take some, but less than an ounce at a time. I know she isn't taking much as the bottle isn't going down. Sometimes it takes 3-4 hours for her to have 3oz.

Should I try weighing her tomorrow? She is doing wet nappies etc.

Possible that she's just hot and doesn't want to eat much - my DSs both do this. If she's producing wet nappies that is a good sign.

I'd suggest dressing her lightly (my 4 week-old DS2 is in a vest with no blanket over him, for example), letting her cool down a little and then seeing if she shows more interest in food.

On a more practical note, prepare smaller amounts of formula for the time being (i.e. less per bottle) so you don't waste it! If she guzzles one bottle you can always let her have another one :)

Meant to add that if it persists overnight, I would probably want to consult a HCP to be on the safe side....

If it persists overnight I'll be referring myself to a HCP for sleep deprived madness :)

There is a weigh clinic tomorrow I could take her to. If I can comprehend getting us all ready in time.

Which formula/bottle/teat size are you using?

Hipp organic, in Mam bottles, size 1 teats.

She's still very little, but you could try a variable flow or size 2 teat to see if that makes it easier for her- it sounds as if she is struggling to get the milk out and may be falling asleep from the effort.

If the teat is too large for her, milk will run down the sides of her mouth- if this happens, change back to a number 1.

This is only a possibility, but one which you may wish to rule out.

Thanks. Just tried level 2 teat. She actually took over 2oz. She then started to dribble it a bit. So I stopped. But then she has always been a bit dribbly.

Her poo is hard and a bit of a green colour- that isn't right for a ff baby is it?

Sorry I bf my son, until I became ill, so have never ff such a small baby.

She could be a bit colicky or perhaps have reflux. All 3 of my dd's have been reflux babies. Those symptoms do sound similar to what my dd's have presented with. She also sounds a bit constipated. Not sure about the green pooh as some formulas, ie, comfort, do turn pooh green, not the regular ones though.
With all of my dd's (youngest being 14 wks) I would only use dr browns bottles as supposed to be best for preventing colic. I also tried aptamil/c&g comfort as these are slightly easier to digest. Then we tried gaviscon as we thought that the stomach contents may be travelling up and and burning the oesophagus. This did help for a while. My dd3 is now on Zantac and a formula hat thickens in the stomach.
As for the constipation you could try 1 oz of cool boiled water with 1/2 tsp brown sugar daily. This is recommended by the maternity hospitals and does help. We had to put my dd3 on lactulose for a short time also.
At such a young age they do only drink quite small amounts, my dd was only taking 2-3 oz at this stage. I would take her to the clinic for advice, in my experience HCP tend to be very vague about these issues but it's worth checking that there is nothing else going on.

Yes she had been taking 2-3oz each time up until yesterday.

Ds had reflux, but he was very sucky. She isn't really sick. But it could be silent.

We are using the mam anti colic bottles. We used Dr Brown's with ds, but they were all cracked this time. The mam ones do the same thing I think.

It would explain why she hates lying down and prefer to be on her stomach or side. Although she will lie flat I am my arms, so maybe it is just a newborn thing.
I will take her to clinic tomorrow.

Do try a variety of teats. When I was bottle feeding my dd I tried about 5 different teats before I found one she liked. I think it was a Nuk latex one int the end. It was a special shape and more flexible than the silicone ones. Good luck.

She fed quite well overnight. We aren't going to make the clinic this morning. I have to get bus and it is first day dh is back at work. I imagine I'll be doing well of we are all dressed by lunch time!

Actually green poos can be normal for a ff baby.
It could well have been the heat....see how she goes on over the next 24 hours....

...agree with twonker...my ds1 would only feed from a nuk latex teat too!!

Maybe she was just having an off day yesterday. Hope she continues to do well for you.