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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Advise needed for FF 7 week old

10 replies

BabyStone · 28/04/2013 16:48

Hi, I was just looking for some opinions/advise really
I have a 7wk old, when he was 18 days old HV was round and said as he was weighing 9lbs, we should up his ounces from 3 every 3hrs to 4 every 4hrs. We tried doing this for a couple of days, but the times he did take 4oz he would then be sick. He seems perfectly happy on 3oz approx every 3 hrs however this week, he has started to sleep longer through the night and sometimes misses a feed (probably would miss 2 if I didn't wake him)
we are worried he isn't getting enough so again tried upping his ozs to 4 and again it hasn't worked.

What do people suggest?
we are using Cow and Gate formula, it says on the side that once baby is 2 months old/11 lbs they "should" be having 5 lots of 6oz in 24 hrs

OP posts:
amazingmumof6 · 28/04/2013 17:06

I'd actually feed him 3 oz (or whatever he'l consume) every 2-2.5 hrs, then as he gets bigger I'd increase volume and decrease frequency.

Another trick would be to feed him 2oz of the 4, pause to burp him, then finish the feed. that might stop him from being sick!
(it worked for us with DS5, then DD)

either way stick to gaps of max 3 hours, he can't tank up, so 4 hours would be far too long for him right now.

I fed DD 2 hourly until she was about 3 months old (ebf for 6 weeks, then bf & ff) as she had tongue-tie (had op at 3 weeks) and an unusually arched soft palate, so feeding was a struggle.

she was born 8lb 3oz ((6 days late), lost about a pound, but because of the feeding difficulties she took 6 weeks to get back to her birth weight!
at her lightest she was on the 0.2 percentile for weight and people started to get concerned.

she's just turned 1, very healthy and happy (and cheeky) with a good appetite and I'm really glad I did what was right for her, and ignore the "average".

amazingmumof6 · 28/04/2013 17:10

another thing is check out this You tube video:

Priscilla Dunstan baby language on the Oprah show

(sorry I can't do links, just copy then search)

what you'll see &hear will help you understand what your baby needs every time he cries.

that information and the knowledge I gained was a life saver for us, I wish I had known about it with my first!

SoulTrain · 28/04/2013 17:15

Stick with every three hours and if he doesn't wake at night don't wake him!!

Original poster
BabyStone · 28/04/2013 17:24

ok thank you,
he was 8lb 2oz at birth, and 9lbs when he was 18days old and was on the 95th percentile, he is now 7wk 1d so im not sure how much he weighs but has definitely put on weight!

I've tried the giving 2oz then wind then the rest but he is sick still.
I'l give the video a watch

thanks :)

OP posts:
Original poster
BabyStone · 28/04/2013 17:38

Just worried that if he is missing his feeds at night then he isn't getting enough. But don't really want to be feeding him every 2 hrs, as would like to get some sleep at night! :P

OP posts:
AnythingNotEverything · 28/04/2013 17:46

It's a good thing is babies start missing feeds at 7 weeks! As long as he's otherwise healthy, he'll wake when he's hungry!

Is your HV worries that you're under feeding him? I know over feeding is a risk with ff babies (although you have to try quite hard I think), if he's gaining weight, I wouldn't worry too much. Feed him when he's hungry, give him as much or as little milk as he wants (with a burp break and without forcing any down). Keep getting him weighed so you know he's thriving!

amazingmumof6 · 28/04/2013 18:06

Oh no, I didn't mean you should do 2 hourly feeds at night, that'd be insane!

get him weighed, if he's gaining wait carry on what you are doing.

find out if the sickness is a reflux problem.

you could t y some infacol

colditz · 28/04/2013 18:07

Let him have wh at he wants. If he was breasted, you wouldn't be able to see how much he was drinking. Ds2 never drank more than 5 oz in s life,but he's perfectly healthy

Original poster
BabyStone · 02/05/2013 17:04

anythingnoteverything we haven't seen or spoken to the hv since he was 18days old (9lbs).
Since I last wrote on here, we have upped his bottles to 4oz every 4hrs (which is roughly the same amount of formula as 3oz every 3hrs I worked out) but we were just worried that if he was sleeping more in the night, he would not be getting enough.
I should be getting him weighed at a drop-in session next week so will ask about feeds then, it is also the same day as his first lot of jabs so if I am still unsure of anything hopefully the nurse and doctor should be able to answer any questions Smile

also, I met up with 3 friends yesterday who have all just had babies too and I was quite suprised to hear one of them is having 6oz every 3 hrs but is a sicky baby Hmm Confused do you think I should advise the mum to maybe cut down on the amount per bottle as this might help the sickyness?

thank you for all your replies

OP posts:
CornishYarg · 03/05/2013 18:40

Sounds like things have settled a bit, but in case it helps, my approach in the first few months was:

  • Fed on demand, so I didn't really worry about the quantities. If he drained his bottles a couple of times, I made up an extra oz. Ideally, I wanted him to leave a bit so I knew he'd had his fill. I also didn't wake him at night to feed or stick to a rigid routine in the day.

  • Winded him after every oz or so. If I didn't do this, he often brought most of it back up with a big burp at the end.

  • Ignored the guide on the side of the tin! It's just what an average baby might do so will obviously overstate for some and understate for others.

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