how much milk?

[bambi06]

my ds is 7 weeeks old and hungry all the time..is breastfeed apart from top ups a tnight .. tonight he drained all my milk then drank 5 oz and wanted more when he drained tha tin 5 mins!! so then had what was left in me after a brief break to wait for my breasts to fill up again..am i over feeding him.how much should he be taking..this can go on through the night every two hours..ive even tried him on hungrier baby formula as a top up ..no difference{shock] btw he is a big baby..he was 10.12 lbs at birth and is now probably about 14-15 lbs!! is he having too much and doesnt know when to stop do you think

Wait for an expert answer (I'm just a mum)

But in my humble opinion your breasts don't run out...though the milk does change thoughout a feed.

Also a formula feed in a bottle will drain into a babies mouth, it is so easy to take a lot of milk even if the baby is not hungry. Which is why it is possible to overfeed whilst bottle feeding and not whilst breastfeeding.

Have you been advised to top up with formula ? I had a big baby and she was fine on just breastmilk.

You don't need to wait for your breasts to fill up. They're never completely empty.

Your baby stimulates your breasts to make more milk by sucking. By topping up you may well be preventing your milk production increasing to meet your baby's needs.

Sounds like he is having a growth spurt and is trying to get your milk in. Keep feeding if you can, and your nipples will stand it, and let him and your body do their jobs. All 3 of mine have been frequent and greedy feeders, and I would recommend trying to feed while you are lying down then at least you can sleep, becuase it does get exhausting.

The top ups will reduce your milk supply. It is produced simply by demand and supply i.e. they demand how much they want = your boobs supply it.

so, best advice is not to top up, unless you have bee ntold specifically to do so? and if so, what is the reason for it?

yor boobs dont actually run out as such. you will constantly be producing it.

I believe that at 6-8 weeks they have growth spurt so do demnd more milk at this time. The BEST thing you can do, is offer more breast feeding. this will boost your supply and your baby will evenutally be satisfied.

you are doing fine, that weight gain is fantastic! well done you so i dont see why you are topping up at all... its just not needed, and can be really detrimental to your supply... so maybe try not to and feed for longer and see if that gets you anywhere.

BTW my DD was feeding every hour to hour and half at 6 weeks, upwards. She was just hungry. catching up a bit as she was only 4.5lbs so under half your babies weight! She's about 15lbs now i think at 10 months!

She still occasionally now, will have the odd night where she wants to feed every 2 hours. I know it not hunger, as she has 3 meals a day! however, she really drinks and drinks on these occasions, so she gets it, ifthats what she wants i just feed her lying down so i'm resting plenty.

thanks for all your messages..i only top up after hes drunk from me first..and then he gets frustrated[this is at night only] as there isnt much milk coming out..ive checked and there isnt anything left unless i wait a few mins by that time hes getting annoyed..hes just hungry all the time...last night i gave up and gave him a bottle after him playing around for an hour of falling asleep on me then waking up after 10 mins ravenous and this repeated itself until i gave him 5 oz formula and he slept for 3 hours..i dont think im producing enough in the eves to keep him going through he night for long...its every hour andim knackered even though i usually feed him lying in bed with me for most of night..during the day hes fine at taking enough and lasting