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Original poster

VERY HUNGRY 6 WEEK OLD

46 replies

Reecex · 02/04/2018 22:07

Hey, I'm looking for some realist opinions, none of this new age stuff where people say we can't do this and can't do that when 2 years it was completely different. My son is 6 weeks old and he had a horrific start to life (waters broke unsure when baby in distress pooped in the womb inhaled it born via emergency c section and was born with no oxygen, in neonatal for 2 weeks) he is now 10lb 11oz and at birth was 7lb 8.5oz, he is a very very hungry baby, he eats almost every 4 hours and more often than not is taking 6oz. However between the hours of 3ish PM and 7ish PM he needs another 2oz on top of his 6oz from his last feed. He can't go the 4 hours til his next 6 Oz. The problem in having is that he is so hungry that he gets himself REALLY upset to the point he nothing consoles him even after he's had extra food. It's really upsetting and stressful and he then sleeps way longer than I would like after his 7ish PM feed. I don't like to wake him but it's got to the point I need to wake him to bath him and get his jammies on and then of course he gets so upset again! I'm at my wit's end. My mum told me I was a really hungry baby and at 6 weeks they out baby rice in one of my feeds and it seemed to help. Obviously health visitors advise against this (just like bathing your baby every night) my mum is for it but my partner is against it. Has anyone done this or knows anyone who has?? I need some form of advice on what to do before I become ill with stress.

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Original poster
Reecex · 03/04/2018 05:35

Which meant then he woke up again and hour later for 2 more Oz ... I'm pretty tired, the nights are what's tough, during the day he's an angel

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BertrandRussell · 03/04/2018 05:36

Your op seems to say that he can't wait and gets really upset- are you expecting him to go 4 hours? What happens if you feed him at the first squeak?

TanteRose · 03/04/2018 05:40

when you say he's an angel during the day, you mean he sleeps alot?
So that's why he's waking in the night, to get more food!

but this really will solve itself - you can't really force them into a strict routine at such an early stage. You can encourage him to feed a bit more during the day, by offering more often, maybe.

But being tired at night is normal!

I breastfed mine and my DD fed every 2 hours, for the first year! (this was 20 years ago, so I look back fondly but at the time, I was on my knees!!)

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Jaggythistle · 03/04/2018 05:46

If he's awake, feed him when he's hungry.

Watch the baby, not the clock. He can't tell the time, if he's crying he's probably really hungry.

If he stays asleep, he's probably content.

Babies don't need solid food until around six months. Definitely not 6 weeks! And really, really not in a bottle ever.

It can be bloody knackering and a bit relentless having a newborn, but the current advice is to feed 'on cue' i.e. when they act hungry, even if it's not in a set pattern.

Congratulations on your wee one and try not to worry about feed/ bath/ nap timings. He's tiny yet for a bath time routine at night. :)

PEARSON93 · 03/04/2018 05:46

Firstly stay away from baby rice/ rusk. He is far too young.

Try feeding a little more often or upping the oz.

Original poster
Reecex · 03/04/2018 05:48

What I mean in my original post is that at his 3ish feed he takes 6oz then an hour or so later he gets really upset for more food, so then he has 2 Oz more but this means he sleeps almost 6 hours in the evening which is too much cos then again he wakes up super upset cos he's so hungry. he wakes up upset after a few minutes of stirring it's pretty rapid.. He is an angel because he takes all his feeds has his wee hour or so awake and chatting to me then goes to sleep again.

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Original poster
Reecex · 03/04/2018 05:50

I would just like to point out that I do feed him on cue not with a clock .. it's pretty clear when he's hungry .. the whole street can hear that

Baby rice is a clear no then ... I just thought I would try on here rather than Google

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TanteRose · 03/04/2018 06:00

aw, its tough isn't it!
look, you seem to be doing the right thing, and the thing is, your baby is an individual who will change day to day in what he wants etc. He is also trying to work all of this out, and it takes time and a few tears from both sides Smile

Don't think of his development as linear - he won't progress smoothly from one thing to the next - babies will jump around alot, so he'll be sleeping fine one week, and then be up all night for the next week. And vice versa.

Look up the Fourth Trimester - he's only just out of that safe warm environment that he was in for 3 trimesters - you have to help him adjust.

Original poster
Reecex · 03/04/2018 06:40

For those who asked (sorry I must have skipped by your posts) the answer is no I have no help. And I don't know his length when he was born as they weren't that interested in it due to him basically almost dying

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BertrandRussell · 03/04/2018 06:43

What do you want to happen, ideally?

Prusik · 03/04/2018 06:46

You sound like you're doing fab. It doesn't sound like you need to change anything

Bananarama12 · 03/04/2018 06:59

It all sounds really normal. Mine was feeding every 2 hours at one point. Feeding habits change all the time so just go with it. And I wouldn't wake for a bath either.

Ilovecamping · 03/04/2018 07:01

My DD1 never went 4 hours between feeds, but DD2 was a sleeper and I was told to let her sleep no longer than 6 hours so I was virtually always waking her to feed. They are all different and no one rule fits all, trying upping the feeds and see how it goes.

honeysucklejasmine · 03/04/2018 07:07

DS at that age was feeding upwards of 20 times a day (breastfed) but even DD who was formula fee would have about 6oz every 3 hours at least, less often at night.

Honestly he sounds quite normal. By all means try to keep him awake more in the day if you want his sleep better at night, but some kids are practically nocturnal and there's not much to be done.

JiltedJohnsJulie · 03/04/2018 09:58

Reecex you sound like you had an awful birth experience. Has anyone told you about the Birth Trauma Association? It might be worth taking a look Smile

It’s good that you are feeding on cue and I do ageee with letting babies sleep. Having said that, and I know I will probably get flamed for this, if he’s sleeping from 7 am till 2 pm I would wake him after 4 hours. Maybe give him a nappy change and if that’s not working strip him off completely. If he can sleep 7 hours straight, you want him to be doing that at night eventually.

As others have said, he’s very little still and probably doesn’t know the difference between day and night yet. I’d try to get him outside first thing in the morning when he’s awake, if it’s light. Just to let his body know it’s daytime. Try to get him outside at least once more in the day. There’s a direct link between sunlight and sleep as well as resetting his body clock.

He sounds fabulous Smile

BrutusMcDogface · 03/04/2018 10:02

Sounds perfectly normal to me! There is a six week growth spurt. Just feed him when he's hungry and don't worry. Have you got a nice health visitor you can chat to for advice? I'm glad you've decided definitely no baby rice!

KalaLaka · 03/04/2018 10:08

You need to sleep during his massive day naps. They won't continue like this for more than a few months, so get your rest and recover from the birth while you can.

Original poster
Reecex · 04/04/2018 16:15

So it turns out that my son no longer wants more food, we've actually had to put his feeds down to 4/5 Oz as the 6 Oz doesn't get finished!! Must have just been a hungry week for him during the 3pm-7pm period. The last 3 days he's been crying a lot but we've now made an appointment with the doctor as he has started to vomit after some of his feeds and this has never happened before so it could possibly be acid reflux? I'm unsure but thanks for everyone's comments on my original post.

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JiltedJohnsJulie · 04/04/2018 16:26

Poor little love. Does he have any mucus in his poo too?

Original poster
Reecex · 04/04/2018 17:07

Not that I've noticed, he's been very mucasy since birth because he inhaled the meconium so he sneezes a lot but we were told to give him nose drops to dry and dry it up a bit and that seems to help and he's started to get boggies lol! Were hoping it's just acid reflux and he's not getting sick but I keep checking his temp and all is well! Today is been a fabulous day for us, to tears no tantrums, eating sleeping playing .. long may it continue

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