At wits end - constantly feeding formula

[chargedproton]

I’m at the end of my tether.

My baby is 7 weeks old, 13oz 4 and on the 91st centile so he’s a big boy.

However he constantly wants feeding. 5oz every 2 hour or even less sometimes.

He screams down the house if he doesn’t get milk.

Every time I go out with him to a coffee shop or even in town, he’s guaranteed to wake up wanting to feed.

I thought formula fed babies tend to be fuller for longer?

He seems happy, sometimes he spits up but that’s not often and usually when I burp him.

Plenty of wet and dirty nappies.

I’m just fed up of this Constantine feeding.

He doesn’t like being laid down anymore, only at night time, so taking him out in a carrycot results in him crying.

I can’t put him down for naps as he wakes up because he wants to sit up and look around but the he’s tired so end up crying.

When does this all become easier and I am able to take him without worrying that he’s going to want feeding?

*constant feeding.

Sorry for poor grammar or spelling mistakes. Trying to post on my phone.

I asked the Health Visitor about hungry baby milk but she’s against it and said maybe give him a dummy but I don’t like them.

She said wait 10 minutes when he starts crying for a feed every time and it’ll take out a feed but that hasn’t helped!!

He's very young. He wants milk. Give him milk. He will start to go longer between feeds soon and it will get easier for you. Personally, I think it's a myth about formula filling babies up more, didn't work with mine.

Could he have reflux or silent reflux if he doesn’t like to lie flat and wants to constantly suck/feed?

I was thinking reflux as well.

Modern formula isn't much more filling than breastmilk which is good as it's better for their tummies but isn't much fun for mum and dad!

A dummy would help if he's sucking for comfort.

Give him more than 5oz at a time and see if he lasts longer or whether he is just crying for habit.

It's ok for him to cry and want a feed when you're out, babies do that, and people won't mind a baby crying. It's hard as you feel very self conscious but really try not to worry about it.

I'd just keep feeding him on demand, try a bit more milk at each feed as PP have suggested, and see if that helps. Tiny babies do need feeding a lot, and it will get easier as they grow and go longer between feeds.

Agree with the others, formula filling babies up is a myth. It’s not a magic formula.

From his weight he should be having roughly 33 floz in 24 hours. If he’s having 5floz every 2 hours, is he having more like 60 floz? If this is the case, I’d keep on giving it but would mention it again to your HV and point out how much extra he’s having. It should be roughly 2.5 floz per pound in weight in 24 hours. Tall babies often want a little more though.

From what you're saying id say reflux and possible CMPI. Babies suck for comfort and if their tummy's sore they confuse it with hunger and feed more. I would go to your gp and maybe see about trialing a dairy free formula for 6 weeks and also ranitadine to see if that helps at all with the silent reflux.

My dd was exactly like this. Was diagnosed with silent reflux at 8 weeks

Sorry, he doesn’t mind lying flat. But not more than 15 minutes. I can lie him flat for about 15 minutes and he’s happy and laughing to himself but it seems more likes bored so wants to sit up as he’ll happy sit in the bouncer.

He doesn’t seem in pain when lying down for a nap, more so that he wants to be held as when he really knocks out, he does sleep on his back...but for like 30 minutes. Maybe I’m missing when he used to sleep for hours.

He doesn’t mind being on his back when he’s full and content but that results in me overfeeding him and he can’t have a small spit up but he starts smiling.

He’s seems so big and he’s quite a long baby too.

I don’t want to diagnose him with reflux and give him unnecessary medicine.

He sleeps perfectly at night, just a bit of grunting. But gripe water seems to help but I only give it to him once before bed.

Maybe I should give him that more?

He is very gassy, does huge farts a lot.

*but can have a small spit up

Gripe water and reflux medicine are really much of a muchness, if you're not worried about the former I wouldn't worry about the latter. If it doesn't make a difference you can stop giving it.

That said he does sound like a normal baby - it should settle down over the next few weeks but it's a good idea to feed on demand. Try paced feeding so he has to work a bit harder for the milk (google it) and try to make sure he's always rejecting the last bit of a bottle and you remain aware of his signals when he's had enough. It's fairly normal for the amount of milk they want/frequency of feeds to vary a lot and go up and down rather than steadily increasing the amount/decreasing the frequency.

I'll give an alternative perspective. At around 9 weeks old we were having the same issue, DC wanted feeding every 2 hours, he would wake up from his 30 minute nap crying, turns out he was still tired after his 30 mins and wasn't necessarily hungry, but tired. With a bit of encouragement we managed to get him to nap a little longer and he would wake up much happier, no tears and he went back to his 3 hour feeding routine.

My little boy was like that. He was premature and was in the nicu as ironically he was poor at feeding and needed to be tube fed. Once he got into the swing of things he was our little milk monster. I was starting to wonder was there something wrong but a lovely woman with older children I happen to chat to told me if he isn't throwing it up afterwards then he wants and needs it and to just go with the flow. The only issue was this continued for a long time and he was two before we got him off nighttime bottles but he is a hale and hearty three year old now who still loves his milk.

Thank you for all the replies.

He has started to suck his hands as well which makes me think he just likes to suck so maybe a dummy is the answer?

Sounds normal to me. Mine all fed 2-hourly until about 3 months, then 3 hourly until weaning. One had reflux, one didn’t.

I had a friend who gave up breastfeeding due to pressure from her family- one of their reasons was if he was feeding every two hours she couldn’t have enough milk.

She switched to formula and the baby still fed every two hours. Except now she had all the washing and sterilising to do as well. I hope her family helped her out with it all!!

Try a dummy- if it doesn’t work there’s no harm done, and you can get rid of it once he’s six months if you’re not keen on them.

Dd was a very sucky baby and dummies saved my sanity, despite me being adamant I wasn’t going to use one!

Try a dummy. I'd always been against them too, but DS3 changed my mind! It will help with mild reflux too - and if he is still crying (or not gaining weight properly) you know to either increase the milk or look into medication.

I’m not a huge dummy fan, but sometimes you have to just do what ever helps. Dd liked a dummy in the early days, and it really helped. She spits it out now and doesn’t feel need it anyway.

I would definitely try a dummy. I was adamant I didn’t want to use one for DD but it was a lifesaver! She was so much more content. She only ever has it for sleep now (since about 6 months old), and it’s a great sleep cue for her. She is an amazing little sleeper, and I really think the dummy is a big part of that.

I hated dummies but they really helped my son who had reflux. Do you use a baby carrier? DS hated the pram but was happy in the sling when out and about

definitely try a dummy. I was adamant I didn’t want to use one for DD but it was a lifesaver! She was so much more content

^this

Do you use a baby carrier? DS hated the pram but was happy in the sling when out and about

^and this.

Sounds very much like my 3wo colicy baby. Full of bubbles and wind and ate like a gannet. We were giving infacol at every feed and winding and keeping upright after each feed for 20 mins. This helped enormously. However she was still really windy and would spit up a lot. So we tried some anti colic bottles as every time she fed we could hear the air being sucked in (squeaking sound). We switched to the MAM bottles which give her a perfect latch. She's actually got an appointment for tongue tie coming up to be assessed which might be the culprit. Literally in one feed all of the intense wind has gone and she's eating more normal amounts.

When I think about it DD1 was similar insofar that if she had even the slightest bit of wind she would cry and cry and only seemingly be settled by milk. One day a family friend winded her after a feed and did so for a vast amount of time and then she was fine!! No milk required but happy baby.

I think wind could be your culprit here. However would also try a dummy to rule it out. DD2 needed a dummy to settle her whereas the others haven't. Like you, I'm not a dummy fan but it helped her so I went with it.

I would also try increasing a feed to see what happens. You could just have a very hungry baby on your hands. If only they could just tell us what was wrong...

It’s like he knew I posted this thread!

So yesterday and so far today, he’s been content with 5oz every 3/4 hours and has hardly cried, only whimpering when he’s hungry and sleeps for 2/3 hours in the morning, afternoon and evening quite happily. Maybe he’s been having a long growth spurt and it’s starting to settle!

I wish he could tell me.