Very hungry four month old, drinking 9oz every two hours!!!

[Marcry]

Ok so I’m trying to delay weaning as much as possible ds is 18 weeks and can’t sit steadily yet. Until three weeks ago he was exclusively breastfed but he went from feeding every three hours and sleeping overnight to feeding every hour day and night for four weeks, so three weeks ago I put him on bottles through the day. He’s drinking between 7and 9oz every hour and half to two hours which I’m my opinion is a lot and also having 3/4 breastfeeds a night. He is sleeping better at night now. He’s a big boy he is 20lbs but he was only 7lb at birth so very hungry. My health visitor just says to give him as much as he wants but this seems far too much. He doesn’t sick it up and only has one dirty nappy a day so clearly needs it. He is deffinately hungry I try everything else first. Should I start him on some baby cereal aswell? My little girl started on solids at this age due to not keeping her milk down and her growth dropped from the 75th to the 9th percentile, but she was sitting up on her own and was showing the signs for weaning. Really not sure what to do and doctors and health visitor keep fobbing me off saying growth spurt but it has been 7weeks. Please give me some reassurance and advice.

Baby cereal has fewer calories than milk so that won’t help. Are you doing paced feeding?

My DS would drink 5 x the recommended formula dose from day one so I say as long as he isn’t sicking lots up, keep doing what you’re doing and feeding as much as they need when they need

I know it has less calories but he’s drinking between 56 and 72 oz a day plus several breast feeds, surely that going to stretch his stomach. I’m using the smallest teat size and stoppi several times while feeding but he just screams until he’s full. I never make him finish a bottle but quite often he’s draining them before he’s content.

Have you tried the hungry baby formula? Or is he having breast milk in a bottle?

Up to 72oz and 4breastfeeds on top of that though! He could be having over a 100oz a day that’s a ridiculous amount. He was fully breastfed until last three weeks and was gaining a lb a week for ages so was clearly getting loads then aswell. Could it be a health issue I really have no idea x he’s gained 13lb since birth

He’s on first milk due to being fully breastfed until recently I didn’t want to upset his stomach. Would u recommend hungry baby formula? I’m willing to try anything tbh. The only reason I’m cautious to early weaning is chrohns disease is in the family and I’ve heard early weaning can contribute to it

I'm not sure what to suggest if a doctor isn't concerned though, didn't they agree it was a lot?

Yeah I wouldn't wean early nowadays either. My son had the hungry baby milk as everything else made him sick as he had reflux. It's worth a try, apparently it's heavier on their stomachs so it might make him feel fuller.

my Doctors aren’t very useful tbh so I don’t just take there word for things. They said I had period pain last week and later that day was took in a ambulance and in hospital for a week with a kidney infection. I’d only recently moved him into formula when I seen the doctor and they said just wait and see if he settles down on it.

I think I might try the hungry baby when he finishes this tin, I was thinking either that or adding cereal to one or two bottles, I know it’s not advised but I don’t feel this is normal circumstances most people are in when they wean early.

I had a hungry baby like this. In the end, with health visitor support (they had been telling me to continue breastfeeding exclusively despite his hourly waking, hungry, through the night) we weaned him on to solids at 5 months. The evidence for waiting to 6 months came, at the time, from a WHO report that related more to developing countries where clean water was an issue. My baby is now a very fit, healthy and strong 14 year old.

Whatever you do don’t add cereal to a bottle as it’s a choking hazard. If you want to wean early then do it probably and use a spoon.

My little one had eight 12oz bottles a day at six months. The advice from HVs was not to wean early but to just keep ho the bottles, they basically said a baby is good at self regulating how much milk they take, and it was definitely true I my experience. He reduced his formula intake when he started solids.

Also HVs advised that hungry baby formula is harder to digest which is why it keeps them "fuller" for longer. But can unsettle their tummies. If it was me, and he's happy after his bottles and keeping it all down then I wouldn't change anything. I just kept a close eye on his weight to make sure he was following the curves on the chart. In fact, my little one managed to drop centiles while taking 96oz a day

Dear God don’t add anything to his bottles!
That’s an insane idea and a total choking hazard.

My DS was the same, health visitor wasn't concerned and was told to give him as much as he wants. I changed him to hungry baby milk which lengthened the time between feeds. They went from every 1.5-2hrs to every 4 hours. To avoid an upset stomach I put him on it gradually. So first day one bottle of hungry baby, second day two etc until he was on it for every feed. Does your DS take a dummy? I found DS has quite a strong sucking reflex although he won't take a dummy so sometimes I give him a teat from a bottle to suck on. This is helpful during the night because he's not actually looking for a night fees no he's well established on solids but he likes something to suck on to settle him.

My DS drank loads of milk - some days he would have two bottles in one go - thank god for the perfect prep machine. A dummy helped as he liked the comfort of sucking, which helped stretch out the feeds a bit as we got towards the weaning stage.

@ @sweetpea2811 I’m glad someone else has a baby drinking so much nobody I know irl does and it’s hard to work out if this is ok. I haven’t gave him any solids as of yet and just wanting opinions as I am getting basically no help from health visitors etc they just say that is a lot but give no advice really. He has a dummy but isn’t keen on it and if he is hungry he spits it out and screams. So is the general consensus to put him on hungry baby? I know loads of people advice against it but is this a situation it should be used?

Babies do get hungrier from the 11 week mark. I was encouraged to keep on breastfeeding so I will nurse, express after every feed and top up; but it is exhausting.

Have you checked the formula instructions to see what they recommend? Breastfed babies can regulate their appetite better than bottlefed babies not just because they have better control over the nipple but because breastmilk has almost sedative properties. If he’s drinking loads of formula try breastfeeding him in between bottles to see if it helps

@Marcry I personally would just increase his bottles if he's still hungry after. The only difference between the two formulas is that hungry baby has more casein in which is harder for babies to digest. You could risk him not drinking enough milk to get the calories he needs because he's too full.

DS was exactly the same. He is 25. The guidelines then were to breast or bottle feed unril 16 weeks. GP said he was a fat, happy, healthy baby who liked and needed food and to start weaning. He took to weaning like a duck to water. At 9/10 weeks he was knocking back 11oz.

He is just over 6ft, fit, muscular, and very bright. His father and I were weaned earlier than that and are now nearly 60
.

Are you pace feeding?

I know breastfeeding is best but he was feeding every hour day and night and I couldn’t keep up to it, my other child is only 16months old I can’t sit and breastfeed the whole day I tried for four weeks of constant feeding from 11-15 weeks. At least this way I get up to a two hour gap and someone else can feed him. And now he is sleeping several hours at night so he was clearly hungry. The formula instructions say 6oz every Three to four hours this is massively more he’s drinking 16-18oz in that time.

Just to add I was told to completely ignore the "guidelines" for feed amount on the formula, because when I followed that my baby lost considerable weight. I don't know a single formula fed baby who has actually followed the guidelines on the box.

I would agree with @sweetpea2811 and unfortunately @itsallthedramaMickiloveit I have to disagree with a proportion of that post as it indicates you should be measuring how much baby is drinking and being concerned if they drink too much.

It’s really simply, you would never measure how much a breastfeed baby has, you just feed on demand. So don’t do anything differently to formula 😀