Baby feed?

[blvdbrokendreams]

My daughter was born yesterday morning in the early hours. She is very small. She is formula feeding. I think we've overfed her and now we feel awful. She has had three good feeds through the day of 30-40 mils of milk. And 2 mini feeds. She is rooting and smacking her lips together plus putting her hands in her mouth and sucking but some feeds she takes the full 40 mils and falls asleep. Others she takes ten and falls asleep. But each time she's asking for food. There's usually 3 and a half hour between each ask. Now she's had 4 poo nappies today and she's passing a lot of gas and I feel like we've overfed her. And feel awful. She's crying and still sucking her mouth and wanting food and honestly I don't know what to do. I don't have anyone to ring. it's Sunday night and I'm getting really upset. Do I give her more? Do I not? The discharge nurse said because she's small to feed her as often as she wants and to aim for every 3-4 hours. Her poo is still meconium so I don't think it's diarrhoea. But she's been 4 times and I don't know if that's normal

Pretty sure that's normal OP. My first did a poo after every single feed! Definitely feed on demand but just a heads up that sucking fists can also be a tiredness cue. Lots of bicycle legs and propping baby up on your shoulder for a good while after feeds can help with wind but honestly both mine seemed to find digesting a chore until about 12 weeks so much of what you've described sounds like pretty typical newborn fussiness to me. You sound like you're doing a great job! Congratulations on your baby!

My dd once did 12 poos in a day and screamed through every one of them. Sounds like you are recognising the signs of hunger and responding to that. You're doing a great job. Infacol might help in the early days with wind and digestion, their systems are very new and unused to this.

If she doesn't want the milk she won't take it. Mine did 12 poos a day at first! Straight after his feeds. Congratulations! Take a deep breath, calm yourself and tell yourself you can do this. You know her better than anyone already and she's telling you what she wants. Trust your instinct because no one can read your baby better than you x

Don’t forget her stomach is tiny and will need refilling often. Feeding 3-4 hourly seems like a long time for a tiny newborn, mine fed two hourly to start with. If she’s had too much then she’ll some milk will come up or she won’t take anymore. Go by her cues.

Thanks for the reassurance guys. You know when you start googling and then go off on a wave. So when I messaged she was crying for food and because of the gas I didn't know what to do so we offered her the bottle and she took 45 mils so she must have needed it

Babies will stop feeding when they're full. Its actually really hard to feed a baby that doesnt want to be fed. If shes asking for it, then feed her. You're doing a great job!

Are you winding her? Pause halfway through a feed or more often if you need to and get her to do a good burp then carry on.

@Enderman yeah we usually burp her when she comes off the teat and burp her and then offer her it again. I think it's just first time parenting nerves and Google.

It sounds very normal; my DS fed every 2 hours until he was about 6+ weeks old, 3-4 hours is a long time for some babies

That’s good, sometimes if they guzzle the feed they can end up with too much wind, can also depend on the teat you’re using. Some babies are just gassy though! Tummy massage can help and leg cycling. It’s all trial and error. You’ll find what works for your baby. It’s also normal for them to feed a lot! And this can increase when they have a growth spurt. They also can’t work out day and night for a little while, that’s totally normal too.

She does ask about every 3 hours. I'm happy to feed her when she asks. I just feel so lost. And then I panic when she asks and takes only ten mile and then you start googling and yeah.

It is quite a lot for the early days (I've formula fed three babies), mine mainly took between 15-20 ml per feed at that stage.

That said, all babies are different and mine were all quite small so maybe didn't have the appetite straight away. You will also find that a baby will just sick it up of your overfeeding, so if that's not happening then you're fine. Little and often tends to be better than big feeds too as they can digest it easier and tend to be less windy - my most recent baby fed every two hours at first.

Try not to worry, you're doing great.

You're doing a great job, just stay away from Google!!

Thank you so much for all your help. I think first time mum and Google and tiredness are a bad combination. Babies now feeding a lot better every 2-3 hours. We're definitely noticing the cues better. Thank you all so much

Are you pacing the feeds? Assuming everything is OK with you and baby you are under midwifery care for 10 days and you can ring the maternity ward for advice.

Pacing the feed is a really good idea, might help with the wind. Basics are - have baby sat upright (as much as possible with little head control for now) rather than lying down. Don't tip the bottle the whole way, bring it down every minute or so to give them time to regulate breathing and swallow separately.