Advise needed for my 5 week old, nearly 6 weeks old on Sunday

[Firsttimemum1999]

Hi all, I was looking for some advice. My 5 week old he is formal fed but when I go to give him his bottle he sometimes has it all but most of the time he has from 2oz up to 3.5oz. He is on 5oz bottle because he’s can get hungry after 2 hours but sometime we knock it down to 4oz and it’s still same. But I looked it up and it said he should be having 4oz everytime 3-4 hours the most he goes is 3 hours. We’ve had to change his tommee tippy teat from stage 2 to stage 3. He was 3 weeks early however When he was born he was really poorly he was in intensive care for 5 days before moving into special care unit for 3 days but he didn’t start having an bottle until he was 8 days old. despite being Like this for his feeds he’s seem to be fine in himself. Thankyou

Every child is different. He’s so young. Remember that they have tiny tummy’s at this age. Check how much he is having over the whole day, rather than at each feed. If it’s quite low, chat to your midwife/hv. Also check he is putting on weight, and has lots of wet nappies. If all good, just go with the flow and continue to feed on demand. He almost at the stage of having a growth spurt too, so you may find he’s suddenly very hungry in a week or two.

Check nhs website the amounts your quoting don't seem right for his age. You should be feeding him according to his weight it's something like 150/200mls per kg.
Also contact HV.

150/200mls per kg then divide by 8 for 8 feeds a day or 10 if he's feeding 10 times but check nhs website for the exact mls per kg

@SecretUnassumingFoghorn

150/200mls per kg then divide by 8 for 8 feeds a day or 10 if he's feeding 10 times but check nhs website for the exact mls per kg

Hi there, I've just done 150 x 4kg as that what his weight was last time he got weight and divide it by 8 and it said 75 I'm not sure if I had done that right

He can't read the guidelines or tell the time. If he's hungry every 2 hours then feed him every 2 hours.

Both of mine had bottles every 2 hours at that stage -DC1 was more like every 90 minutes!

I’ve just done an calculation online and I got this back
“ You should feed them around 6-8 times a day (every 3-4 hours), and per one feeding, the baby should drink approximately 60-120 ml (2-4 oz) of baby milk. ”

I’m so sorry for all this. I’m an new mum and he didn’t have an good birth as he needed cpr so I’m constantly worrying about him

Go with your baby. I was like you 4 months ago. My LO meant to be in 1000mls for formula. She reaches maybe 600mls on some days. She hasn't lost any weight but not gained a huge amount since she was 4 months old. I have a big 1 stone 7lb baby too at 6.5 months old. She was roughly this weight at 4 months too. Go with your baby. Trust them. Don't stress (easier said then done) if they having wet nappies and having bowel movements and seems happy. Go by that.

As long as they gaining weight that's the main thing - weigh them at home if you need to. Not very accurate but gives you rough idea

I was new mum too and used to scrawl the Internet trying to find ways to increase feeding - just ended in tears on both sides 😔 my LO was on size 3 teats by 4 months I think it was.

Oh like others I fed when she wanted. Sometimes 2 hours sometimes 4 hours. Be led by them.

You don't need to apologize for anything @Firsttimemum1999. Sorry my posts were blunt I was rushing. Like other posters have said they're guidelines. However don't take your eye off the ball, continue to monitor feeding and trust your instincts if you think feeding isn't going as it should. My lo wasn't feeding well, never lost but gained slowly. Through investigation turns out she had a cow's milk allergy. So keep doing what you're doing and trust your instincts if you think something's off.

So long as they are gaining weight and are happy feed them on demand. Better to have slightly too much formula in a bottle than have them drain it and not be satisfied. It can be a bit frustrating as they can have larger feeds then little top ups.
Our baby has just turned 1 month. She will have from 3oz - 5oz, as little as 2 hours to 6 hours between feeds too. I just feed her when she wants feeding, I do a mix of 4-5oz bottles depending on the time of day (hungrier either side of a longer sleep). She's extra hungry today and having more frequent feeds, must be a growth spurts.

@Firsttimemum1999 6 hours between feeds is too long! This is only if they have sleep this length at nights otherwise way too long. Don't rely on advice from strangers off the the Internet for something this important get in touch with with your HV.

I will point out that the 6 hour stint between feeds is rare and has been at night when I've been sleeping too. She would have 2 good feeds close together before sleeping that long too. 25oz of formula a day is recommended for her weight and she usually has more than that.

6 hours at night is fine as long as baby gaining weight and having lots in the day. I wouldn't wake baby at night unless advised by paediatrians/gp. As I know some babies need to be waken up at night

Like I said in my post only at night @Chelyanne @Pickle2021

Hi all,

As I previous post was About my 6 weeks hardly drinking his milk and was feeding on demand, we have changed his bottles from tommee tippee to Mam bottles however I was unsure of the teat stage I should give him he's is finishing the bottles with the Mam bottles and going longer. However we have tried him with stage 1,2&3 teats and can't tell which one is the best for him as with the tommee tippee he had to go on stage 3. But he demolishing the bottles with each stage but with the 2&3 he is vomiting loads but with stage 1 he only did it a little bit but he had hiccups, and he doesn't seem to cough as much with stage 1 like he with the others. Is it best to keep him on stage 1 or put him on the stage teat he was on with the tommee tippee?

Thank you

Keep on stage 1 a little longer. As he was a little early and had a rough start I would think of him being a few weeks younger. Obviously by 6 months old it will be insignificant but he's still very much a newborn.

Agree with @RandomMess above - sounds as though he needs the number 1 teat a little longer before moving onto the faster flowing ones.
If he was 3 weeks early he’s only 3 weeks corrected age so his tummy will be tiny hence smaller feeds more frequently. My DS was 6 weeks early so we had a similar issue though now at 13 weeks (7 corrected) he’s worked up to 210mls/ bottle every 4/ 5 hours or so and went nearly 8 hours overnight.

A paediatrician friend reminded me that babies don’t count the amount of formula they eat/ don’t eat, so as long as they’re taking the bottle frequently and when hungry, they’ll take the amount they want to and stop when they’re not hungry.

If he’s draining the bottle, pop a bit more in next time so it’s there if he wants it. And as long as he’s doing wet/ dirty nappies and gaining weight - that’s perfect.

If he keeps hiccuping / vomiting his milk up/ not winding properly you may want to look at reflux issues. DS is now on an anti reflux milk which has been a game changer for us