Feeding 5 week old

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Just looking for some advice as FTM and feeling anxious about my newborn. My five week old is bottle fed has 4oz every 4hours. He’s terrible to wind and getting him to burp, he may do a couple of big burps and that’s it. He wriggles a lot as if he has wind but doesn’t seem to bother him and he sleeps fine and doesn’t seem uncomfortable or distressed by it. He has plenty of wet nappies but only poos about once every three days when he has a massive clear out (sorry if TMI). Problem is he will go through stages of being sick after feeding a fair bit (not a whole bottles worth) more than just a bit of spit up. He suffers with belly ache too but I put that down to his toilet activities as once he’s been he won’t suffer with stomach ache then. Been to the doctor who said to feed him less more often but health visitor and midwife didn’t seem to comment that I was over feeding him when I told them what he drinks they seemed it was fine. He’s currently on Aptamil, but not sure if it’s the milk that’s an issue. Anyone else had they same issue or can offer any advice?

I would agree with your GP - four hours is a really long time between feeds at that age! He may be taking too much in all at once? Are you doing paced feeding with him in a more upright position?

I also agree with the GP - we were feeding my daughter every three hours, around 2-3 ounces. Spit up was a regular thing and I remember sitting up with her for ages - sometimes over 30 mins waiting for her to burp. I'm not sure if GP recommended using infacol? I'm not sure if it's suitable for 5 weeks, but worth checking.

If you have Instagram look up feedeatspeak - she has lots of helpful posts about feeding.

Also - I’ve heard that Kendamil is a lot better than Aptamil. Have a read at google reviews online. I’m breastfeeding my baby but looking to add in a bottle before bed so have been researching formulas.

Hope it gets better for you and baby x

This is all absolutely normal for a baby this age.

My 5yo DS had horrendous reflux and would spit up entire bottles at each feed. That wasn’t normal. DS2, who is currently 5 weeks old as well, is gassy and vomits (sometimes so much so that it comes out of his nose) but it’s normal for babies to do that. Their digestive systems just aren’t mature yet. New parents spend a lot of time analysing their babies’ food intake, vomit etc., but in reality there’s not much to do except wait for it to pass - which it will, very soon.

Overall, if baby has wet nappies, is generally happy and alert and is gaining weight, they’re fine.

@Nowisthemonthofmaying yeah trying paced feeding at more of an upright position but seems to still happen. He was in neonatal before he came home and was feeding on demand every 3-4 hours there so we continued this. Doesn’t have an issue in the night sleeps fine and only wakes every four hours for a feed.

@AnaBananas yeah been trying infacol but doesn’t seem to be doing much. How much did you change your daughter to when she kept spitting up?

@RKid yeah looked into kendamil but heard sometimes it’s hard to get hold of so unsure whether to change to it and see if that helps

@FartnissEverbeans this is good to hear. He’s definately gaining weight and doesn’t vomit every feed he will go a few days feeding like normal and then have a day or so where’s he’s a bit sick after every bottle.

Was thinking he might have allergy to milk but not too sure that the signs are for that.

My baby is 5 weeks tomorrow.

I make sure she is fed upright and I keep her as upright as possible for at least half a hour after feeding. She has been suffering wind and I've been using colief which seems to help. The bottles and teats also make a difference too, I have found the Nuk bottles and teats seem to work best for us.

This all sounds quite normal to me. Their digestive systems just aren't very good but it'll sort itself out given time. I don't know why you suspect cow's milk allergy? Mine would quite frequently chuck a whole bottle back up and there's no issue with milk allergy at all.

The formulas commonly available in the supermarket are much of a muchness. Go for the cheapest as you'll be buying a lot. Mine have never been able to tell the difference.