First time mum and worries about feeding

[missrainbowbaby]

My little girl is 6 weeks old today. She’s an absolute dream and I’m probably a over worrier. She was born 7lb 1oz and at 5 days old was 7lb 8oz, 7lb 14oz at 13 days old, 5 weeks old she was 9lb 14oz. So she’s gained and never lost. She’s overall a good feeder. But I’ve noticed over the last week she is getting slow with her bottle. I don’t know if I’m just misreading her hunger. But for example through the night she will have 2oz of her 4oz bottle and go to sleep, wake up 3/4 hours later and do the same, sometimes take more. And she keeps doing that throughout the day, takes ages to feed her and it’s worrying me/stressful because no sooner she’s fed it’s time for the next feed and I just feel like my day is constantly feeding her as she’s so slow. She’s now starting to slightly spit up, sometimes vomit. She’s also not going for a poo everyday. Sometimes it’s every other day. Has anyone had this issue? And is something suddenly causing it?

The pooing is normal - they start to space it out a bit more at that age!

Slow feeding could also be completely normal - as long as she is putting on weight then it's fine. She might just not be that hungry or feeding for comfort? As a general rule she will get faster and take more as she gets bigger (obvs!). Also they feed more during a growth spurt but then plateau for a bit... if she is happy then don't worry about it! Space out the feeds a little to see if she feeds faster when hungrier? X

@catsnore I can't explain how that small message has just reassured me. Thank you💓 I think I'm just over worrying. So glad about the poo thing because I've been worried sick she's in pain. Even though she's given no indication she's in pain😂 I'm going to try the space out the feeds today. Thank you again x

This sounds similar to how my DD progressed. She lost alot of weight after birth though and was slow to gain due to lots of factors out of my control.
She was breast and bottle fed but would only take small amounts of milk overnight and wake regularly for more small bottles. She gained weight fine in the end though.
I think it was more of a comfort thing though as she wouldn't take a dummy and couldn't self settle at that age.
Once she could self settle at around 4months the night waking greatly reduced and she would take a whole bottle before bed and once in the night.

As for the poo. That's normal. They suddenly stop having poos every hour and won't go for days!
Apparently it's as the gut matures? GP told us if she is showing signs of constipation we could give a small amount of cool, boiled water.
If constipated she will be uncomfortable, straining, may have a bit of a bloated belly, won't take milk as well and may vomit.
It does sound normal though. Just be prepared for the biggest poo ever when it does happen!

@RedHerring24 so glad you experienced this also, all be a bit different. My little girl takes a dummy, loves her dummy. Just her self settling we have to work on, she likes to be cuddled to sleep and then it's risky business putting her down as it's like she senses not being in your arms and wakes straight away. In the night time she can go down completely asleep and stay like that or she can wake up again and I mean wide awake. Very hit and miss. She's a happy little content soul. Me as her mother? Not so much content😂

Mine took ages to finish a bottle it was sooo boring!

But if you are getting wet nappies, poo daily or every other and she is gaining weight you are doing brilliantly and being a fabulous mum.

@missrainbowbaby at 6 weeks old cuddling to sleep is fine. And having been through that phase recently, it's absolutely acceptable. They do not stay babies for long so enjoy it (cliche but so so true). Have the sleepy cuddles, let her fall asleep on you and make the most of it.
Also Google the 4th trimester.
Putting a small baby down alone in a crib is a big thing. They're used to the security of being tucked up inside you where they feel safe. A big open crib is a huge change for them.
I had so many days and nights where I tried to put DD down for a nap and as soon as I leant over the crib she would wake.
It takes time and patience. But enjoy the sleepy snuggles for now.

Thank you all, this has really put my mind at rest x

Try a faster teat. My DD was doing this, she was taking ages to feed and then was getting trapped wind because she was sucking too hard so was spitting up.

The rest all sounds normal though!

i also recommend a bigger teat. My boy was getting tiered from sucking the test so would fall asleep the bigger test sorted this. He did have thicker milk so had to put in a bit more effort.

I have the number 2 mam teat. But read this morning it's from 2 months+. She was 6 weeks yesterday, silly question but can I use it? Or shall I just buy new teats for my mam bottles?

My little girl is 3 months and poo's every other day but at 4 weeks was every 4-5 days so admittedly we did change her milk which helped

As for milk intake even now she can take as little as 550-600ml over a 24 hour period but then other days can take over 800ml, she was born 7lb 9oz and is now just under 12 lbs but is tracking nicely along the 25th centile

So long they're putting on weight and are happy it's nothing to worry about 😊 you're doing great xxx

We've been using tommee tippee size 2 since 6 weeks and just moved her dr brown to size 3 which is 6 months! (She's 3 months)