Very hungry 6 week old

[Jendrw5]

Hi,
My baby is almost 7 weeks old, he's been on 7oz bottles for a couple of weeks now, which is quite a lot but he seems fine with it. But last night he finished his bottle and still looked hungry. We tried other things first like changing him and making sure he wasn't too hot, as it was very warm yesterday.
Tried him on another bottle, thinking he maybe just wanted a drop more milk but he downed the whole bottle, so that was 14oz in just over 2 hours.
He was fine afterwards, he has had problems with reflux and is on gaviscon, but we put him to bed and 3 hours later he was awake ready for his next bottle, which he didn't take as much of.
Just wondering if we're doing something wrong, he's only a little baby, on the 9th percentile, we have hv on Monday to check his weight again, but we always just feed on demand and if he wants more we give it to him, but 14oz just sounds so much for such a young baby!
He usually has about 35oz a day, yesterday would've been over 40oz with his double feed.
I'm worried that feeding him so much formula will be bad for him, even though he seems happy enough especially since starting gaviscon, any advice on what to do, or should we just continue to feed him as we are?
Thanks!

What centile was he on at birth? I’m wondering if he has some catching up to do. Are you and his father smallish? I’m just thinking about what size he is ‘meant’ to be.

He's always been 9th percentile. I'm around 5'5 and dh is 5'4 so I think he's meant to be small. I did think he might be trying to catch up lol

Absolutely do not do this if he is 6/7 weeks old 🙄
Just keep doing what you are doing and feeding him on demand 🙂

You’re kidding?! The OP’s baby is SIX WEEKS!
Do NOT do this, OP

just bottle feed on demand as you have been doing

What??? Baby isn't even 2 months. Do not do this

FFS don’t give him baby rice or porridge!

It’s probably just a growth spurt - check you’re doing paced feeding (I.e. letting him self regulate) and I’m sure he’ll be fine. Mine was breastfed so no way to measure how much he drank, but at 6weeks he seemed to be feeding all the time he was awake!

He just needs more milk by the sound of it. If he had another bottle and was settled, do it again, or give him more at each feed or more often.

He is far, far to young for anything else and pouring anything off a spoon would be a choking risk.

This is appalling advice. If your baby is hungry give them more milk. Babies appetites vary just like adults, but more so, as growth and development spurts also cause increased appetite.

A growth spurt at 6 weeks is very normal, and it's ok to increase feeding - his body needs it to grow. It'll settle back down soon. He might seem a bit cranky for a few days.

There's typically another spurt at 3-4 months too. You don't need to wean early, just increase the milk intake again.

Was he thirsty do you think (due to the heat)? You can give bottle fed babies some cooled boiled water:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/first-aid-and-safety/safety/safety-in-the-sun/

Absolutely do not give your baby rice or porridge!! Maybe if he was 4/5months at a push… but 6/7 weeks.. possibly the worst advise I’ve ever heard 😳

Thank you for all your advice. I'm not wanting to risk solids with him at all at his age. He seemed quite sleepy yesterday during the day and this afternoon. He's still fed well, although not taken as much as last night, but is having more naps than normal, so I was thinking it could be a growth spurt, I'm sure he's looking quite a bit bigger than he was even last weekend.
I was a bit worried about the heat, just got him in a short sleeve onesie today. Our house is very warm, we have the fan on and that helps a little, but if he takes after me he won't cope well in a stuffy environment.

Sorry. I thought I read 6 months 🙈

Try not to worry about the heat and just offer milk often for hydration and watch wet nappies . Babies survive in a lot hotter climates than uk x

What the hell is wrong with you?! This is highly incorrect and dangerous advice.

OP there’s a big growth spurt around 8 weeks, they often need more milk. It’s more noticeable in breastfed babies who clusterfeed, but formula fed babies can clusterfeed too.

I've all ready said sorry. Nothing is wrong with me . I made a mistake and thought I saw six months.

Just feed in demand, may be a growth spurt as other said
PP misread thinking 6 months so cool off ladies!

6 weeks is often growth spurt time.

I think you are doing everything perfectly, your Intuition is bang on.

@Bigupkyle no worries :)

He seems quite happy so hoping it won't do him any harm to have so much, quite happy to feed him as much as he wants as long as I know it won't do him any harm. FTM so everything is a worry, just want him to be happy and healthy :)

Sounds like you are doing great. It's so hard and it's normal to question yourself.
Take care of yourself to

Don't worry, you can't overfeed a baby. How is he sleeping? My girl also drinks a lot, sometimes double that the "suggested" for her age. But she takes all of her calories in daytime, she only woke up once at 6 weeks during the night and since 11 week she sleeps though the whole night (sometimes 14 hours without waking up).