Help 4 day old drinking 1oz or less every 2-3 hours

[dreamerkr]

Help guys, my 4 day old DS drinks 1oz or less every 2-3 hours and falls asleep right away. He drinks from the pre-made Aptamil bottles, as those seem to have the only teats that he likes. I don’t know what to do, I tried breastfeeding but it didn’t go well at all. I’m trying to express but my milk just came in today and I managed to express just over 1oz in like 40 mins. Any advice on how baby can drink more? I’m a FTM and getting worried

His stomach is the size of his fist. There isn't room in there for more than 1oz!

Is he doing plenty of wet and dirty nappies? That's the main indicator of how he's doing right now. They'll weigh him on day 10 to check he's back up over birth weight.

Presumably when you were discharged from hospital you were given midwife contact details and if I remember correctly you should have had at least one visit from them at 4 days old and probably due another in a day or so? They should also weigh him at those visits to track him, has that been done? Give the midwives a call first thing tomorrow and ask for advice, they might also be able to refer you to a breast feeding specialist aswell if you want to persevere with that. If you’re milk has only just come in then keep trying on the breastfeeding. It is very painful to begin with but it does ease after a week or so, get some nipple cream which you use when they feed and after its invaluable. Also have you tried waking him up again once he’s fallen asleep to encourage him to drink more. You can try taking layers off him so he doesn’t get to warm and cosy (perfect for sleep) and try blowing gently on his face to wake him up, jiggle the bottle a bit to keep him interested if he starts to nod off. Try not to panic, im sure you are doing a great job but call the midwife’s and /or maternity department first thing tomorrow if you are worries so you can speak to someone professional and get advice. Hope that helps

On the clothing layers thing that’s only when feeding to try and keep him awake e.g. if wearing a vest and a sleep suit then take the sleepsuit off, obvious normally at other times make sure he is warm enough.

It sounds very normal to me (two DCs both formula fed). My youngest is under 1yr old and on 6oz every 3 hours so 1oz at only days old is a decent amount. Remember if they were breastfed you wouldn't have a clue how much they were taking.

As long as they have wet and soiled nappies, are content (lots of sleep at this age) and are gaining weight then you are fine.

Are you trying to wind him after the 1oz then trying with the rest? He could be taking in a lot of wind when he’s drinking

Plus don’t worry if she’s asleep when you’re winding him - just of course support his head body etc and try lots of different methods.

30ml sounds fine for this age. Give it a few more days and prob will take a little more each feed

I rem giving dd the pre made with teats so think 70ml ready made and she would take half of bottle so 35ml per feed

as long as wet nappies and settled /content between feeds theN Has enough

hv will be found to weigh

Thanks guys

My son was on 1oz for the first few days, but he fed every 1-2 hours (born 8lb 10) because he’s always been a milk fiend. Sounds right to me. Friend’s babies drank a similar amount but not as often. Also, it is normal for babies to drop from their birthweight in the 1st week or two. If you’re worried then will he feed while sleepy/half asleep? If he won’t then I wouldn’t worry, just feed on demand and when he wants it. You can’t force a baby to feed if they aren’t hungry.

If you were bf (I didn't) you'd have no idea of volume, be led by him it's fine

My second was like that. It was sooo difficult. You absolutely have my sympathy. Still early days though he might pick up the quantity in next few weeks.

We actually had to get community midwife out as she wldnt feed at all at one point. It would take over an hour to get her to take 1 little ounce sometimes it was half an ounce. Often a battle to get her to take any! She actually had quite bad reflux so keep an eye out for that. We had to try several different bottles and teats, bloody cost a fortune. She eventually settled on mam bottles and we went for a vari flow teat as advised by midwife. So different from my first who was doing 2-3 ounce very quickly and 4 ounce at 2/3 weeks old she also had reflux but still drank loads of milk.

The feeding did get slowly better and she wld take more but she was never a big fan of the milk. Feeding was slow even when much older usually lasted an hour even. I was hopefully weaning wld go well but she wasn't bothered with that either. She's nearly 3 still doesn't eat a lot but drinks loads and ironically quite likes milk lol.