Worried my newborn isn’t hungry enough

[llihl13]

My newborn is currently 8 days old and I’m a bit worried about his feeding. When he was born he wouldn’t suck from the bottle properly and seemed very sleepy so we ended up back and forth to neonatal a few times trying to get him to suck. Eventually we found a teat he would suck from (cheap hospital bottles!) and he had a decent few feeds so was sent home.

Since we’ve been home his feeding has been quite hit and miss. I’d say on average he’s having about 50-60ml per feed now, which from what I’ve read isn’t bad (I think?), but it’s more the fact it’s sometimes taking a long time and an uphill struggle to get him to have that amount.

He seems hungry and fine sucking on it to begin with but after the first stint and an attempted burp I’m having to strip him down, blow on his face etc to keep him awake to feed the rest. Is this normal or should I be worried? Any advice to an anxious first time mum would be much appreciated!

Oh and to add - he doesn’t really wake at night for feeds, very occasionally he stirs but we have to wake him normally. This is similar in the day but I am noticing more cues as he’s getting bigger. He is just very sleepy! X

What is his weight doing? If he's initially feeding well from the bottle then he may just have had enough. It's only really a concern if he drops more than 10% birth weight/doesn't regain weight or drops more than a couple of centiles.

Are you getting plenty of wet nappies?

Do you have your 10 day health visitor visit booked in? They can give you advice and they’ll weigh him too and see how he’s doing.

Is he jaundiced? Have you been discharged from midwive care?

Jaundice can make babies very sleepy, and it's a vicious cycle as they need to feed to get rid of the jaundice, but then they are too sleepy, etc.

Oh and they often do take forever to take a feed when they’re tiny.

Is he mixed fed or just formula?

I mix fed my first but mostly formula. What I'd say is, as newborns they need feeding wayyy more often than you think, at least mine did. Like, a little snack of a feed every half hour, until they're a few weeks old. After that they could do longer feeds. It was the same for both kids even though my first was mostly FF to begin with and my second mostly BF

It's the equivalent of cluster feeding for breastfed babies. Formula fed babies still do that because it's their instinct.

Was he born early and/or small?

Watch out for any signs of jaundice as pp says or dehydration.

Contrary to popular belief babies won’t always wake if they are hungry, some newborns are just too sleepy especially if early or small. So do keep waking to feed, it’s good you are getting more feeding cues.

At his 5 day check he lost 55g (1.7%) which the midwife said was good. He hasn’t had another weigh since so I’m feeling really anxious about the next one!

I’m wondering if he should be having more and more milk each day or whether it’s ok to plateau - I.e is 60ml ok for the next week or should it go up each day? It’s a minefield!

I’d say he’s having a wet nappy around each feed so every 3 hours or so. Is that enough? He hasn’t pooped today though and his poops are on the firmer side

He had the billy gun test and he was slightly jaundice but not enough to warrant treatment. He doesn’t look yellow at all now though. Not sure if he needs another check or if he’s just a sleepy baby

60ml is normal. As long as he has wet and dirty nappies you shouldn’t be worried. Get him weighed again and as soon as he’s back at birth weight, don’t worry.

You will probably find he gets hungrier, my DS didn’t eat much at all for the first couple of weeks and it was a struggle to get bottles in him. He was very small though (5lb).

I think every 3 hours is too long at this age. They get tired feeding. Try every 2 hrs so he can take less at each feed for a few more weeks.

Ds was breastfed, but at 8 days was generally feeding every hour

I wouldn't schedule feeds at all for a newborn. At this age he's feeding on demand. Look out for rooting, hands to mouth, hungry-cry. It will be way more often than every 3h. As often as twice an hour at times.

If you’re in the UK make use of the midwives while you can. They are there to support you with feeding. Once you’re discharged it is much harder to access support(unless urgent).
That said my baby fell asleep nursing all the time and I had to wake her to feed overnight.

That’s not always true as newborns can be too sleepy to wake to feed when they need it. We were advised to wake every 2 hrs to feed for the first week or two. It was quite a struggle for the first few days.

He was born at 39w6d and weighed 7.1lbs! Is the fact he hasn’t pooped since yesterday a sign of dehydration?

Also if you ever find him crying then offer him a feed even if he’s just fed. I didn’t realise at first this meant my DS was still hungry!! His stomach is still tiny and he needs little and often feeds.

@llihl13 Not necessarily if he’s having wet nappies. FF babies don’t always poo as often as BF.

My ds was very similar. Took ages with the bottles - that changed around 2 and half weeks. He is 4 months old now and still not interested in milk. He never really cries for it - I offer him every 4 hours, and he takes it most of the time. He is gaining weight well, happy and healthy, so there are no issues at all.

My dd was the exact opposite. She loved milk, screamed every 3 hours for it, and ate loads and fast from day one.

As long as you have wet nappies and weight gain, he is fine. Also, my son only poos every 2-3 days. My daughter had poo 3 times every day!! Babies can be so different!

Not necessarily. Some of them won’t poop every day. It’s five as long as the poo is soft and they don’t seem uncomfortable. I would look for the number of wet nappies and check their soft spot is not sunken.

YY plenty of wet nappies is much more important than poos.

I really wouldn't worry about the quantity so long as his weight is ok which it sounds like it is. For reference, my son was 8lb2oz at birth and took no more than 70ml a feed until he was 9 weeks old at which point he suddenly wanted 180-200ml feeds. My daughter only took 30ml a feed for the first couple of weeks and gradually increased by 10ml a feed over weeks. They really are all different.

You sound really worried though so get in touch with your midwife and if you can't get seen soon see if the health visitor can help. In my area there is a weekly weigh in clinic that you just drop in to for a weigh in or with any concerns.