Advice for 'hungry ' baby please

[Boothieboothum]

Hi there
Just need some ideas about this. My 18 wk old d has always fed frequently. Exclusively breastfed, she goes no longer than 2 hrs max between feeds. It's usually still every 1 hr or 1 1/2 hrs. She has had cranial osteopathy for reflux and trapped wind problems and the osteopath has recommended I give her some baby rice as she thinks she is too hungry and guzzling so much that it's mostly air she takes in. I don't want to introduce solids yet and want to do baby led weaning as she shows no signs of interest in food. It might be worth adding that I only feed her on one boob at a time and have just learnt that many people offer both! SO have I been doing it wrong all this time?! Can anyone offer any suggestions please if you have had similar 'hungry,' babies? Thanks x

[MrsLettuce]

I'd offer the second breast then put her back on the first if she wants it and so on until she's done.

One of my DC was almost always happy after just the one side, the other often needed / wanted 3 or more sides.

[tiktok]

Please don't take infant feeding advice from a cranial osteopath.

How on earth does a cranial osteopath know about infant feeding and digestion?

A baby would have to be feeding in a most peculiar fashion to take in 'mostly' air.

Baby rice - approx 5 cal per teaspoon - is neither especially nutritious nor very calorific. There's nothing especially wrong with it but it's probably best used as a bland base for other foods. It doesn't fill babies up.

Yes, offer two (or more) breasts per feed if you think your baby is hungry and would like more to eat/drink.

Whatever - if your baby has been growing normally then she has probably been very well fed anyway. Her feeding pattern is on the normal spectrum :)

[Mmmbacon]

I had a hungry baby, a lets put on a pound a week hungry baby, phn asked me was I really ebfing more than once, she said if he was.bottle fed she would be worried he was overfed but said it is pretty impossible to over breastfeed, feed on one side, wind, feed again, wind and swop sides and feed until he fell off milk drunk was our little routine, feeding on one side a time is fine aswell, nature gave us two boobs so we have two in case we have twins, I would stop wasting money on your cranio scammer baby rice wtf?, and consider a session with a lactation consultant if you are worried

[WantAnOrange]

Definitely within the range of 'normal' feeding times. You are doing a great job so please don't let this person make you doubt that. She's not qualified to give advice on feeding. There is no nutritional value to baby rice really and it tastes like arse.

Logically, if you were hungry, would you swap full fat milk for rice?

[happydaze77]

Don't beat yourself up about not offering both breasts. Feeding little and often is better for babies with reflux anyway. Also, it's quite likely that she only wanted one at a time boob while she was little. Now she is a bit older she's probably capable of taking more per feed, and giving two or more sides per feed may even result in her feedings becoming more spaced out. Although 2hrs is quite normal.

A big NO to baby rice. Even when she's ready for solids you can skip that.

[hettienne]

I wouldn't take any advice from a cranial osteopath!

Agree with others that you may well find that if you start the day with a really big feed, offer at least both sides (you can go back to the 1st side again after the 2nd) she'll go a bit longer between feeds. Though don't expect more than 2.5-3 hours between feeds.

[Boothieboothum]

Thank you so much for the responses. Really appreciate it. Have been offering both sides since yesterday and she seems a lot happier. Glad we didn't open that packet of rice that's for sure!!