hungry baby

[Lara77]

My 5 weeks old son cries for more even he takes 750-800 ml formula a day and approximately 100-150 ml breastmilk. Is it normal?? Anybody there having the same problem? Or any advice? Please help!

[Jackstini]

Am not sure Lara but bumping for you in case someone who does know comes along
Is it definately crying for more or could it be crying due to wind/colic?

[Lara77]

Thanks Jackstini. I hope some have a good advice. It is definetely crying for more. He is rooting, sucking his fingers or anything close to his mouth. Soother works a couple of minutes and then he realises that no milk is coming continues crying.

[Seona1973]

how much is he taking in each bottle and how often is he feeding?

At this age 2 1/2 - 3 hours between feeds is pretty normal. My ds had 7 or 8 feeds in 24 hours at that age but cant remember how much each feed was - maybe 4oz or so (in 24 hours that would give 28-32oz - is that not around the amount your lo is taking?). The rule of thumb is - if your lo is draining each bottle add an extra ounce to each. Ignore the tin as that is just a guide - your lo know how much he needs so feed to his appetite.

[Lara77]

Hi Seona. He takes 100-120 ml (120 ml is approximately 4oz I guess in each feed during the day and 150-180 ml at night. And, in total, has 7 feeds in 24 hours. His weight gain is quite good. However, he is still hungry. So I will give him what he wants then.In the last feed he had 180 ml after breastfeeding (which was probably 20 ml or so. I am sufering from very low milk supply) and seemed satisfied. I read on some websites and Gina Ford's book that if you overfeed the baby he will need solid food earlier. This is what worries me. Does anyone have similar experience?

[mixedmama]

Lara... dont really have any real advice but try to be guided by your baby and not by books as some can be biased. not all babies fit into the mould set out by books either.

my little one was a hungry baby as well and wanted to drink all the time, i weaned him at 5 months, but only because DH had a month off work and could commit the time otherwise i probably would have held out till 6. I dont think hungrier babies necessarily need feeding sooner, just see how you go. If he wants the milk then my suggestion is give it to him. I dont think you can overfeed at this stage. You may find that in a few months when other babies are increasing their intake perhaps your LO will have stabilised.

[Seona1973]

my ds was a big baby and was over 20lbs when I started weaning him at 23 weeks - even big babies can get to around the 5/6 month mark regardless of GF saying that a baby of 14lbs should probably be weaned - we made it well past 14lbs!! Babies are less likely to overeat (unlike us!!) and normally stop when they have had enough - my ds lets you know in no uncertain terms when he has finished drinking.

[ljhooray]

Hi there,

My little girl was actually quite light by today's average when she was born (6lb 11oz) but was very hungry. By about 2 months, I moved her onto hungry baby milk (Aptamil 2), although it took her poor belly a couple of days to take to it. It definitely helped her and from about 4 months, she started taking a real interest in anyone eating, waking earlier and draining every bottle, so that was our cue to start on solids (at 19 weeks). It's really tricky as a first time mum as you feel bombarded with guidelines, but for me, my baby was hungry and I've tried to meet her needs as she's been growing and changing.

[mumtoone]

Lara77 - my dd is 5 weeks tomorrow and she has around 800ml of expressed breast milk in a 24 hour period which is similar to your son. I would follow the advice here and offer more milk and ignore the books.

[gogetter]

I'd just up his feeds a little bit - let him guide you. What is is weight?
There is formula's designed for hungrier babies. I think Aptimil or Cow and Gate do one.

[ChristmasPud]

Hi Lara,

I did just BFeeding rather than BFeeding +Formula, but one thing I do know now is don't believe the books. Do what your baby needs. So many things they tell you will become an issue later really never ever do because babies develop and do what they need to do when they need to do it. At five weeks I would say you really really do not need to be worrying about whether your DS will take solid food or not. Solid food is an irrelivancy right now .

Don't stress about things so far in the future and do what you need to do for now. So many of the early days with my DS were ruined by anxiety about things the books said would go horribly wrong in the future (they didn't).