5 week old won’t stop eating.

[amberbellx]

Hey so I recently moved to the US with my daughter from England and she doesn’t seem satisfied with the formula I’ve been giving her. I’ve been to stores like Walmart and Target to see if they have any hungry baby formula but I can’t seem to find any. Does anyone know where or if I can buy this formula? It’s too expensive to ship the milk from home or use U.K. amazon as it’s around $150 for 6 cans. Brand and make isn’t an issue I just need to make sure that my baby stays full as she’s taking full 5 ounce bottles every 3-4 hours and is fussing in between for extra milk. I’m afraid of overfeeding her as she’s so young. Any advice would be great. Thank you

 

[amberbellx]

She also has difficulty staying asleep once she’s settled. She has short naps throughout the day but is a nightmare when it comes to sleeping at night. I thought it was gas as she never parts with her gas after feeding time. But even once she’s burped she still won’t settle. It’s at the point where my husband and I must share around 4 hours sleep between us.

 

[noon_child]

According to NHS web site "Although it's often described as suitable for "hungrier babies", there's no evidence that babies settle better or sleep longer when fed this type of formula."

I would be reluctant to use it on such a young baby as it has more casein and less whey , making it much less like breastmilk and therefore much more likely to cause constipation - which is another cause of discomfort and sleeplessness. I do know people who have successfully used Hungry baby milk for their babies who have been gaining significant amounts of weight, too much possibly and at risk of obesity, drinking large bottles (9oz+) and still wanting more, but it has been used as a last resort.

If your baby is showing hunger signs at around 2.5hrs I would just offer her a feed then as she is growing and developing very quickly at that age and will be frequently hungry. You could try slightly smaller bottles more frequently if you are afraid of overfeeding her.

I don't think formula available in USA can be that different to UK can it? It would be unethical to not provide the same nutrition surely?? Perhaps baby has grown bigger, or is going through a growth spurt, and this has just co-incided with the move.

I think at that age babies still don't have their days and nights the right way round, so sleep may not be to do with hunger or gas.

 

[sarah34]

I would say if it’s been more than 2 hours since her last feed just give her some more.

My lo will go 3-4 hours normally but sometimes in the evening he wants more after 2.5 so I just bring his feed forward. I wouldn’t worry about overfeeding her, she will bring it back up if you do x

 

[Firefly Skies]

Mine (also 5 weeks) does the same thing, but we know she has reflux and are going to the doctor Monday to see about reflux medicine. It's awful to put her down, many times she'll spit up more than half an hour after eating (we try to keep her upright after feeding) and other times she'll just arch her back, make sour faces, and wake up screaming. Most times she'll be rooting for food even if it's been a short amount of time since she took down a decent bottle.

Someone suggested that our daughter may be trying to feed in order to soothe her throat. The milk coats her throat and helps ease the pain -- however, more food and especially more than she actually needs just causes more upset later. What we try to do is offer just 3oz, then use the pacifier (supposedly helps produce saliva to neutralize acid) and soothe her. If she's absolutely not having it and still giving strong hunger cues, then we give her more.

Try talking to her pediatrician about reflux; even if she's not spitting up she could still be getting it in her throat. Also, we were advised to feed in as upright of a position as we can, then keep her upright for ~30 minutes after if possible. The pediatrician also recommended we incline her mattress slightly BUT I would definitely talk to yours first before doing that; a flat surface is recommended for sleep UNLESS otherwise recommended by a professional. These things kind of help, which is better than not helping at all I suppose. I am hoping getting on medicine will help ease her pain.