7wk old drinking less and less

[Swiss_New_Dad]

I am a new Dad with a beautiful Daughter Sophie, born April 1st (2 weeks early), and over the last 7-10 days she has started taking less and less milk, when she should be taking more and more and we're a little concerned. I'll try and give as much info as I can...

She was taking between 750 and 800ml a day at the height of her feeding over 6 bottles, but there has been a gradual decline to a low as 520ml on some days, but usually averaging about 600-650ml per 24 hours.

She passes stools every 24-36 hours pretty consistently, so I don't think she is blocked up - could be wrong though, is this frequent enough?

Last week she started crying quite a lot and seemed unsettled and irritable, classic signs of colic. We started giving her Infacol about 3 days ago, and this seems to have helped the crying a lot, but she's still not finishing her feeds.

Is 520ml still enough for a 7wk old, or should we start getting worried?

When she's awake she's usually pretty content, and will smile when provoked with silly faces and noises etc ;-) She gets weighed every 2 weeks at the local "Parent/Baby club" in the village (last time being May 10th) and had gained 490g on the last check and weighed 10lb exactly. She's not been weighed since though and there is a b/hol here on the 24th, so the next weigh will be May 31st after a 3-week gap.

Any help/thoughts/advice would be very welcome - this is all a bit new for us, and living in a foreign country makes things a bit harder to find good help here.

Thanks

 

[JRNH]

she sounds fine to me if she's contented, my lo has 6oz arond every 4 hours throughout the day but sometimes he'll only want 4oz. maybe you could try feeding her smaller amounts more frequently if you are worried. with babies if they are hungry they will let you know! also it doesn't sound as though she is losing weight and you haven't metioned her bringing any of the feeds back up so whatever she is taking is staying down so i think she will continue to gain weight.

when i had my first child i would panic if he didn't finish his feeds but now im on my third and im much more relaxed i just let him take what he wants, and as long as he's happy and gaining weight im happy!

her stools seem to be ok they don't pass as often as breastfed babies sometimes they can go a day or so without going but tummy massages and 'bicylce legs' can help them on their way!

it can be hard with your first especially when it comes to feeding but she sounds like she's doing well to me, if you are concerned though speak to your dr or health visitor for advice

 

[cymrucath]

I can't offer any advice for you unfortunately but Megan is exactly the same. the doctor has just prescribed gaviscon as we were treating her with infacol for colic because she was crying and squirming and bringing her knees up etc. I don't know if the gaviscon is working but her poos are a little more solid although still in every nappy. Anyway what I wanted to say was she has been taking less and less over the last few days and I don't know what to do about it either. The hv told me off as she only put on 41/2oz last week but she was having really runny poos all the time last week so I am hoping that even though she is still pooing a lot because they are solid she shouldn't be affected as much. As long as your LO is contented though there shouldn't be a problem over the short term. If it carries on and she seems tired or is not producing a lot of wet nappies then she may be a little dehydrated, in which case it's obviously important to get her seen by a doctor as soon as possible but f she seems okay in herself she probably is.

 

[ellie27]

Sounds all fine to me Swiss Dad

800 ml does sound a lot for a 7wk old!

Anna is almost 19wks and she only takes 800-850ml a day max! And she is gaining weight perfectly.

Dont worry! If Sophie seems content and is giving plenty wet nappies then I am sure all is well.

 

[ellahstruts]

just a thought have u checked her tongue for thrush?

 

[Swiss_New_Dad]

Hey everyone.

I just wanted to say thank you for all your comments. Sophie seems to have settled down now, and although she is only taking around 600-650ml still, she has managed to get into a 5 bottles per day routine instead of 6, meaning she has dropped her 02:00-03:00 feed, and has now started to sleep right through. So we're making sure her 6th bottle is now spread between the other 5 so that she is still keeping her intake up, and this seems to be working.

I think we decided to just let her tell us when she was hungry and trust her more, rather than worrying too much about whether we're doing the right thing or not - and this seems to be better.

Tis hard with your first to know when to start worrying

 

[cymrucath]

Hey everyone.

I just wanted to say thank you for all your comments. Sophie seems to have settled down now, and although she is only taking around 600-650ml still, she has managed to get into a 5 bottles per day routine instead of 6, meaning she has dropped her 02:00-03:00 feed, and has now started to sleep right through. So we're making sure her 6th bottle is now spread between the other 5 so that she is still keeping her intake up, and this seems to be working.

I think we decided to just let her tell us when she was hungry and trust her more, rather than worrying too much about whether we're doing the right thing or not - and this seems to be better.

Tis hard with your first to know when to start worrying

I completely agree about the worrying when it is your first. Glad she seems to have settled down. Megan seems to have adapted to her own routine too and is now sleeping for 7-8 hours at night and making up for the lost feed during the day.

 

[WW1]

Could it have been a growth spurt that meant she was drinking more?

Rebecca has weeks where she just eats and eats then it drops off.

She NEVER took 800ml at 7 weeks though - 500- 600ml sounds about right to me (I'm no expert though).

As long as she is alert, having lots of wet nappies and is gaining weight really don't worry - she'll tell you if she's hungry!