Always hungry!

[jelix9408]

my little girl Willow is 1 week and 3 days old.
when i had her the doctors told me to fed her 2oz every 3-4 hours.
which at first was fine. but its like lately 2oz isnt enough for her.
she'll wake up after an hour and a half of feeding her and she'll be screaming cause shes hungry.
ive tried to just let her scream until her 3 hours are up but i cant make it to 3 hours cause she does nothing but scream, claw at her face and suck on her hands like shes STARVING!


so ive started feeding her 3oz instead of 2oz. but she never finishes it!
so the last few days when she wakes up screaming her hungry scream i give her 1oz that holds her over till her 3 hours are up ..
once the 3 hours are up i give her 2oz cause she never finishes the 3oz.

but i also cant seem to keep her on a schedule. which is driving me nuts! i dont know how to put her on a schedule cause shes always hungry!

i feel like shes hungry 24/7 that she never gets full. any suggestions on how to make her belly full so she can stay satisfied for 3 hours?

has this happened to anyone else?

 

[aimee-lou]

Hiya

First off I feel for you!!

It seems a bit odd that they advised you of such a strict schedule. With such a littley it's best just to feed them as and when and let them figure out their own schedule. You did the right thing offering a 3oz bottle at each feed. Even if she only takes a few more ml, it's what she wants. Also while it may seem a waste, at least it;s there for her.

At about 1 week all babies go through a growth spurt. All the hormones from birth have gone and they are, for the first time, working under their own steam. You will find she wants to feed more often (Earl was every 1.5-2 hours) and you will need to let her dictate. I was the same, wanting/expecting a baby to stick to a schedule - you need to be flexible and take your cues from her. I found if you expect to feed every hour, then anything extra is a bonus!!

I hope this helps, It does get easier as they settle down into their own little groove. Just keep listening to her and you'll soon learn what's hunger and she'll learn that food will come.

 

[Eala]

I feel for you Our HV tried to get us to hold our daughter to more of a schedule (again, don't feed before 3 hours type thing), and we just didn't get on with it at all. There is no way I could sit and listen to her cry, knowing she was hungry. They're so small, you can't "distract" them, as my HV suggested!

I wouldn't worry about a schedule at the moment, you may find she will settle down herself once she gets a bit bigger. Your healthcare providers may make comments about "snacking", but if she's happy (and if you can cope with it), it should work itself out. That said, our 7 week old still tends to take 2(ish)oz every 2 hours (she's quite small though). She did start going to taking 3.5-4oz every 4 hours for a couple of days last week, then had some tummy problems which seem to have put her back to snacking.

I hope she settles down for you soon

 

[Scally]

honestly do not worry about a schedule when they are that young, my LO used to go every 2 hours, but now is 4 hours on the dot, she sorted it out herself i never forced her

 

[SilasLove]

Anthony did not have a problem with 2 oz and waiting his three hours. In fact, he was right on the dot at first. But since 2 oz haven't been satisfying him and we moved up to 4 oz ... it is all just messed up! Now he will go 4 hours without eating instead of 3, and sometimes he wants it in 3. I feel as if what little bit of a schedule we had going to completely gone ... its just a disarray now and I feel for you because it SUCKS. (Sometimes he will even try and go 5 hours w/o eating!!)

 

[sweetcheeks85]

honestly do not worry about a schedule when they are that young, my LO used to go every 2 hours, but now is 4 hours on the dot, she sorted it out herself i never forced her

Totally agree, same happened with my LO x