are we doing things right??

[girlmonkey31]

Hey ladies , ive got a 5 day old little boy and hes been bottle fed from day 1 -advent bottles and SMA formula....
He started off on 30mls and now in a space of 5 days its increased and the last bottle he had 120 -is this ok, or is it too much?..we have no clue, do you just feed them when they are hungry??? little and often or the same amount each time??

Also he seems to like to use the bottle and drink it and then be drugged and fall asleep, is this ok as all the books say dont do this but its impossible not to?!

Sorry for all the questions, any tips would be great, on average he has a bottle, sleeps for 3 hours wakes for a couple of hours and then goes again for 3, is this ok??

 

[bigbetty]

Hi! Congratulations on the birth of your baby boy.

It's best just to feed on demand, they will take as much as they need which might be a different amount each time.

When Fran was first born she took about 30mls per feed for the first couple of days. I use the oz measurement on the bottles and at a week old she was taking 4oz bottles - around 120mls and at 3 weeks old we upped her to 5oz bottles - just under 150mls.

It sounds like you are doing just perfectly love. He will sleep a lot for the first few weeks so don't worry about that either.

 

[Kimboowee]

At 5 days old he'll just be feeding when/how much he wants.
My LO is 8 weeks old tomorrow and sometimes falls asleep on the bottles - It only becomes a problem when they are using the bottle to fall asleep.

Sounds like your doing perfectly!

 

[jenfen]

My lo is 6 weeks and has anything from 90 - 150mls a time. He feeds every 3 hours or so, day and night. He often falls asleep on the bottle although I have read that to avoid this becoming a habit he can't break, try to stop feeding just before he drops off, when he is just sleepy and has stopped sucking properly and let him finish falling asleep without the bottle in his mouth.
Babies can't overfeed, they will only have as much as they need. Because my lo also doesn't drink a regular amount I make up 120ml (4oz) bottle as this is his average amount and then make up another oz or 2 if he is still hungry after - otherwise you will end up throwing formula down the sink.
Also your lo will be weighed regularly over the next few weeks so you can make sure he is growing properly.

J x

 

[amy19604]

sounds like you are doing great
just keep feeding on demand letting him have as much or as little as he wants, its normal for them to fall asleep while feeding, he is still very young, as they get older they will stay awake. the books just say that because when they are older you dont want them to only be able to fall asleep by being fed, but at this age its fine

 

[girlmonkey31]

ok thats great, thanks ladies really helpful tips!!
I am still really unsure if we are feeding him too much....the health visitor said he was fine...hes a week old and gone from 6lb 90z to 7lb 1......
Im having problems in the night though...he goes for about 2 hours and then wakes and it can take me 2 hours to settle him and then he does it again, sometimes sleeping for an hour, and sometimes sleeping for 2 ..2.5....is this normal?? are we doing something wrong??
I am the end of my tether sat there in the nursery trying to make him sleep! We have given into a dummy as he seems to like to suck but he soon works out theres no milk coming out....we are wasting huge amounts of milk as we make up 120 ml bottles and sometimes he drinks 70 mils, sometimes 90 and sometimes all 120!.....surely this isnt normal for a week old is it?!

 

[Louppey]

ok thats great, thanks ladies really helpful tips!!
I am still really unsure if we are feeding him too much....the health visitor said he was fine...hes a week old and gone from 6lb 90z to 7lb 1......
Im having problems in the night though...he goes for about 2 hours and then wakes and it can take me 2 hours to settle him and then he does it again, sometimes sleeping for an hour, and sometimes sleeping for 2 ..2.5....is this normal?? are we doing something wrong??
I am the end of my tether sat there in the nursery trying to make him sleep! We have given into a dummy as he seems to like to suck but he soon works out theres no milk coming out....we are wasting huge amounts of milk as we make up 120 ml bottles and sometimes he drinks 70 mils, sometimes 90 and sometimes all 120!.....surely this isnt normal for a week old is it?!

I hate to say it but this sounds 100% normal to me All I can say, is it does get better!!! Sooner than you think too, and then all this will be a distant memory!

We wasted formula all the time with Coralie when I was feeding her on demand. In the end I used to offer the dummy, then if she was happy with that i'd know she wasn't hungry. If she spat it out and kept crying, i'd offer a bottle. I think I always made them up to 60ml at that age (Coralie has never been much of a drinker!) and if she took a whole bottle quickly I would offer her another. Tbh we didn't really stop wasting formula until I put her on a bottle routine, every 3-4 hours etc. Your LO is a bit too young for that though.

With regards to the night time, your LO is still learning the difference between day and night. My HV and midwife advised me to keep daytimes bright, interesting (toys etc), loud (TV or radio on, as loudly as if you're watching/listening) and be as noisy as I normally would be clattering around the house etc then keep nighttimes dark, quiet and boring. If you're nursing LO at night, don't smile (hard I know), keep a blank face and keep it very quiet and don't speak to LO, just shhhhhh and pat etc.

I remember how much it sucks right now, but trust me it gets soooooo much easier and better and when you get that first smile you'll just melt and all of this will be forgotten.

 

[meow951]

I remember feeling the same as you right at the beginning.

Mine was hardly drinking anything in the first few days and it was worrying me to death.

Basically just feed on demand, whenever he seems hungry. If he's not hungry he won't take it so don't worry about that. It seems like all you do is feed at the beginning! but the time does space out. At first we were feeding every 1-2 hours day and night. We wasted an obscene amount of milk in the first couple of weeks. Now he will usually take 2-3 oz a time so i make up 3oz bottles. Then when he starts to drain a 3oz bottle regularly i'll up it to 4oz.

As for him not sleeping at night keep the day bright, telly on etc. At night have it dark and quiet and he'll soon get the hang of it.

My baby falls asleep on the bottle as well. At the beginning all they really do is wake up for a feed and then go back to sleep so don't worry about it. Everyday it gets that little bit easier!

 

[girlmonkey31]

thanks ladies this is all brilliant advice for a first time mum, it really is tough as we have no clue and i was home from hospital within 4 hours and thrown right in at the deep end!

Well we have survived the first week, he is now 8 days on and consistantly eating 120mls of food, im not going to stress about the amount even thought the health visitor said it was too much and unusual for a baby to put on so much weight so quick, surely thats a good thing?!

Anyway last night, he went to bed at 10ish and slept until 1 and basically aside from waking up to feed, and be changed he went straight back to sleep for between 2.5/3 hours at a time...once it was even 4 hours!!......is this good or what they are meant to do??

He has done this for a couple of nights now...im just hoping it lasts as i was only up for a max of 30/45 mins between 3/3.5 hour feeds last night! Each night is scary as we dont know what will happen!

 

[Louppey]

Wow that sounds fab sleepwise for such a littlen! I really hope that continues for you honey. Just ignore the HV and do what you feel is right, most of the time they speak crap anyway (not all of them - that's just my experience LOL)

It's all new to you now, but trust me, a few months down the line you'll be commenting on threads just like this one offering advice I'm a first time mummy too and remember how scared I was in the beginning, but the older they get the more you get used to it and the more you learn about your baby and what they do/don't need.

Just a word of warning, you will be due your first growth spurt on day 10! It came as a huge shock to me, LO didn't want to sleep, just wanted to be cuddled constantly, and be fed... it freaked me out but it was all good and it only lasted 24 hours or so

 

[girlmonkey31]

great thanks v much ladies!

can i ask you all when is it that you reccomend starting a routine with a baby, is it 4-6 weeks old?? at the moment we are just doing demand feeding, although it is falling into a bit of a feeding pattern on some days!

 

[Katie Mc]

anna is 10 weeks and we dont have a routine we just follow her lead.The last week she has been going to sleep around 10pm and sleeping until 4ish so im thinking shes getting herself into a routine. our first 2 weeks was hard work and she was taking over an hr to go back asleep, waking every 2-3 hrs so it does get easier. shes on 5oz now but sometimes she has 2oz and sometimes all of it so we waste alot of milk as well.