Baby is always hungry

[farm girl]

Has anyone tried giving rice cereal to help with hunger? my baby is 12 pounds at 6 weeks old,( birth was 7-7) and he is always hungry, he eats 5 oz every 2-3 hours even through the night, I was told by some people to give rice cereal in there formula to help them along, what do you think, I will talk to my Dr also just wanted some input!

 

[aliss]

What a hungry baby! Mine was also 12lbs at 4 weeks (but he was 9.3 when born, so I think our big boys have similar appetites). My doctor suggested adding rice cereal, etc at 8 weeks but from my own research I have found that this may be outdated thinking that does not actually work, and do not plan to introduce anything else until 6 months.

Sometimes I hear about friends or even here on BnB where babies only take 3-4oz every 4 hours, I suppose that is more common, but some of us just have hungry big boys

Are you looking to extend the time between night feedings?

 

[farm girl]

I am more concerned about him being hungry then sleeping, but it would be an extra bonus if he did sleep more at night
thank you for your story!

 

[OmarsMum]

Did u try hungry baby formula? I'm no expert about hungry babies but adding rice to bottles is not advisable as it increases the risk of food allergies when u introduce solids before 17 wks & there is a risk of choking. xx

 

[blahblahblah]

As the others have said, it's not recommended to add rice to bottles nowadays - from what I gather it didn't help much anyway!

Is he finishing his 5oz bottles? What happens if you offer 6? Each time he empties a bottle, make the next one 1oz more, then you'll know he's stopped because he's full, not because he's run out.

He will find his own pattern in time, so I would just try to go with what he demands as much as you can. Three hourly feeds are quite common at this age, but he'll space some of them out before too long if you can hang in there. Hungry Baby formula is an option going forward, but I'd be concerned about switching too early, bearing in mind you've got to get to 6 months on it! If you want to encourage longer gaps in the night, a bedtime routine can often help too.

 

[farm girl]

he finishes all his milk, I have offered more but wont finish,
thanks everyone