How do you know they're full

[babymad]

My baby keeps falling asleep on the bottle only to wake up 10 mins later asking for more food. I usually make up 4 oz bottles and if he's finished it then I think he's full. He was born at 36 weeks.

I'm just worried about giving him too much milk. I make sure I wind him halfway through a bottle but it doesn't make much difference. I feel he should be feeding every 3 hours but right now he seems to want something all the time. Today he drank 8oz over 2 hours which is a huge amount compared to normal.

I've resorted to a dummy and that will get him to fall asleep but again it doesn't last long. I feel that sometimes his crying is because he's tired but he just won't go down for a sleep and other times he's asleep all day and then bothersome at night.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.x

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Hi, personally I don't like Ruby to drain bottles - how would I know if she was full? I always offer more than she'll drink. You know the baby is full when they don't drink any more even after being burped. He probably falls asleep on the bottle due to how young he is and the fact he was slightly pre term.

I would stop worrying about giving him too much - my HV said you can't overfeed a baby, they will just spit up any excess. As for him drinking 8 oz over 2 hours, that doesn't sound like loads to me. He also might be having a growth spurt?

I would advise waking him every 2 and a half to 3 hours for a feed during the day, then he will not miss out feeds which he'll need to make up for at night. Also it will help him learn the difference between day and night. Once he is older he will probably be able to go 3 hours between feeds.

You're probably right about him crying due to tiredness, try and put him down for a nap, with his dummy, when he first starts to get fussy.

I know some people don't agree but feeding to a schedule once he is a bit older will remove a lot of the guesswork of why he's crying if he does cry. That is my favourite thing about having Ruby on a routine!