How much milk is your 7week old taking?

[lola_90]

As title says.

Had the health visitor round today and i mentioned that he isn't sleeping for more than 3 hours at night, usually two. He wakes up hungry but never has more than 4oz normally 3oz.

She said that i should be giving him between 7-9 oz every 4 hours and then i won't have any problems Which is double what he is taking at the moment!

He is a big boy, as of today 13lb 5oz and following the 91st percentile.

Obv would love to get him to sleep longer but not sure how I can make him drink more! I have tried changing his nappy to keep him awake etc

Thanks

 

[RaspberryMini]

My LO took 5-6 oz at that age and is only taking 7oz now and he's 16 weeks!

You can't get them to take anymore, he'll just be sick, he might just be a more snacky eater.

He's obviously gaining well and thriving so I'd just keep doing what you are doing

 

[jensonsmummy]

My lo is 8 weeks and is exactly the same. Every 2.5-3hours and takes 4.5oz at most during the day and 2-3oz at night. Hes a nightmare to feed though. Its easy for hv to say theses things. Im going well getting 4oz in never mind near double thar

 

[Katy Bug]

I would up his ounce to a 5 and see if he lasts longer on that. My boy was eating 5 oz at 7 weeks and continues to eat that now at 8 weeks.

 

[Ktothema]

Yeah thanks health visitor. I did wonder if he may be hungry but I thought I'd make him small bottles just for the hell of it. Gah! This is why I hate these people. If he's gaining weight well/wetting nappies/pooping well then there's obviously nothing wrong with him. How does she propose you double the bottles - syringe or tube feed him? Ffs.

My dd at 7 weeks occasionally had a 5oz bottle but more often a 3oz every 4 hrs. She was a nightmare to feed and didn't gain weight well but she would only take a couple of ounces in the night with major encouragement and by 8 weeks slept through. Ds on the other hand isnt yet 7 weeks, munches 5oz quite happily every 4hrs and wants a 4oz in the middle of the night. Can't see him dropping that anytime soon! And despite this, ds isnt gaining weight well either but he has acid reflux and were still trying to get it under control for him.

 

[lola_90]

Yeah thanks health visitor. I did wonder if he may be hungry but I thought I'd make him small bottles just for the hell of it. Gah! This is why I hate these people. If he's gaining weight well/wetting nappies/pooping well then there's obviously nothing wrong with him. How does she propose you double the bottles - syringe or tube feed him? Ffs.

My dd at 7 weeks occasionally had a 5oz bottle but more often a 3oz every 4 hrs. She was a nightmare to feed and didn't gain weight well but she would only take a couple of ounces in the night with major encouragement and by 8 weeks slept through. Ds on the other hand isnt yet 7 weeks, munches 5oz quite happily every 4hrs and wants a 4oz in the middle of the night. Can't see him dropping that anytime soon! And despite this, ds isnt gaining weight well either but he has acid reflux and were still trying to get it under control for him.

That made me laugh! I know it is a complete joke! I said max he has ever taken is just over 4oz no way is he going to suddenly start taking 9!

Then she went on to explain that if everytime I was hungry i ate a biscuit then when i had a big meal i wouldn't want it all. This is just like the baby, i need to stop giving him little feeds as apparently he is cluster feeding and just give him one big feed. I need to make him really hungry!

i said that what am i supposed to do if he cries with hunger after two hours. She said to distract him! Fantastic im sure that will go well at night! And how the hell can you distract and screaming baby who is hungry for TWO hours!

It's not surprising when she said she doesn't have kids!

 

[skunkpixie]

Babies need feeding little and often at that young age.

My DD2 was feeding every 2.5 hours about 4-5oz at that age. She didnt start going 3 hourly between feeds until 12 weeks and has never gone 4 hours until she was fully weaned on 3 meals a day at 8 months.

I really dont understand why so many people think that baby MUST be on a 4 hourly schedule. 4 hours is waaaay to long between feeds IMO (unless your baby doesnt give hunger cues until after 4 hours, which some dont). When I gave birth to DD2 there was a lady in the bed opposite me with 2 day old who was forcing a 4 hourly routine on her baby. He would start crying after 2.5-3 hours but she would let him scream and scream until it hit the 4 hour mark and then feed him. No wonder he ate the whole damn 100ml at that age! xx

 

[Ktothema]

A 2 day old on a 4hr schedule. Insane! My two were only 4hrly at a young stage because that's what they want (both started on 3hrs, odd children!) but they got/get it ahead if they were hungry.

Sounds definitely like your health visitor has no personal experience with children. I know logically it makes sense but logic and practicality don't necessarily mix. With ds if he gets really hungry and starts wailing bottles go terribly. Ds goes from calm to completely crazy in under a second though....

 

[Charlee]

My son is 7 weeks 2 days and through the day has around 4.5-5.5 ounces every 3-4 hours,he has went 5-6 hours if he is having a sleep period. He goes to bed around 7:30pm, wakes about 12-2am and goes straight back to sleep then wakes 5-7am. I just make sure his bottle is enough then if he leaves it I know he is full. HV really don't have a clue sometimes.

 

[c1403]

I guess all babies are diffferent but my 8 week old feeds every 3 hours and has 3-4 oz. Sometimes she will have 5oz but never more than that and she always leaves some (I make 5oz bottles).

She occasionally sleeps longer at night (even got 8 hours out of her at one point)

7-9oz every 4 hours seems alot to me....my neighbour has a 6 month old and he has 4x 7oz bottles a day (plus some solids)

My LO is no way ready to take over 5oz, sometimes I stop a feed halfway and give her a break then start again as she doesnt want any more at the time but eventually starts drinking again.

I do think HVisitors give conflicting advise, as mine told me to start on solids at 6 months but a friend of mine was told it was now ok to start at 4-4.5 months ??

Unless your worried about their weight gain just let them feed when they want as you dont want to force it and they get sick.

 

[lola_90]

Thanks everyone

We have started making 5oz bottles, sometimes he finishes it others he doesn't. Definitely won't be upping it for a while.

I'm sure he will sleep longer and drink more later on, but I am not going to force it when he is still so young

 

[CoffeePuffin]

Don't force more milk on him if he doesn't want him. So long as he's having plenty of wet nappies and is gaining weight then he's fine as he is. Health visitors really do my head in. The majority of them don't even have children! My 2 month old only takes 3 oz every 3-4 hours and has done this for about 2 weeks. Sometimes she only takes 1-2 oz every 1.5-2 hours. I'd rather feed her little bits through the day than listen to her scream from hunger for hours (you cannot console a hungry baby, health visitors are idiots) then try and force a big feed on her. That's not right.

Your boy sounds perfectly fine. Stuff what they say.