Little monkey... Got me all confused!

[Sarahdisco]

LO is now 2 weeks old she lost 100g from her birth weight but that's coming back up now (30g shy of her birth weight)

She was 7lb 3 at birth. We're formula feeding and thanks to the perfect prep, doing it on demand. Sometimes she'll take 100ml, sometimes it'll be 60, at lunchtime we often only get 40ml before she loses interest. Over the course of the day she takes around 350-400 but this has gone up from 250-300 a few days ago. She will take a feed around every 3-4 hours (4-5 at night) and when I spoke to one midwife she said that's fine as she's a really content baby, and obviously healthy.

Had a different midwife out today and she basically said bubs isn't getting enough and we have to wake her before 3 hours is up to get a feed down her. Been doing this today and LO is obviously unhappy at being woken and is refusing to take more than 40ml at a time, then waking an hour later wanting another 30 etc.

I know she has a little tummy but we were doing quite well and she was quite content and now I feel like I'm forcing her to eat when she doesn't want it!

So confused whether to trust my instinct or keep waking her up!

 

[fieryphoenix]

400 ML is only 13-14 ounces a day! I dont think that's near enough for a growing little one, I'd keep waking her up like the midwife suggested.

 

[MindUtopia]

Usually the recommendation (and it really is just a 'recommendation' NOT a rule!) is 150-200 ml per 1 kg body weight. Your LO is roughly 3.25 (that would be 7lbs 2 oz), so that would be 487-650 ml per day. You're pretty much there. Assuming your baby is healthy and content, I wouldn't necessarily wake to feed unless there are genuine concerns about a slow weight gain or further weight loss.

My daughter lost 12% of her birth weight after birth and didn't regain it for a month. We were BF, so it's slightly different as you can never really know the amounts. But for about the first 2 weeks, we were advised to wake to feed every 3 hours. Once she picked up gaining weight (there were times when she actually LOST weight again after birth), we were advised to feed on demand.

Personally, I think what you're feeding sounds like plenty as long as she's happy. My daughter wasn't eating that much until about 8 weeks!

 

[Tami]

I would wake her up every 3 hours until she is back upto or past her birth weight, even at night. At that point Lily was taking 3oz, she was 9'lbs11oz at birth and we woke her every 3 hours until she had regained the 6lbs she lost.
Now she has 4oz anywhere between 3 and 6 hours apart, sometimes with an extra oz thrown inbetween.
You can wake baby with nappy changes which should really be every 3-4 hours (or more often as required) anyway.
Do you re-offer the bottle if baby stops feeding part way through? The bottle is good out of the fridge for 2 hours so you can try baby with whatever is left during that time.
Baby will let you know if she's eating too much (she'll spit it all over you both lol).

 

[cocosianelle]

I'd say as long as your baby is having plenty of wet/dirty nappies then go with your instinct.

One thing I've learnt is newborn feeding habbits vary massively. Our LO was born 9lb 1oz and would only take around 2oz every 3 hours. She is just over 12 weeks and is only now up to 4oz. Some babies just don't eat as much as others, aslong as your LO is putting weight on that's the important thing.

 

[CandyDay]

Was she not gaining weight and that is why the midwife said to wake her. Or was she just going strictly on the amount of formula she was taking? If your LO was not gaining weight then I would say wake her but if her weight was fine then I wouldn't.
This website says between 360- 720 and you are in that range

https://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/formulafeed/formulafeed_often.html#

 

[Sarahdisco]

CandyDay as wasn't going on weight or the amount of formula, purely that LO was sleeping for 4 hour stretches (sometime 5 overnight).

I've done the whole waking up thing for 24 hours now and I have a very grumpy baby. She refuses to take more than what she wants (she won't take it then spit it up, she just stops sucking!) We bought variflow teats which have made no difference, she just takes what she wants then stops!

She lost 100g of her birth weight but that's coming back up now (30g shy) so I'm not overly worried she's not eating enough, but this midwife has me doubting myself cause I can't get LO to drink any more!


Pulling my hair out!!!

 

[Nessicle]

The midwife clearly has clue about babies!

Firstly if they're breastfed they have no idea how much they're taking per feed, their tummy at birth is the size of a pea so anything above 1-2oz per feed I'd think was a lot. Also new babies can sleep a lot. My son was sleeping 4/5hours a time - until he realised he was alive then was awake every 2 hours feeding lol.

As the PP said as long as she's gaining weight, has at least 6 wet nappies a day and seems content take no notice of her x

 

[Nessicle]

*no clue

 

[Sarahdisco]

The midwife clearly has clue about babies!

Firstly if they're breastfed they have no idea how much they're taking per feed, their tummy at birth is the size of a pea so anything above 1-2oz per feed I'd think was a lot. Also new babies can sleep a lot. My son was sleeping 4/5hours a time - until he realised he was alive then was awake every 2 hours feeding lol.

As the PP said as long as she's gaining weight, has at least 6 wet nappies a day and seems content take no notice of her x

Yeah she's started gaining weight, she has lots of wet nappies (or weeks when your in the middle of a nappy change!) and poops plenty. She's also very contented, she doesn't cry very often (usually when the perfect prep has done its first beep, cause she knows her bottle is almost ready!)

I'm hoping that its a different midwife next time, although I have the health visitor coming on Friday so hopefully she'll be nicer!

 

[CandyDay]

Go purely by how much LO is sleeping doesn't make very much sense. I could understand if there was a weight gain issue and she was sleeping lots. But just going by sleep doesn't maky any sense. I would ask for weekly weight checks and if LO is gaining then I wouldn't worry. Or weigh her yourself at the same time once a week, strip her and step on the scale. And then just weigh yourself to figure out your LO's weight. And then track her wieght on the infant growth chart.

https://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/who/grchrt_girls_24lw_9210.pdf