my 9 day old son is ALWAYS hungry, please help

[ProudMum]

my son is on SMA gold- the back of the can says as follows

0-2 weeks 7lb 3oz 6in 24 hrs

2-4 weeks 9lb 4oz 6in 24 hrs

my son was born 8lb4 and by 5 days old was 8lb8

he always seems to want to eat- I am followin the 2-4 weeks guidelines as he is closer to 9lb than he is 7lb but its still not satisfying him.

Im feeding him every 3 hrs, he doesnt even make it to the 4 hours between feeds.
Hes always sucking on his fists, or frantically trying to suckle on his dummy; if i pick him up he tried eating my face or eating my shoulder and if hes laying on my chest he crawls to my breasts, SURELY this is indicating that hes hungry?

what do I do??? is anyone else facing this?? my mw advised I try soothing him with dummys or my finger, singing to him etc to stop him crying for food but its not working much and im beginning to think something is wrong with him.

should i change his milk to SMA white for hungrier babies or will this phase pass? he's on about 7 bottles a day and thats 4 oz - from say 6am-6am he's had about 7 feeds. Is this normal???

 

[MrsRabbit]

He's only a week old - my daughter has 2 ounces every 2 hours sometimes less like 90 minutes sometimes 3 hours.

If your baby is hungry FEED him. I've never put too much stock in putting so many hours between feeds. If he's not wet\dirty,hot\cold the pacifier doesn't work mix up some bottle and feed the kid.

Babies have really small tummies they eat a little bit often in the first few weeks and months. They also have a lot of growth spurts.

I would keep him on the standard formula and feed him more often as much as he wants. I don't think a week old will over eat.

 

[Carrie76]

I've learned on here and from my HV to basically ignore the guidelines and if your baby is hungry then give them more! I don't think you can overfeed them at the beginning as they will just bring back up anything they dont need. I'd try giving him more milk first for a few days and if hes still really unsettled maybe try the hungrier baby milk?

Please try not to worry that there is something wrong, I've read so many posts on here from Mums with hungry babies and the majority of the answers are just to feed them more and ignore the guidelines on the side of the tin!!

 

[linsayp]

my son is on SMA gold- the back of the can says as follows

0-2 weeks 7lb 3oz 6in 24 hrs

2-4 weeks 9lb 4oz 6in 24 hrs

my son was born 8lb4 and by 5 days old was 8lb8

he always seems to want to eat- I am followin the 2-4 weeks guidelines as he is closer to 9lb than he is 7lb but its still not satisfying him.

Im feeding him every 3 hrs, he doesnt even make it to the 4 hours between feeds.
Hes always sucking on his fists, or frantically trying to suckle on his dummy; if i pick him up he tried eating my face or eating my shoulder and if hes laying on my chest he crawls to my breasts, SURELY this is indicating that hes hungry?

what do I do??? is anyone else facing this?? my mw advised I try soothing him with dummys or my finger, singing to him etc to stop him crying for food but its not working much and im beginning to think something is wrong with him.

should i change his milk to SMA white for hungrier babies or will this phase pass? he's on about 7 bottles a day and thats 4 oz - from say 6am-6am he's had about 7 feeds. Is this normal???

My son is 7 weeks old and still feeds every 2 hours. At 3 weeks old he was taking 35oz in 24 hours which is way above the recommended amount on the box of milk, but when I mentioned it to my doctor he said he wouldn't drink it if he didn't need it & if he wants 5oz every hour then I should give it him which is a fair point! (We'd just be exhausted lol) Every baby is different and what they put on the box is just a guideline I suppose. Liam will only go more than 3/4 hours for the first stretch of sleep at night.
Have you tried giving him more in a bottle? (didn't work for us as he would just refuse it but may help with you, especially if he is finishing the whole bottle)

I asked the dr about milk for hungrier babies & he said that all formulas are made from whey & casein proteins - whey is easier to digest than casein. Apparently 1st milks are made mainly from whey proteins with a small amount of casein, but hungrier baby milks are made mainly from casein meaning it's really hard to digest and will cause constipation.
He said not to even bother with any other milks from 6months plus, just to stick with 1st milk until my son is 1 (although we are now on a hypoallergenic formula due to problems he's had)

I probably wouldn't switch the milk with your LO being so young, I reckon he could struggle with digestion if you give him the hungry baby milk so soon! You may just have a greedy baby like mine But if you really want to I would speak to your doctor, midwife or HV before you do.

Hope this helps

 

[MrsJD]

Most babies don't go 4 hours, well not to begin with so I would just keep going with your formula and see how he is in a few weeks.

 

[lleigh]

I would try putting another ounce in each feed and see how that goes, have you tried luke warm water between feeds?

 

[MrsRabbit]

I would never give a baby water to try and hold off feeding. Most of the time babies have no need for another fluid other than breast milk or formula.

 

[Vici]

Please ignore the "guidelines". ll babies are different and if he's hungry he's hungry! He's still very little and I know Imi was having feeds every 2 hours ish xx

 

[OmarsMum]

There is a mojor growth spurt at this age. Give him what he wants hun, u can never overfeed a new born xx

 

[bubbles123]

The feeding guide on the back of the tin is a work of fiction. Also, my LO is only just going about 4 hours between daytime feeds now - no way would he have been able to any younger. I think he is only now having what is recommended on the tin. For the first few months he was having way more. And as other's have said I would wait until LO is older and draining full bottles before you consider hungry baby milk as it's designed ideally for older babies 4 months + to try to delay weaning.

 

[jambobabe]

i agree with the other ladies hun if baba is hungry offer him more and if that still doesnt help move on to SMA white for hungrier babies.GL hun xxx

 

[Laucu]

Emma was feeding about every 2 hours or so at this age, I fed her between 8 and 12 times a day! She was BF but I did top her up with formula for the first couple of weeks.

Don't worry. I'm sure it will level out and settle down a bit as the weeks go on. Their bellies are so small at this age, the only thing they can do is eat little and often.

 

[beachlover1]

Give him whatever he want, my LO guzzles for britain and when i asked the HV she said he will sick up what he doesnt need!

 

[Natasha2605]

I remember looking at the SMA guidelines on the tub when Summer was about 2 weeks old. If I went by that Summer is at the stage of a 4 month old nearly! Every baby's different and I would just give you LO more if they are hungry. It won't do them any harm xx