Newborn constantly hungry? Big feeding problems....

[Butterfly89]

My son was born Wednesday so that makes him 5 days old. =) Feeding has been a BIG issue so far.

The first night we were home (day two) he ended up crying nearly all night from 10 PM til 6AM despite feeding every two hours. Though my milk hadn't come in, the nurses assured me colostrum would be enough... LO didn't agree, lol. He ended up so distressed and frustrated that we thought something was causing him pain... We took him in to the hospital and they said he had just not been getting enough and had lost 8% body weight and convinced my OH that he NEEDED formula right away. So as reluctant as I was to introduce a bottle on the second day of his life.... we ended up with that. He's also had some latch issues and I'm going to see a BF consultant Tuesday but in the meantime, he's mainly been formula/bottle fed because he just gets so distressed/hungry.

Before yesterday, he had been eating 1.5oz or so every 3 hours approximately. My milk came in as well yesterday but I can only get like 15-20mL for every 30mins of pumping. So I either pump every 3ish hours and feed him that, or let him BF which is stressful (30 mins of latching/relatching/screaming) then he ends up still screaming in hunger 10 mins later so he usually just has the formula.

The past 24 hours, he is asking for food constantly. He shakes his head, opens his mouth, chews his hands, flails around, and just screams. We have been feeding him every 2-3 hours now and he's been eating 2-3oz each time then asking for more in an hour. He has been constantly pooping and it seems looser than usual and has soaked through diapers 3 times tonight. But OH is taking their advice to just feed him when he asks.... I'm not sure.

The hospital said to feed him 1-2 oz every 3-4 hours or so, but if he is hungry sooner, its fine to feed him again because "his body knows what to do, you can't overfeed newborns". However, after he eats 2-3 oz, he ends up spitting up, gassy, and fussy. We try stopping after 2oz but he just asks for more 10 minutes later. He absolutely will not sleep tonight. Now its at the point where he is refusing a bottle, but still doing the hunger cues.

We have even tried a pacifier, I've tried cuddling skin-to-skin thinking he just wanted the contact, we put him in his swing, but nothing consoles him but food. I feel like a terrible mom. =( What do I do??

No doctors are open today so I am stressed thinking about how I'm going to manage this for another day.

 

[AC1987]

Some newborns feed on the hour, the first 2 weeks are TOUGH bfing, you hafta just keep feeding them non stop and if your LO is seeming hungry all the time, it might be too early to be going every 3 hours, the hospital I find usually tends to go with an average. So my LO would feed about half to one ounce every hour at the beginning.
Its HARD in the beginning, some days would be so exhausting for me. I know however that the more formula you give the less breastmilk you'll make.. however I have nothing against formula as my LO gets a bottle a day of it
Are you able to have anyone come over to help you out so you get some rest?
Also, it might be gas trapped, or he's cold?

 

[Feline]

This is such a difficult situation, well done for coping so far. The hospital put the same pressure on us with formula. It's horrid seeing your lo hungry and distressed and feeling you can't help them - especially on massive sleep deprivation.

Are you able to let him just suckle on you between bottle feeds? He's programmed at this early age to instinctively continuously suckle on a nipple against his mother's warmth (ouch - I also had the all night sessions). Even if he has a full tummy, he's probably just driven by his instincts, and he sounds like a sensitive, spirited baby, which may be why he is getting so upset.

We've introduced a bit of formula in the mornings so that my other half can feed my boy and keep him quiet while I kip. But, even at four weeks, my little one wants to suckle on a nipple whenever he gets stressed or unhappy, or is hungry - which is about every 1.5 hours.

Whatever you do, just know that you're doing your best for your lo and you're not alone in going through this really difficult time - a lot of parents have gone through the same thing.

Good luck

 

[LDC]

It's difficult but it sounds quite normal to me, my LO was exactly the same, especially as my milk didnt come in right away either. I'd didn't even know until I broke down to the midwife in the hospital because LO was latched on literally 24/7.

I did introduce formula for two feeds though and kept latching LO in to encourage my milk supply to come in and increase. I've never had any latching issues with LO since and after the first two nights EBF.

LO has such a small belly that it will need feeding little and often so as difficult as it is (and its HARD) keep going, it will get better i promise else I'd have given up a long time ago!

Just keep letting LO latch on every hour if you can to increase your supply.

Good luck

Xx

 

[lolalei3]

Oh wow you just brought back memories of the first couple of months with my LO! Torture is all I can say it was, sheer torture! This is the exact reason I'm hesitating on trying for another baby!! It turned out tho she had colic pretty bad and reflux which after putting her on meds at 3months got sooo much better! She grew out of the colic tho. Have you looked into your bub having these issues, seems likely as the screaming and hunger cues are often signs of reflux too and I made the big mistake of feeding her constantly which just made it worse!

 

[gaiagirl]

All I can really tell you is that newborns do not eat at 2-3 hour intervals as often people tell you they do. They eat CONSTANTLY. That's natures way of having them close to you and making sure your milk supply is well established. For the first month, I literally did almost nothing else but nurse. It's tiring but it does end.

Here's my advice: put that little guy on the boob every time he cries, as long as it's not for something else (diaper, temperature). Just sit back and nurse nurse nurse and let everyone else deal with housework and feeding you!

It's unfortunate they pushed formula, 8% is an acceptable loss. Not sure what your plan or hope is, but I would stop formula and pumping now that your milk is in and just feed him on demand!

It really gets easier but newborns LOVE to be latched on constantly!

 

[gaiagirl]

I should mention, I know you can't over feed with BFing but I thought you could with formula!?! I'm not sure.

That's why I would just push on with breastfeeding and latch him every time he shows cues! If you wait until he's frantic it can be more difficult

 

[LDC]

I should mention, I know you can't over feed with BFing but I thought you could with formula!?! I'm not sure.

That's why I would just push on with breastfeeding and latch him every time he shows cues! If you wait until he's frantic it can be more difficult

I also got told by my midwife that you can over feed on formula. She told me on the boob baby has to work for food so won't latch if they're not hungry as otherwise they can't be bothered to work for the milk, whereas bottles hit an automatic sucking reflex in the mouth so will suck for the sake of it so to speak.
Consequently they will over feed and throw it back up again.

Not sure how true this is?
X

 

[bananaz]

Honestly his behavior sounds totally normal, though I understand why it's really distressing (believe me, I felt the same way with my newborn). The constant hunger and sucking is how they build your milk supply. It's also very normal for babies to lose up to 10% of their birth weight within the first couple days so I'm not sure why the hospital was freaking out about an 8% loss - a lot of that is just fluid and meconium.

Anyway, if your goal is to breastfeed then I would strongly encourage you to be persistent and continue putting him to the breast as often as you can. He's used to having a constant flow of nourishment 24/7 through the umbilical cord so it's really not that crazy that he wants to eat more often than every 2-3 hours. My baby is almost 9 months old and she's only just started going 3 hours between feeds! Hopefully the lactation consultant will be able to give you more advice and reassurance.

 

[bumpin2012]

I agree with previous posters. Get baby on the boob and let him nurse. Formula fed babies go 3-4 hours between feeds. Most breast feed babies do not. My story sounds like yours but my breastfeeding experience ended in epic failure. I put too much on " baby should go x amount of time between feeds" and the stress of feeling he wasnt getring enough destroyed my supply. After 6weeks my baby flat out refused boob. Looking back I can see where I went wrong. Get comfy with as much water and snacks as you can, grab a book and get that baby latched. Let him nurse as long as he wants. The first 6 weeks are the worst and if you can survive them you have a great chance at being successful.
Best of luck to you.

 

[midori1999]

My advice would be to keep your baby close, hold him skin to skin as much as possible and latch hooray every little cue, the tiniest thing, well before he gets to the crying stage. It is hard to get a frustrated and hungry baby latched on, because if a baby is crying the tongue raises in the mouth and you need the tongue to be down to get a good latch.

If you want to be able to breast feed you need to get help with the latch ASAP, but if you look on the Jack Newman site there are some good videos of what to look for etc.

It's perfectly normal for milk not to come in for 3-7 days after birth and I agree with the above that 8% is a perfectly acceptable weight loss, unless your baby. Was showing signs of dehydration (not weeing, poop not changing colour, unrates in nappy) then you probably got bad advice at the hospital.

 

[BigAl]

Shame you got crap advice in the hospital, as it all sounds normal. I thank god that I actually stayed in hospital for 5 days after birth as they helped me understand 12 hours constant feeding was normal at that point, I would have doubted myself at home.

Hope everything works out for you

 

[aliss]

Lots of good advice here, esp. Midori (and here is some more on feeding cues - the visualization helps https://kellymom.com/ages/newborn/bf-basics/hunger-cues/)

*I'd like to add- in the newborn days, there are days/nights where NOTHING you do will 'satisfy' them, even if you are doing everything right. This is the nature of newborns unfortunately.

 

[staralfur]

Everyone else has pretty much covered it! Sounds totally normal. I also got the same advice from the doctors at my hospital (to supplement with formula) and listening to them was a big mistake. I ended up with mastitis due to not feeding her as often as I should have and then having to work at increasing my supply...

As others have said, drop the formula and feed your baby alllll day long if that's what he wants. The constant feedings won't last forever and those long nights will be so worth it in just a few weeks.

 

[xsadiex]

It's so hard at the beginning but you can do it, I'd slowly drop the formula feeds and replace them with breastfeeds to get your supply up as its really important. It will get better x

 

[Zephram]

Yup, sounds like my son too, Hun. It's totally normal. I had the little guy on my boob all day every day for probably the first month. It is really hard at the time, but I look back on it with fond memories of all the cuddles!

As others have said, breastfed newborns do not feed every 3-4 hours. I was surprised by that too. They may spend an hour feeding as they're still learning how and then be hungry again 15 mins later. Lots of love and hugs will help you get through, make sure you've got plenty of help from family so you can just take care of the little one.

 

[Twister]

Even some formula fed babies don't go 3 hours between feeds! It's a myth, newborns are supposed to eat little and often as their tummies are tiny

It depends whether you want to carry on with breastfeeding or not but if you do you need to drop the formula and get LO on the breast as much as possible. He will want to feed all the time it seems but it's for the greater good and you will reap the rewards in a few weeks time when you have a brilliant supply and the cluster feeding settles down a bit. Just sit down with the tv remote, a good book, bnb, some snacks and drinks and enjoy the ride, you'll miss it even though it won't seem like it at the time.

I know how it feels when your baby is inconsolable, most of us have been there but again it's normal and it will pass. You're doing great!

 

[Bean66]

Probably been said but skin to skin and pump to get milk supply going.

Speak to the le leche league.

The first few weeks are hard! It's worth it!

 

[Bean66]

I don't expect my 7 week old to go 3 hours yet.

 

[Tigerlilyb]

I can't give you any better advice than the other ladies have already given. I shake my head every time I see some poor lady who's been scared by the hospital staff because their baby is losing weight, all newborns lose weight in their first few days!

Get yourself a really big book (or a series of little ones) or some DVD box sets and cosy up for the next few weeks. It's hard, quite painful and you do feel constantly chained to the sofa but I really miss those days now. All those cuddles

During the day my 9 month old doesn't go 3 hours without eating at least something, I don't know where people get these numbers from.