Newborn is drinking bottles in less then 5 minutes?

[greenbeans12]

My baby is currently 3 weeks old. He was born larger in size, 8 lbs 3 ounces, and he was a great eater from the start. I fed him within 2 hours of being born and he took to the bottle like a champion. He ate so much that the doctors were a bit stunned (2 to 3 ounces from birth) but he never spit up or got gassy so we had no issues.

About 4 days ago he began getting gassy and restless. After 2 days of him hardly sleeping and crying out in pain we switched him to Enfamil Prosobee which is a soy based milk. I also tried gas drops but they did not bring a lot of relief so we have begun using gripe water which has given us a better result.

He is still a little gassy and has some belly pains, even with the soy milk and gripe water. I finally caved and called his doctor who said it seems he is ready for a faster flow nipple. She believes because he did so well on his milk for so long and the fact he sucks really hard when he eats that he may be gulping in too much air from trying to eat quickly with a slow flow nipple.

She told me to cut the hole a little bigger in the nipple and see if it makes a difference. So last night I cut the nipple a little and he gulped 4 ounces down in less then 5 minutes. I know he did well because he did not choke or gag or spit up. We were just so shocked to see him eats so quickly and he still seemed to want more. Is this even normal? I mean we are talking about a 3 week old who sucked down 4 ounces in a matter of minutes and still fussed for more.

 

[RubyLouise]

My daughters 4 weeks today and ive already had to move her up to the faster flow teat. She's using the avent number 2 teat now. She is taking 5oz every 3 hours and only takes just over 5 minutes each bottle. I've just had a health visitor visit and she saw her do it and she didn't say anything was wrong with it xxx

 

[Soph n Chris]

My Lm has been taking 5-6 Oz since 7 days old and if in the right mind can drain a bottle in five minutes - depends how lazy or sleepy he is

 

[jaydensmommy9]

maybe hes going through a growth spurt? my ds was bottle fed and when he went throught his growth spurt i felt like he was eating too much but he was fine withbdd its different i cant see how much shes getting because shes bf but she ate a lot at 3 weeks and was eating every hr if not more

 

[forestfire]

It will take 15-20 minutes for him to realise he is full, if he is full so maybe try and distract him when hew finished the bottle?

 

[weewdy]

My dd was exactly the same from birth. At 3weeks old she was taking 5oz every 2.5 hrs. She gulped in down in no time. We had to distract her once the bottle was finished until she realised she was full.

 

[MamaBear518]

My LO was exactly the same, minus the gas and fussiness. At 3 weeks she was at 2-3oz and would wolf that down then want more so I'd make her another ounce and that would pacify her. And even then it seemed like she was eating every 1/2 hour. She's almost 3 months now and was taking 4oz every feeding but wanted more every 1/2 hour to an hour and I asked her Dr. about it and he said try putting 1tsp of Gerber rice cereal to every 4oz of formula or switch her to Enfamil AP, so I've been doing the rice every feeding and it seems to hold her over much longer. Seems like it also helps her sleep longer too and spit up less. So you could always ask her Dr. about the AP bc it has added rice starch right in it, maybe it will help?

 

[honeybee2]

Very normal!

We are on number 3 teats now. If baby is falling asleep between feeds or getting too gassy, its time for a bigger teat. You may want to introduce more milk now.