Ravenous baby - help!

[HanaK]

So my son is literally RAVENOUS. My husband and I have been recording his feeds - times and amounts and yesterday he overate by around 100mils. He is nearly nine weeks old and was breastfed until week 8 which I think accounts for his lack of routine and consistency with feeding times and amounts (completely random and he never eats the full 150mil bottle in one sitting). We are going to try and work on this by getting him to wait a little longer between each feed every few days (increasing by ten mins or so).

Our real problem though is that in the evenings he is never full. He literally ate non stop last night from half 6 until half 11 when we went to bed. He was so hungry he couldn't sleep like he normally does (in his basket downstairs with us until we go to bed). He then ate when we went upstairs and slept until 4am. This was great... Except then we couldn't fill him up. My husband was up with him until half past five when I took over. He kept showing hunger cues: he doesn't cry but was frantically sucking his fists, kicking his legs and groaning. he definitely didn't have wind. Eventually I left him to fuss!

Can anyone help? I'm so worried he's overeating but I know he is genuinely hungry as he's so settled with a full tummy and these past few days have been restless! Is he due a growth spurt? It's a lot like cluster feeding!

 

[woodr]

My little boy has reflux and they say one of the signs is sucking of hands also being uncomfortable, when my son is having a bad time he tends to comfort feed alot which could be what your lo is doing?

Just a thought? Is he ok during and after feed? X

 

[MindUtopia]

A baby really can't be overfed. If he's obviously hungry, feed him. Don't try to delay feeds. You might make him a smaller bottle if he doesn't eat much at any one time, but feeding on demand is the best approach (especially with a formerly breastfed baby). And don't worry, 100 mls extra a day is hardly 'overeating'. And those averages are just that, averages, and don't work for every baby.

My daughter has always eaten much less than those guidelines say she should (I think because she was breastfed and my supply was terrible so she was just used to eating small amounts). We were feeding her about 90 ml per feed at 10 weeks and even now she eats about 300 ml a day less than those guidelines. But she's jumped from 25th to 65th centile in that time. She's obviously doing fine, very happy and content, rarely seems overly hungry, and sleeps well at night (usually a good sign they are getting all they need during the day).

I'd say, if he's hungry, feed him what he needs. He won't always been eating this often and it's possible he's having a growth spurt.

 

[fieryphoenix]

Bottle Fed babies cluster feed too. I think your spot on with that's what he's doing

 

[Nessicle]

Sounds like a growth spurt to me. If he's draining the bottles go with it and it will calm down. If he's not draining then it could be comfort feeding if he has any acid issues (silent reflux) try offering a dummy x

 

[Nessicle]

Sucking fists can also be a silent reflux sign x