So worried about how little he eats

[AlwaysPraying]

Bubs is 3 weeks and is eating about 17-19 oz a day. He should be eating a min of 20 oz for his weight. The dr says hes fine and gaining fine but I can't stop worrying so much. Last night he took 1 oz at 8 pm and I woke him up at 3 am (now) to feed and he's only taken anther 1.5 oz and isn't interested. I'm really worried.

Is it normal to not be hungry for a time? Most of the posts are about how thir babies are eating a lot or too much. I know the dr said he's fine but I just can't stop wondering why he's eating so little.

Any help or advice would be great. Or just to know I'm not alone.

 

[Eala]

My LO when she was your LO's age was very much a "little and often" baby. She usually just hit the 20oz in a day. As she got older, she did up it herself.

One thing I probably ask everyone blush - what size teats are you using? We found that the size 1 (newborn) teats were so slow that she was getting tired trying to feed, so would fall asleep after taking hardly anything. We tried variflow and she hated them, but then moved her onto the size 2 teats at about 4 weeks old and she did great.

If your LO is still gaining weight and seems alright in himself, chances are he's fine. I know it doesn't stop you worrying, but try and give it another couple of weeks to see how he gets on

 

[lukesmom]

We did exactly the same as Eala just suggested with my first son,and he did great.Jake seems okay with the number 1 teat at the moment though.xx

 

[AlwaysPraying]

Never thought to change the size. Something to think about for sure. It's hard not to worry all the time. I feel so bad ff and not bf so that doesn't help. O remind myself that I'd have no idea how much he'd be eating if I was bf.

 

[merlotgirl]

My LO should be eating at least 27-28 oz a day but I struggle to get much more than 22 into her even now! However, when I've had her weighed she is following her centile perfectly (so much so that they comment on it everytime!) and the HV and GP are perfectly happy so I try not to worry about it. She is healthy and happy and to me that's the main thing!! Your LO will let you know when it's time to up the feeds- try not to worry too much!

 

[ellie27]

Anna has always taken way less than the 'recommended' amounts.

I kept a diary of everything she took in the first 3 months as she lost a lot of weight at birth and took a while to gain it back.

At 3 weeks she took 2 or 3 oz a feed and totalled about 18oz a day.

From around 2.5 months she took total of around 25oz max and she never upped that amount and still took that right up to 6 months (when up til then she should have been on 35oz!!)

I think you and LO are doing great and try not worry!! Remember not to get him weighed too often as some weeks they dont gain much but might gain a lot the following week

 

[AlwaysPraying]

The next time we go to het weighed is at his six week check, so that's in three weeks from now.

I'm happy to hear I'm not the only one who's baby doesn't eat the recommended amount.

It makes me sad. Feeding times are stressful for me because I'm always watching the bottle to see how much he's eating. I stress fit through and it always ends with me disappointed. The whole thing is sad really. I want to be calm and know he's healthy and happy. I want to have faith that he's going in the right direction. It's just hard.

How do I not obsess over each feed? How do I not obsess over the numbers at the end of everyday?

 

[merlotgirl]

Sorry to hear you are still struggling

Is bubs content? Does he seem to be growing and filling out? I know at that stage I'd noticed how Abby's scrawny little baby butt wobbled when I wiped it lol!!

If you are really worried then go and see the HV and get baby weighed- I weighed Abby every week until she was 4 weeks old, then every fortnight to 8 weeks. It may reassure you that he is growing and putting on weight- I know it helped reassure me!

 

[AlwaysPraying]

I've changed the size of the nipple to a faster flow and he's eating a lot faster than he has. Instead of an hour he eats the same amount in 20 mins. So that's a good thing.

He seems very happy and content. I think he's getting bigger. It's hard to tell day to day. My dr said that it might not help my anxiety to go all time to measure him. Instead he wants me to watch if he's happy and if he's eating well. Which he's doing both of.

I think he's starting to eat more these days. He will eat 3 oz at a time mow that's up from 2 oz last week. But he doesn't eat as often!!! So atthe end of the day he doesn't get much more than he was before. Make sense?

 

[Mrs Doddy]

My LO when she was your LO's age was very much a "little and often" baby. She usually just hit the 20oz in a day. As she got older, she did up it herself.

One thing I probably ask everyone blush - what size teats are you using? We found that the size 1 (newborn) teats were so slow that she was getting tired trying to feed, so would fall asleep after taking hardly anything. We tried variflow and she hated them, but then moved her onto the size 2 teats at about 4 weeks old and she did great.

If your LO is still gaining weight and seems alright in himself, chances are he's fine. I know it doesn't stop you worrying, but try and give it another couple of weeks to see how he gets on

we had this too and are on size 2

 

[mum22ttc#3]

My daughter was only just hitting the 20 oz mark up until she was 10 and a half weeks then for the last week shes been eating about 27 oz a day, not sure weather shell stay at this or weather its just a growth spurt though. I was worried too as both my others ate alot more when they were babies but my health visitor said as long as shes putting on weight then not too worry x

 

[Emzywemzy]

Holly goes through phases of eating less. This week is one of them! She sort of snack feeds for a bit. I keep a diary of her feeds every day as well because of problems losing weight when she was born and I've noticed that it usually comes before a growth spurt when she'll start to eat more. It's really hard not to worry about it, so if I were you I'd pop along to see the HV and get him weighed to reassure you x