Worried my baby is drinking too much milk?

[Mummy of Ange]

I posted this yesterday under Baby CLub, but was wondering if any of you ladies can help.

Scarlett is 3 weeks old on Wednesday and the past week she has been screaming hysterical after her feed for more food. She was on 4oz every 3-4 hours but had to increase it to 5oz as she is constantly sucking her fingers.

When the HV came round the other day i told her about the feeds she said if she screams feed her, she is growing.

Today she had 4oz at 9am and then went to sleep until 1pm, at 1pm she had 5oz then 40 minutes later was screaming, gave her another oz still screaming so an hour later gave her another 2oz's and she settled, she had 8oz for dinner!!!

She isnt throwing it up, she is drinking the bottles dry. Im worried to death im giving her too much, but the HV said feed her when she is hungry.

 

[skunkpixie]

I agree with your HV and if she isnt throwing up then I would say she needs it. If you can try and take your baby weekly to weighing clinic and if she is gaining too much weight then the HV will pick up on it and give you advice on what to do. xxx

 

[clio]

I worried about this a lot during my LO's first month, but all advice came down to this: you can't overfeed a newborn. Period. They take what they need and if yours takes a lot, then that's a nice, healthy sign!

 

[mrsrof]

I would agree with the HV as well...if she's hungry, feed her. If she takes too much she'll spit it up xx

 

[Darkphaery]

I had exactly the same issue with Ava, some days she was having 40+ oz. Spoke to 3 different HV's who all advised just to leave her. At the same time she had really bad, painful wind so we decided to switch her milk for that reason. We switched from SMA to APtamil and from day 1 she went to 6 bottles per day, it worked for us

 

[Mummy of Ange]

I have thought about switching. We are on aptimal, soon as it runs out we are going to try SMA

 

[shellyob]

I worried that my LO's milk intake was a rapid increase in the first two weeks and if he carried on increasing at the same rate I'd never be able to keep up/fill him up.. from 5 -10 mls on day one, to 5oz by week 2! He is now 9 weeks old and is still only on 6oz now so it settled down after the first two weeks. I think they say babies have a growth spurt around 2 and 3 weeks too so this could be why she is so hungry xx

 

[Sarah27]

My LO drank lots of milk in the first few weeks! Lots over what she was "supposed" to drink for her weight and age but its when they need it!

If your LO is sleeping for long periods have you thought about feeding her little and often with shorter gaps inbetween, that way you may avoid the screaming for food... Easier on the ear drums too!

My LO is now 14 weeks old and now has about 4-5oz every feed, which is exactly what she was drinking when she was 4 weeks old! X

 

[beatnick]

glad to read this.. my 3 week old is on about 4 oz every 3 hours. but she is also a grazer and sometimes splits her bottles and has 2oz... waits an hour then has the rest.

she is super hungry and my dh is getting worried. im going to get her weighed next week so i can check in with a HV then.

i agree that they puke up what is too much at this stage. i dont believe you can over feed a baby by breast or bottle. but you can get them snacking too much.

 

[Dizzy321]

If shes hungry, feed her hun, but she sounds like maybe she just needs to suck on something for comfort maybe? have you tried a dummy? cos if she's only taking 1oz 40 mins after a big feed she might just be looking to comfort suck? just an idea x

 

[Mummy of Ange]

If shes hungry, feed her hun, but she sounds like maybe she just needs to suck on something for comfort maybe? have you tried a dummy? cos if she's only taking 1oz 40 mins after a big feed she might just be looking to comfort suck? just an idea x

Tried her with a dummy she spits it out, pushes herself back and sucks her fingers. If I put her on my shoulder she sucks my shoulder so I'm sure it's food

 

[BabyGirl21]

If she is eating it then let her hun, It's not too much, our LO was the same. He's now 8 weeks old and on 8oz bottles ! pretty much going up 1oz everyweek! he was only 7lb 11oz when he was born, and 8lb 6oz when he was about 3 weeks, not had him weighed since. xx

 

[StranjeGirl]

Mine did the same thing. My pediatrician said to try a pacifier to see if she just wants to suck (which she didn't) but that if she wants food then feed her. He said you can't over feed a baby...worse case is they will spit it up or feel a bit uncomfortable from having a full tummy. My baby is HUGE but she is also off the charts length wise. My guess is she grew rapidly at first and will start to slow down now!

 

[Amy31]

My LO fed loads as well I was worried but he was & still is hungry baby he seemed to have more food as a little baby than he does now at 6 months. Did turn out to have silent reflux as well which made him want to comfort ate but then scream after few seconds.