Is my 4.5 week old overeating? Should we be putting him on a schedule?

Question

Our 4.5 week old is consuming so much formula, before we were restricting his feeds he would feed approximately 8 times a day and take on average 100 mls per feed - this means he was having 800 mls per day. He is gaining weight rapidly, 0.5 kg per week and I believe he is overeating. My theory is that he has a string sucking reflex and as we weren't offering a dummy was taking in formula through feeding to satisfy his sucking urge. He wasn't really throwing up his feeds but I think all the formula was causing his bad digestion issues as he often looked in pain. For the past 24 hours we have tried to feed him every 4 hours, and he is taking the full feed of 120 mls at each feed. This means that over 24 hours he is having 720 mls, the tin suggests 5 feeds at this amount so 600 per day, based on his weight and the guideline of 150 mls per kg he shoud be having 675 mls so even at 4 hourly feeds we are giving him a lot. What do people suggest we do, I feel s bad putting him on a schedule - I had aimed to demand feed but don't want t overload the little guy with formula.

Answer 1

You don't say how much your baby weighs. He should be having 150 to 200 mls of milk per kilo of body weight in 24 hours. At 4 weeks 800 mls is not unreasonable and his consumption will go over a litre a day as he grows. Weight gain in the first months is amazingly rapid. Speak to your doctor or health visitor before restricting his formula.

Answer 2

I'm pretty sure that he will stop feeding when he is full. My 1st born was also on formula from a couple of weeks of age, and he ALWAYS had more than what was recommended. On the tins, I think you will find it also says 'your baby may need more or less'..........I was always afraid that I was overfeeding my boy, until I spoke to my mother (good ol' mum eh), and she told me that he will stop feeding when he is full. When he got a little older he just started having the normal feeds.



Have you tried changing the teat to more of a slower one (if possible). Maybe the teat is giving him the milk too quickly (could be why he is throwing some up) and also, with a slower flow teat, it should also satisfy his 'sucking' urges :) If you can't change the teat maybe look at getting different bottles with slower flow teats.



He really isn't having that much over the guidelines anyway. My little one used to have a 120ml and then a top up of up to another 60ml at this age (he always had the extra milk up until about 6months).



Don't worry about overfeeding him, as long as he is full and happy. :) Please do not put him on a schedule, at 4 weeks old, they have to eat when they are hungry.

Answer 3

By the time my son was 6 months old, he was having 10 bottles and 8 jars of baby food a day! They're just like the rest of us, they eat when they're hungry and because they can't eat food that young, they have their bottles. My kids were 2 weeks old when I introduced them to water, don't be afraid to try them on it, just make sure the water is boiled and cooled down at room temperature. Don't worry about a schedule for him, he may be a baby but he's not silly, he will stop when he's full, most of the time they throw up because of the wind bubbles sitting underneath the formula. If he looks like he's in pain, he has wind.

Answer 4

ignore the side of the tin-he's having a growth spurt and this will settle soon.

yes sucking on the bottle maybe simply for comfort - but where's the harm in this? He will be fine and babies do know when they're full - maybe change to a thicker formula, it'll sit longer in his tummy and make the time stretch between feeds!

No shedules for the lil guy please:)

Answer 5

hmm



maybe offer a dummy for limited times.



or offer cooled, boiled water between feeds.



don't worry about the guidelines too much. they are just that. guidelines, not law!