First, everything I've read says that age, not quantity of food, is what makes the baby sleep longer at night. The fact that you know how much your baby is getting makes me think that you are pumping/giving bottles, right? Some of the moms here have mentioned that bottle fed babies may overeat because it's easier to do so. I think AmyRI or @birdgirl knows more about this.
Both of these comments are 100% anecdotal but here's my factoid:
DS is 15 weeks. He is mostly bottle fed and gets 4-5 oz every 3 hours. He also eats a couple times in the MOTN. So a little less than your baby.
Yes he is mostly bottle fed. We figured he was so small at birth and is still small for his age that we would feed him as much has he would eat to help w weight gain. At the rate he has been increasing his intake we didn't know if he would keep increasing or if he would top out sometime.
I think every 4 hours sounds like a long time for an 8 week old. I would not try to spread them out any more any time soon. Have you considered trying a dream feed at night?
He seems to be a pretty light sleeper. Most nights he wakes up at 3-3.5 hours. How do you do dream feeds? Would we try to feed him before he wakes up?
How many feedings does he take at the breast vs a bottle? I would not assume every nursing session is the same amount or the same as what he is willing to take from a bottle.
He eats from the breast maybe 1-2 times per day. I have a hard time with feeding him from the breast because I think that his latch is not the best it has been somewhat painful. I am also having to turn the pump up to a higher setting and I don't think that is helping with my nipple soreness. When he takes it straight from the breast I have no idea how much he is getting, but I don't think that it is as much as he gets from a bottle. Almost every time he seems to finish eating from the breast he will seem to be hungry. After I bf I try to pump and by the time I am done pumping he is crying and will take whatever I pump.
My 8 week old is eating about 5-6 oz. per feeding. He is fed on average 4 hours apart, sometimes not as long at night and sometimes longer apart during the day. He was born 3 weeks early at 4 pounds 4 oz. and the doctor encouraged us to feed him as much as he would take to help his weight gain. He is up to about 8 pounds right now.
Everything I am reading on here and a lot that I hear about from friends and family make it seem like he is eating a lot in comparison to other babies. My nephew topped out at about 30 oz. a day. I guess I am wondering if we are over feeding him or if this is okay. He is primarily breastfed but I am not producing enough to keep up with him so he gets 1-2 feedings of formula a day. I have tried to up my supply but nothing seems to be consistently working. Any suggestions for me?
Also, because he is eating what seems like a lot, we wonder if he will be able to spread out his feedings. We had been increasing the amount we were giving him (4-5 oz about every 3 hours) but if he has maxed out at 6 oz we wonder if we will ever be able to get more than 4 hours of sleep at a time overnight.
I have a bunch of them just laying around the house and just grab one when needed. Z doesn't normally spit up after he eats, but sometimes he dribbles.
I went through this too. It was hard to start supplementing, but once we did it was so much easier for everyone. It took away a lot of the stress of wondering if there would be enough milk for the next feeding or not. I am trying to keep it mostly bm, but I have come to a realization that formula is okay.
When I pump just a little I am also sad and ready to give up BFing all together, but then later I'll get a lot more when I pump and think 'okay, I've got this!'. The most frustrating part of all of it is nursing him. He seems to hate it, it puts me in a lot of pain and then 45 minutes when he is "all done" he is hungry 5 minutes later when I go to pump and will suck a bottle down very quickly. I have pretty much given up nursing him and am just pumping as long as it makes sense.
Thanks everyone! This has put a lot in perspective. I am BFing as I type this. I got out and took a walk around the neighborhood and I think it did us both some good. I'm going to give it another go tonight. One day at a time, one night at a time.
I don't know what I am looking for. I don't know if I am ready to give up BF/pumping just because I know it is working. I know he is gaining the weight that he needs. Any ideas on why my supply would be going down more and more? What can I do to get it back up?
my supply went down when I went back to work and started pumping so that could be it. Are you bfing during the day? Are you ssleeping when he sleeps?
I stopped bfing and just have been pumping. I guess I can give it another try. I feel like a week ago my breasts would get hard and full of milk and be leaking all over the place and now I hardly ever get to that point. Like they are never full and ready to go.
You can always try breastfeeding again. My daughter was small and jaundiced at birth. I had to feed her (with a breast shield), then pump and then give her a bottle. I was getting no sleep, because the process took so long. It was really hard. A few months into it, she was able to feed without the shield and my supply was keeping up with her. It got so much easier. I cried a lot those first few months (and have trouble processing that I may be in a similar situation in a few weeks), but it did get easier and we had eight solid months of breastfeeding before my supply dried up.
I am not saying that you should not switch to formula. There is nothing wrong with that and you need to do what is best for you and your family. But please know that it can (and will) get better. Is your husband helping you at night?
My husband has been great. I feel bad that he has to get up because he has to go to work in the mornings and I don't.
I used to sleep in a recliner with DS in a moby wrap, so he was on my chest and happy but I could fall asleep confident that he wouldn't fall out of my arms. The moby wrap also kept him content when I needed to eat or pee or walk. Pretty much anything. That wrap saved me.
Are you familiar with the 5 S's?
You sound a little conflicted about feeding issues. How can we help? Support your decision to FF? Help trouble shoot pumping and/or breast feeding issues? Just commisserate?
I don't know what I am looking for. I don't know if I am ready to give up BF/pumping just because I know it is working. I know he is gaining the weight that he needs. Any ideas on why my supply would be going down more and more? What can I do to get it back up?
I don't know what I am looking for with this post. I just want to say this to someone. I am having a hard time with my 3 week old. We can never seem to settle him down. He won't sleep unless he is laying on someone's chest or right next to us. And even then whoever is holding him can't get much sleep. We are supposed to be waking him up every 3 hours to eat day and night because he is so small. He saves us the trouble by waking us up every 2.5 or so hours. And then at night after he eats he doesn't seem to want to go back to sleep.
I am exclusively pumping. I tried nursing him until about the middle of last week. I just felt like it was taking too long. The LC in the hospital had me nurse him until he quit and then pump to build my supply up. (We were in the hospital for a week after he was born). So a feeding/pumping session would take 40-50 minutes in the middle of the night. I was having a hard time sleeping anyway so I gave up nursing and have just been pumping since then. The problem now is that my supply seems to be going down. I have some milk saved up in the freezer but not enough to last more than a week or so.
I am to the point where I really want to quit pumping and just go to formula. We fought formula in the hospital and with his ped. BM has worked so well for his weight gain. His pediatrician was impressed with his weight gain and I know that it is working to help with that. I know it is the best thing for him. But I am having a hard time with it. It is frustrating to not be able to pump much.
I don't know how to get him to sleep better. It seems that he eats and is fine for an hour or so but then gets fussy. We feed him more and he doesn't want it. It looks like he is struggling to pass gas or poop and sometime he will do that and be fine for a few minutes afterwards.
I just don't know what to do. Our weekends are fine. My mom has been over while my husband has been at work and of course when other people are over he is just an angel and has no problem sleeping for them. Other people comment on how he is such a good/quiet baby and I just think that I am a horrible parent because I can't hardly make him stop crying when I am alone with him.
If someone could give me an end date of when this gets better I could deal with it, I could get though it. I just feel like there is no end in sight.
I was in a similar situation at the beginning of September. The bride wanted us to order dresses just as we were TTC. We ended up getting pregnant quickly and I was also 29 weeks when the wedding occurred.
I called the bridal store to order the dress and told them the situation, that I may be pregnant at the time of the wedding or I may not be and if I was I didn't know how far along I would be. The salesperson suggested that I order the dress 1 size larger than I normally would have. This was a bad idea. As someone else mentioned I didn't know how much my rib cage would expand. Or where else I would expand. I ended up taking it to 2 different places for a quote. The alterations ended up being almost as much as the dress. I was not happy. At all. I understand why the alterations were that much, they ended up basically making a new back for the dress and attaching it. I also had to order extra fabric from the bridal store.
So over all, I would say order the dress several sizes up. It is easier to take a dress in than it is to go through the hassle of adding fabric or letting it out!
Doctor called on 10/31 to tell me to go to the hospital to be induced because of preeclampsia. Baby was born 11/2 at 8:27 a.m. It took a long time for the induction drugs to kick in, but everything turned out great in the end. Our 37 week baby was born at 4 lbs, 4 oz, but perfectly healthy. We came home on Saturday afternoon and are now trying to get the hang of breastfeeding.
I am due 11/23 with a little boy! We are very excited! No name yet but we are working on it. I think reality is setting in with my husband, that this could happen really any time. The car seat is in the car and we went out and bought the remaining items off of the registry that we think we need.