Babies: 3 - 6 Months

Baby eating every 2 hours?!

LO was doing great up until about 3 months at eating every three hours or so, and would sometimes even go longer than that.  But starting at around 3 months, she started wanting to eat every 2 hours.  We initially thought it was a growth spurt, but she's going on 3 weeks of this, and is starting to eat less at each feeding now.

I don't get it.  I thought as they got older and their stomachs got bigger they'd eat bigger quantities less often.  What gives?  It's kind of exhausting, because a feeding can take 45 minutes, then she wants to eat again a little more than an hour later.

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Re: Baby eating every 2 hours?!

  • DD is doing the same thing. She was even STTN and then all of a sudden is waking every two hours to eat. She eats less and more frequently. I was wondering if it was related to the heat, because we had her out more (at cookouts etc) or cause I'm back to work. Maybe they just want more "mommy time." I'm not sure what it is but I'm in the same boat and I'm soooo tired.
  • My DD is doing the same thing. Sometimes I can only get her to eat 2oz. I've even tried getting her to go longer between feedings and she just won't have it.
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  • Going by her adjusted age, my son was still eating every two hours at that point and for a long time. He got faster, then started spreading the feedings out and we're around 3 hours again now. Maybe she's just trying to play catch-up.
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  • If she's not taking a full feeding every 2 hours, I'd suggest doing everything you can to hold her off until 3. Does she take a paci?? It's going to suck for a few days, but if you have the patience you can get her back to every 3 hours. IMO, it's necessary if she's snacking at this point. 
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  • This was happening to us too!  My LO was eating every two hours in the day and every hour or 45 minutes in the evening until bedtime.  She was sleeping through the night so I didn't think much about it first but then it got absolutely exhausting.  

     

    I asked the doctor about it and he said, "She's hungry!"  Honestly, that never crossed my mind.  At first I thought it was a growth spurt that was lasting a while, but at the three week mark it was taking a toll on me.  He suggested starting with 1 tsp of cereal and increasing the cereal by 1 tsp every two weeks.  After a few days she started going a bit longer between feedings.  We've been doing this a little over a month now and she goes about four hours between feedings.  

    If you're not waiting until the six month mark to start solids, I'd give this a try.  It worked great for us. 

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  • We struggle with this at night. I have read that it is more of a waking or wanting to eat because of the desire to feel full vs being hungry. So they are just wanting to feel full all of the time. Give it a little while, they will start to adjust back. We are now back to 5-6 hrs at night vs. 2 weeks of every 2-3 hrs. The pacifier works wonders at night.
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  • My LO has been eating every 2 hours since birth!  Every hour during a couple of the growth spurts.  She will be 4 months next week and eats 5-6 ounces every two hours on the dot. She will even wake from a nap to eat.  At night she will give me a 5-7 hours stretch of sleep, then wakes to eat, then wakes again after 2 hours to eat again.  I've got a little piglet.
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  • My DS was doing this for a few weeks and then it got worse. One feeding he would eat 2 oz, the next he'd eat 3 or 4, he'd eat a little then want more an hour later. It would take forever to get a full 4 oz in him. Last week I finally thought maybe he needs to go to a level 2 nipple. Since I've done that, most feedings he eats 5-6 oz within 15 min and will go at least 2 1/2-3 hours. It took a couple days for him to get used to the faster flow but he seems happier and doesn't get so frustrated during feeding. So maybe if you haven't yet, try to go up a nipple size.

     

    ETA: That's all assuming you are bottle feeding! I just assumed you were since you knew she was eating less at each feeding.

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  • DS ate every 2 hours until maybe 2 weeks ago, and he's 5 MO now! I could sometimes stretch it to 2.5 hours by walking around with him for a distraction, but we never got to 3 hrs. He did sleep for 4-5hrs at night.

    But he started going longer bt feedings 2 weeks ago, and last week he just up and put himself on a real schedule, including sleeping from 9:30pm to 8am. I LOVE IT! I'm glad I was patient bc DS is NOT a self-soother, and I have a really hard time letting him cry. I've never made it past 15 minutes if I can at all help it. It's just not worth it to me.

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  • Yeah. My baby's almost five months and still eating pretty frequently. I feed him on demand, so I don't know that it's always every two hours, but something like that. Sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less. It's an improvement for us, though. He was eating 8-10 oz. or 30-50 minutes every hour or so until a few weeks ago (I breastfeed, but he uses a bottle occasionally. I'm going by that for the amount.). He's not chubby, either (26 inches, 14 lbs). He's just a little, growing monster. It's exhausting, but I just tell myself that soon solid food will work it's way into the routine, and by this time next year I'll probably miss it (at least being able to sit down every couple of hours). Good luck!
  • My LO is 3 months old and he has been eating every two hours since he was born...he eats 4 oz every two hours sometimes i make the bottles 5 but he seems to only like to eat 4 oz..so im in the same boat! but he does STTN so he will have 2 bottles within 2 hours before he goes to bed. One before bath and after, It is exhausting especially when you are out and about BUT only 3 more months and we will start solids so im sure it will get better :) I refuse to start cereal or solids until he is 6 months old. 
  • Glad to know this behavior isn't weird!  Since she was a preemie I'm certainly not worried about her packing on weight, she can always use some, it's just been a bit tiring.  I've been trying to distract her when she starts fussing for food, as I don't want to get in the habit of shoving a bottle in her mouth every time she peeps, I want to be sure she's actually hungry.  She has been, though.

    We just tried switching formula for her - I was an EPer up til a few days ago, so she was used to just BM in the bottle, then for a while because I couldn't keep up she was getting BM mixed with formula, then formula only.  She's reacted kind of the same to all the different foods, except formula alone - after she's downed the first 2oz and isn't starving anymore, she kind of wrinkles her nose and pushes the bottle out with her tongue.  It was Enfamil, which kinda stinks to me, so I tried Similac and so far she seems to be taking it better.  It tastes more like milk to me, too, the Enfamil tasted really metallic.

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  • My baby never stopped wanting to be fed every 2 hours. Sometimes it's every hour in the evening so he can STTN.
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  • imageAmberNGIII:
    My LO has been eating every 2 hours since birth!  Every hour during a couple of the growth spurts.  She will be 4 months next week and eats 5-6 ounces every two hours on the dot. She will even wake from a nap to eat.  At night she will give me a 5-7 hours stretch of sleep, then wakes to eat, then wakes again after 2 hours to eat again.  I've got a little piglet.

     

    I'm so glad I'm not the only one going through this!  I was kind of worried too....but my DD has the same routine as your LO so I'm not worried anymore.  We'll be starting cereal at the end of the month when Zooey is 4 months old so we'll see if that makes a difference.

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  • This is exactly what mine does!! Glad to hear he isn't the only one. I think we will dress him as Piglet for halloween. :) 
    Erica Burns
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