how much does your baby eat?

mommamorris

so, i know feeding is supposed to be a problem for most preemies...but my little bird never has had a problem with that. (thankfully. now if we could just get her to breathe!!!)

they told me i can't "overfeed" her.. but i'm concerned that maybe it's causing her reflux to be worse.. she's taking about 5oz per serving. (though she is going up to 5hours sometimes. mostly about 4 though.) she weighed 7lb 4oz last wed. 

is this normal? i only ask because my friend's baby, who is a week younger but term, who weighs 15lbs takes the same amount!!! 

is my kid a heifer or what?

 

Rachel&Joe

just up pumping! 

Stella weighs more than a pound more than Wren and eats less than half as much.  She eats anywhere from 2--2.5oz every 3-4 hours (during the night she will go 5 hour stretches usually).  I can not believe how much Wren eats.  How do you know she eats that much though since you BF her???

One of my nieces, even at 6 months old, would only eat 2-3 oz at a time.

BUT, Stella has Neosure & rice cereal added to her BM, so it probably makes it more filling.

lemen99

I don't remember how much Andrew ate at that age (he had feeding issues at the time), but now that his feeding issues are done, he's eating a TON.  We actually are cutting him off at 9 ounces.  He will eat 11+ ounces if we let him. 

He does not give strong cues that he is full and will keep eating if you feed him.  And he will overeat, which will make him more pukey.  So instead, when he starts to slow down, we stop feeding him.  We also asked the doctor "how much is too much?" (your doctor shoudl be able to answer this for your baby at her age/size) and then cut him off there.  He still acts hungry when I cut him off at 9 ounces in the morning (still eating very vigorously, moving toward the bottle, not slowing down), but, oh well.

Sweets2005

Oh wow that is a lot! Mine are at 5lbs now and eat 2oz every 3 hours. Sometimes I give a little extra. But sometimes they spit up after a feeding so I worry that I give too much. But then again, in the NICU, they were eating sometimes 3oz. I just don't want them to be overfull or spit up. I talked to the lactation consultant and she said babies will take more with a bottle because it is easier and goes down faster than their brains can tell them they are full, so then they just burp it back up. She told me how tiny their stomachs are (the size of their fists) and I find it hard to believe it could hold so much! I still wonder if I give enough. They always look satisfied though.

lemen99

I do remember - Andrew came home from the NICU at just over 8 lbs.  They said at a minimum, I think he needed to eat 3 ounces every 3-4 hours. In that ballpark.

clyoungsey

wow!  little Wren is quite the good eater!  Aside from when he is BF, which is whenever I feed him, he will take about 3 oz and he is 12 lbs.  He sleeps a lot, which I think makes him not eat as much and still gain.  Who knows, maybe when he nurses he eats 5 oz...I wouldn't be surprised with all the dirty diapers!  I am sure she is just fine, if she is hungry...feed her, that's what I would do!

happiness4me2

Emma really likes to eat too.  She is still under 5 pounds and wants to take over 2 oz every three hours.  It seems like so much to me.  If I give her more, she sometimes spits up.  But, she always acts like she is wanting more.

borc0080

Norah is a big-time snacker.  She'll eat 1 1/2 - 3 oz at a time.  In the evening she cluster-feeds, so she winds up eating closer to 5 or 6 oz, but it's spread out over 3-4 hours.  She also has neosure added to the pumped milk, so she's getting some more calories and is gaining weight nicely.

vixyash

Savannah takes 4-5oz at a bottle feed, and 2-3oz at supplements. I'm certain she isn't getting enough from just breastfeeding, so the pedi said we could feed her on demand and as much as she wants to take. She usually goes 3-5 hrs between feeds.

choice2make

Well, DD is about the same age and wt and she is just now closing in on taking 3oz.,  most of the time it's only 2.5 that she'll take.  She eats about every 3 hours during then day and then will sleep about 5 or 6 hours during the night between bottles.  I would guess you'll be seeing some huge wt. gains in the next couple of weeks, not that it's a bad thing!