7 week old still eating every hour

tasilva923

I am mostly bf'ing my 7 week old. He STILL wants to eat every hour to 1.5 hours. I can't keep up with him so I also supplement him either with expressed breast milk or with formula (DH feeds him formula at night while I pump so we can sleep longer, he goes 3-5 hours at night between feedings). It seems like he should be lasting longer between feedings, and sometimes he does, when I'm driving or he's napping for instance. I'm thinking I must be doing something wrong? My other kids didn't eat this often. I know each child is different but this seems excessive. He routinely gains 1-2 oz a day these last couple of weeks. He eats 3-4 oz of expressed BM or formula per feeding. Sometimes less, I'm trying to keep him from snacking so much though. Any ideas? Suggestions?

jeffrae

that was my DD1....for MONTHS.  I introduced a pacifier to help keep her from using me as a pacifier.  It cut down the amount of feedings a day....but they were still frequent. 

MrsSewall

LO will be 7 weeks tomorrow and he seems to eat alllll the time too!  I would say it has been every 2 hours, sometimes hour.  I think my LO is growing. Maybe that is what is happening to your LO?  I never seem to know how much my lo is going to eat. He has eaten 5.5 then the next 3 then the next 1.5 then the next 4....He is all over the place.  GL

tasilva923

I'm trying the pacifier too but not having much luck there. He will suck on the paci if I hold it there for him but he spits it out if I let go (and I can't hold it all day, I've got 2 other kids!). I'm a little scared I'm over-feeding him now.

Aviee

My almost 11 week old has been doing this again...She was going every two hours and even sleeping 7 hours in the first night stretch.  Now she eats every hour or so and doesnt sleep more than 3.  I swear she's a newborn again, too because she's asleep all day as well and I can't get her to want to stay awake and play! 

The only way to help keep making enough milk is to keep the kid on the boob...That's what solves my weekly supply deficit when I get messed up from working all weekend.  

DD dislikes pacis as well....we try to 'tuck' the handle under her collar at night to keep it in (or just under her swaddle) but have to hold it until she's just barely suckling and mostly asleep.  DW, if you BF you can't overfeed :-}

tasilva923

Aviee:

DW, if you BF you can't overfeed :-}

Is this true if I am also supplementing with bottles of expressed breast milk and/or formula?

AutumnBride929

DD also eats frequently... like, every hour.  I just give her what she wants since I want to have a good supply of BM.  I don't supplement with formula.  You could be overfeeding with the formula but you can't overfeed if you BF.

tasilva923

He gets about 8 oz total formula each day (usually 2 feedings). The rest is either breastfeeding or expressed BM (about 3 bottles of BM each day). I breastfeed about 6-7 times a day and he usually still needs a bottle afterwards.

jeffrae

tasilva923:

I'm trying the pacifier too but not having much luck there. He will suck on the paci if I hold it there for him but he spits it out if I let go (and I can't hold it all day, I've got 2 other kids!). I'm a little scared I'm over-feeding him now.

the only ones that have worked for my kids are the Avent kind (the 0-3 mth).  we tried a bunch before we found one that worked.