actual/adjusted age and feeding

makinithappen

My son was born 5 weeks early and I'm not sure what I should be following for his feeding. He just turned 2 months, weighs almost 12 pounds (gaining almost a pound a week) and wants to eat 6 6ounce bottles (formula since 1 month) which is a little over the 2.5times guideline.  Do preemie babies eat more than term for their size in order to "catch up" or is he maybe eating too much?  Also, he still wants to eat every 3 hours during the day which is closer to his actual age; is that how it should be?  Sorry if you get this kind of stuff a lot, but i'm torn on if he's overeating.  His pedi didn't seem concered about his weight gain at all but he's increased 1 ounce at each feeding since seeing her

urbanflowerpot

It's a broad range, just like with FT babies. Some are ready sooner than others. The general rule is to follow their adjusted age but that can be spread out, too. Being 5 weeks early you might be closer to having some things happen at "exact" age. Pedi's seem to be split on feeding at actual or adj so we all just go with what they say or usually when they're showing signs of readiness in that window. Know what I mean? They aren't really trying to catch up because they're the right age - it's just that they made an appearance earlier than they were supposed to. Unless you've been flagged as needing more cals/failure to thrive you shouldn't try to bulk a prem up.