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Babies: 6 - 9 Months
leneae10
member
Twin boys born too early at 17w4d and 18w2d in February 2010
Transabdominal cerclage placed September 2010
DS born at 35w1d in February 2011
Twin girls born at exactly 36w in February 2013
anyone's 7 mo old eat like a newborn?
leneae10
member
He is FF and has been since 10 weeks. He will not eat a consistently large amount, rather, he is still a snacker. 2 oz here, 2 oz there... It's getting old and we have wasted gallons by this point. I have always FF on demand, but at 7 months he should be able to eat 4-6 oz in just a few minutes right? I don't want to schedule feed him rigidly (as in, "you ONLY get x oz and no more) but should I just start feeding every 3 hours 4 oz? Is that an acceptable amount for his age? I didn't think this would STILL be a problem. Boo.
BTW, he will take 6-9 oz quickly right before he goes to bed and sleeps soundly for 12 hours. 
Every night.
His total consumption in a 24 hour period is about 24 oz with about 2 solids feedings and about 20 puffs.
Twin boys born too early at 17w4d and 18w2d in February 2010
Transabdominal cerclage placed September 2010
DS born at 35w1d in February 2011
Twin girls born at exactly 36w in February 2013
This discussion has been closed.
Re: anyone's 7 mo old eat like a newborn?
I am definitely no expert since we have had issues with DD being a snacker too. I just know the pedi told me at our 4 month appointment to try to get her to go longer between feedings to allow her to get more hungry and then she will take more. The pedi said we didn't want her to get used to being a snacker. Maybe he is just used to being a snacker?
I know when we tried this it did work. DD now takes 4.5 - 5.5 ounces at a feeding (well she used to until she got this terrible cold).
Maybe just try to stretch out his time between feedings using a paci (if you use one), or playing / distracting him. You can try it gradually so the change isn't too drastic.
Edited: Because I can't spell
If he is sleeping soundly for 12 hours consistently I wouldn't change a thing mama!!! I also asked our pedi about "snacking" and he told me a good way to look at it is that as adults if we are trying to be healthier, we eat more small meals throughout the day rather than 3 large ones so even though it's a little more work for us, it's still better for them:) Congratulations on the 12 hours!!!
Will he flat out refuse the bottle after 2 oz? Sometimes, Addie will only take a couple ounces and then wants down to play, then we'll finish the bottle (usually 5-6 oz total) about 10 minutes later. If he'll take more, I'd give him more to try to stretch out his feedings, plus he should probably be shooting for more like 25-30 oz per day, although if his wets and weight are fine, then that's not really an issue. It's more of a convenience thing for you. That would drive me nuts. At least he's a good sleeper at night!
ETA: Addie is still on an every 3 hour schedule (except night).
Thanks ladies! He eats like the pp's LO who will eat 2 oz then get distracted, whip his body around to look around, want to play, but I offer it to him again and again, nope. He gets hungry AN HOUR later, when the bottle has expired. I'm very religious about the 1 hour timeframe. So, an hour later, I make a new bottle and he eats another 2 oz. Boo. I'm going to try to hold him out longer and try every 2-3 hours.
Also, I've tried faster flow nips and it doesn't seem to matter. I also tried to let him feed himself (I think he associates bottle = bed) and that is also a fail. Funny to watch, but definitely a fail. He pulls it out of his mouth, lets it drip all over his face, laughs, and puts it back in, just to repeat it all over...
Sigh. This kid. He's weighing in at 18.5 lbs, which is about 40th percentile, so I'm not worried about his weight. He's a banana baby, at 28" long!
Twin boys born too early at 17w4d and 18w2d in February 2010
Transabdominal cerclage placed September 2010
DS born at 35w1d in February 2011
Twin girls born at exactly 36w in February 2013
Yes, he will even cry if I try to feed him. I don't know how he sustains on so little formula! And yes, it does drive me nuts. We have the sleeping worked out in my favor, now just need him to eat more consistently!
Twin boys born too early at 17w4d and 18w2d in February 2010
Transabdominal cerclage placed September 2010
DS born at 35w1d in February 2011
Twin girls born at exactly 36w in February 2013
DS is the same way, only he's BF. He won't even eat 1/2 of one side and then he'll get distracted and want to play. Our pediatrician said that it's pretty normal at this age to be more interested in playing than in people or food. One suggestion he did make was to make him wait longer between feedings. The first feeding is hard because he'll be hungry, but if you can distract him and keep him busy for 3-4 hours, he'll be so much hungrier and will automatically eat more at the next feeding, which will automatically push back the next one, because he'll have more in his tummy to digest.
The hardest part will be breaking the habit - he's USED to eating every hour or so, so it'll probably take 3-5 days to reset his metabolism to get used to being hungry every 3-4 hours instead of ever 1 hour. It might work best to start out first thing in the morning. Usually after 12 hours of sleep, a baby will be pretty hungry and will probably eat a little more than at other meals. After this feeding, try to get him to wait 3-4 hours, or try to gradually push back feeding times by 15 minutes each day until you're at 3-4 hours. This is what we did with DS at around 3 months, because he was eating every 2 hours, and after about a week and a half, he was up to 3 1/2 - 4 hours in between meals, which is much better.
Another suggestion to get him to drink more if he is still distracted and you've tried feeding him in a dark, quiet room with no success - put 4 oz of formula in a sippy cup and let him drink it in his high chair. Our son would so much rather drink out of a cup (so he can hold it himself), and sit in his high chair (so he can look around.) He might just be over the whole bottle thing - I think that's what's happening with DS right now, too.