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help!!! feeding question (formula)

KarliQ88KarliQ88 member
in Babies: 0 - 3 Months
So i have an 8 week old baby boy. He has been formula fed from day 1 due to a medication i need to be on for an autoimmune disease. My doctors were ok with me coming off for a short time while pregnant but had to restart. I feel guilty as it is so please no "breast is best" stuff.
 He is on enfamil newborn. Tolerating well. From day 1 we had a great sleeper. He would eat about every 3 hours. We worked our way to every 4 hours. He was eating 4oz every 4 hours. Now he is growing and requiring more but instead of eating more he is wanting to eat 3-4oz every 2 hours. Even through the night now. I try to hold him over in hopes i can encourage him to eat maybe 5oz and go back to 3-4 hours. It's not a huge huge problem and understand he is still a newborn so trust me when i say i don't force anything and i do feed him. I follow his cues with eating. I am just so so so tired. I resorted to buying ready to go bottles i keep by my night stand for the times he demands having a 1oz snack and i give in so i can sleep. He will want his 1oz snack if he doesn't eat enough during his feeding. It's like the older he gets the harder it gets. I'm a first time mommy. Does this get better? When? Advice?
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Re: help!!! feeding question (formula)

  • m6aguam6agua member
    To me everything sounds within the realm of normal. I too have been FF since "basically" day 1. She is 12 weeks and eats anywhere from 3-5 oz a feeding and has about 6-9 feedings a day. I have just been following her lead with feeding. Babies are really good at knowing how much to eat, they will let you know when they are no longer hungry. I will put the bottle in her mouth gently and sort of move it around on her lip/tongue. If she keeps sucking she is still hungry, if she is done she shakes her head and makes a face. Your baby may be going through a growth spurt right now. Also according to wonder weeks your baby is going through Leap 2. This is a major neurological development in your baby. During this time it is normal for your baby to eat more and be more needy.
    _______________________________________________
    TTC#1 July 2015 
    • BFP: 9/16/15 — MC: 11/8/15 Blighted Ovum
    • BFP: 3/10/16 — Baby Girl born 11/20/16
    TTC#2 April 2019 
    • BFP: 9/12/19 — EDD 5/15/20

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  • momof2buggsmomof2buggs member
    Welcome to parenthood! It's the hardest job in the whole world. Nothing can prepare you for the utter exhaustion. You need to continue following your baby's schedule. It's hard, but necessary. Your baby will eventually sleep through the night, but it won't likely be for awhile.
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  • KarliQ88KarliQ88 member
    edited February 2017
    Thank you both. It's hard because he was doing so so so well now it's like at times he will wake up "hangry" and eat 1 ounce, im like..."really dude? You woke me for that?" all these parenting books say things like "he should be eating larger amounts at this point and going longer in between." i finally decided to put these parenting books down because it makes me feel like I'm not doing things right because my baby isn't following what they say 100% my baby is happy, healthy, growing and becoming more alert everyday. So i decided to just go with it. But it helps to have reassurance from other moms I'm doing ok. 
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  • momof2buggsmomof2buggs member
    Yup. Follow your instinct, and your baby's cues. It will get better. Babies are brand new at life, and it takes a bit to figure it all out :wink:
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  • KarliQ88KarliQ88 member
    Oh my gosh.i feel like a horrible mom. I mentioned something about it to my older sister who has 3 kids,also threw in he has started hitting his bottle while feeding. My sister was like "oh. You just need to go up a nipple size. He gets frustrated and tired. That's probably why he isn't eating as much and more often." i went and bought next size up nipple to try. He made a mess but he ate 6oz and slept 6 hours!!! He doesn't hit his bottle anymore. Infact the new issue is all he does is smile as I'm feeding him so he dribbles all over.
    How did i not catch on to that? He was trying to tell me. Poor guy :-( 
    I feel bad for my first...i get to make the mistakes with him and my future second I'll be like....yea i got this. It's all such a crazy learning experience.
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  • m6aguam6agua member
    @karliQ88 Glad you were able to figure it out. We just had a really fussy/gassy day and I noticed LO was sucking harder and weird so I upped the nipple size. This is our second change. We started with preemie size, then size 1 and now size 2. She is 3 months and on size 2.
    _______________________________________________
    TTC#1 July 2015 
    • BFP: 9/16/15 — MC: 11/8/15 Blighted Ovum
    • BFP: 3/10/16 — Baby Girl born 11/20/16
    TTC#2 April 2019 
    • BFP: 9/12/19 — EDD 5/15/20

    Report Reply
  • splsmama2016splsmama2016 member
    A little late to the part, but remember: FED is best. It's more important to have a fed baby and a happy momma than everyone being angry. 

    As for his feeding every couple hours, it's sounding normal, and everyone has already given great advice. Sleep will come eventually. Keep it up mama!!!

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