My 5 week old wants to eat every hour. we feed him 5 ounces already every 2 hours. What to do?
Answer:
get a doctor and see if he has any problems.
Maybe he is going through a growth spurt. Follow his lead..he knows when he is hungry.
Give him more than 5 ounces. Some babies need more food. Mine did. My daughter ate about 6-8 oz by the time she was born.
Please feed him. He's hungry.
Give him teething rings to chew on. Maybe he just likes having things in his mouth. Give him a pacifier as well, just make sure it's washed :)
if you are that worried, I would suggest giving him water between feedings and my fiance's cousin, who is also a boy, would eat that way too if he could. He is huge but the doctors say that he is healthy.
Infant care guide:
Rule #1: Feed the baby.
Rule# 2: Never wake a sleeping baby (after they are 6 weeks old, before that you may need to wake to feed)
Rule#3: Love the baby.
Rule#4: Keep the baby at a comfortable temperature
Rule#5: Keep their bum clean
Yup, I think that's all the rules. Follow rule #1
it sounds cruel but you need to feed him the five ounces every 4 hours not 2. He may get mad but it will help and he will slow down a bit on the weight gain not to mention that he will learn to eat every four hours not two.
No worries. My son ate like a horse when he was born. Grew like a weed to. Got big really fast but once he hit 5 mo or so he topped off. He was on the 85 percentile for weight and size for his age but now he is 2 years old and he is right where he should be.
My wife was nursing so he was not bottle feeding.
Feed him each and every time he is hungry!
Lol, he is a baby, he really dosen't know when hes hungrey, you should feed him breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Thats what my parents did to me, and i'm couldn't be more healthier.
Give him an extra oounce or two. He's a growing boy! Hehehe...best wishes!
just stick to the schedule do not deviate from the schedule
then there is a woman up a few questions that is looking for a baby
You are paying a Doctor good money, get your money's worth...Do not ask us, ask your Doctor..I could tell you lots of stuff that worked for me,but thats me...Check with DOC. Congratulations, and a Happy New Birth...
OK they recommend that you feed your baby 4 ounces every three to four hours but that's not written in stone feed your baby if hes hungry . but try a pacifier or water in his bottles it OK to feed him a little sugar water in place of formula .
definitely consult your doctor. our son is a really big eater and we just went with it. he is really long and chubby, so it's all proportional. it's not like he's just a big round doughnut, ya know?
if your kid is turning into a doughnut, then consult your doctor, but as far as i know and from what i've read.babies will not overeat unless there is a medical problem.
take care.
seriously, i have just read some of these other answers and i totally disagree. please feed your baby whenever he is hungry. my little bean, who isn't so little, is 3 months old, but the size of a 6 month old. he is just a big kid! i'm on the taller end of average for women and my husband is pretty tall. we both have pretty good metabolisms and i'm sure he is just like us. my husband and i eat alot, but neither of us are overweight. i think he just takes after us.
so, please, just consult your doctor...don't starve your little baby. there's a saying that you can't spoil a baby until they are at least 3 months old. so, if he's crying and he's hungry...then please feed him!
this is the time period for so much development and if his little body isn't getting proper nourishment (for him) then he may not be developing his brain and eyes and everything else properly!
please consult your doctor before you listen to a bunch of people who don't know you or your baby!
take care!
My cousin's daughter when she was first born ate 4 oz bottle PLUS the breast about every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Finally her doctor recently (her daughter is now 2 months old) has her adding rice cereal to her bottles. Your pediatrician will determine whether your baby is gaining too much weight too fast. My cousin's daughter was a big baby to begin with so that's part of the reason why she's such a hungry little thing. Not to mention he's getting ready to go through a major growth spurt in the next week or so, which means he'll stretch out some. If you're really concerned make an appointment with the pediatrician and see what they say. When babies go through growth spurts they eat lots of food all the time...my daughter when I was nursing ate almost every hour when she went through her spurts at 6-8 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months (she still going through 6 months actually). Congrats and best wishes!
Babies are meant to breastfeed and when you do there is no way to gage how much they are eating but people tend to either force feed or deny a baby formula,they will take what they need and he likely needs more so this is whats happening,your feeding him 5oz when he may need 6 or 7 so he is getting hungry sooner and your make him another bottle and instead of him eating another ounce or two he is taking the whole thing so you are actually causing him to over eat.Feed him 7 ounces in one sitting and see if that works better for him.Above all he calls the shots not you,babies will never grow as fast in their lives as they do the first year and rapid growth requires food.
Unfortunately you have to deprive your child a bit at this stage because they THINK their more hungry than they actual are. If using a pacifier doesn't work you're just going to have to let him cry it out. Also, make the bottles a little warmer, he'll feel as if he's eaten more.
LORD no wonder the US has so many overweight ppl!
Babies know when they are hungry. They have different cries that signal different needs. They also have a need to suck. If you are not breastfeeding the child then they may have an increased need to suck. You should feed a baby on demand, they will fall into a schedule ..there are also classic times that they go through growth spurts.
Adding rice cereal to a babies bottle to fill them up, makes 0 sense. Take away the iron that is in rice cereal and you have a simple carbohydrate, much like eating a piece of white bread when you are hungry, it makes your blood sugar go up fast and then down fast. Protein and fiber level your sugars and control your hunger which is why formula has to be exact although it will never be a match for breastmilk. Also there are some studies that show and increased risk of Diabetes when rice cereal is introduced before 4 months. Not to mention their guts are "open" when they are that young and the breastmilk coats it so that potential allergens do not go through. Babies have small tummies that need refueling...breastmilk takesa bout 90 min to digest which would make the baby hungry about every 2 hours, formula stays in there longer as it is hard to digest but still being small they need frequent meals.
Anyways...ask your doctor..although most are not very good with infant nutrition, they usually tell you what worked for their kids.
Breast is best.
Make sure he's getting a full feeding when you feed him. If you just give him 5 ounces and stop, he may need more. Test him and see how much he'll eat. If he has a full feeding and is still hungry two hours later, give him more to eat.
Don't worry so much about weight gain at this point. If he's grotesquely overweight, his doctor will tell you. Make sure you discuss this issue with your doctor. Otherwise, give him the nutrition he needs and wants. Doctors don't worry much about weight until a kid reaches age 2.
There are lots of great books out there about taking care of newborns, but my favorite was "On Becoming Baby Wise". It's an easy read and only a 100 pages or so. The vast majority of parents who follow their general guidelines have babies that sleep through the night by 9 weeks.
DON'T listen to the person who said only to feed him every four hours. I'm not an expert, but I am a mom and I know for certain that newborns need to eat at least every 2-3 hours.
When, he's older you can feed him every four hours. A few months from now, he'll eat every three hours and then four hours, until he's ready to just do three meals a day. It's a natural process, don't try to rush him.
PS - Your son is still to early for this, but around 12 weeks (which is before the recommended time), I gave my son a little bit of rice cereal in his bottle at bedtime. Not a lot, but enough just to thicken a little. He handled it very well and the moment I did this, he slept through the night. This doesn't work for all babies though.
My daughter is an eater too. I let her tell me when she's hungry. If your baby is keeping the food down I would continue to feed him as much as he wants... if you are really worried about it though ask your doctor. Don't worry about the weight gain...you can monitor that later, he needs to grow now. Good luck.
All three of my children were the same way. They were eating 5 to 6 oz every hour even in the hospital! 1st. make an appointment with your doc, better to be safe than sorry. Second. give that boy some rice cereal in that bottle to hold him off a little bit more! As far as weight gain goes. babies gain.A lot! He could be going thru a growth spurt. At 6 weeks old my children were the size of three month old babies.but they were consistently around the 125th percentile in height and weight. As long as your baby is growing in length as well as weight proportionately don't be concerned... but babies need to eat! Good luck and congrats on the baby!
DO NOT listen to the people that say OMG don't feed your baby every two hours.
Feed your baby when he is hungry and feed him as much as he'll eat. maybe try a pacifier it might ease the urge to suck if not try alittle bit of rice cereal it won't hurt him
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