What o I do if my 6 week old baby seems hungry all the time?

Question

I seem to be feeding him 3 oz every 2-3 hours. Just started to try and get him on a schedule of eating 4 oz every 4 hours. He does not like that at all. He gets very cranky and his sleeping schedule seems messed up. Please help!

Answer 1

Simply...if your baby is hungry, feed him. Sorry, but there's no alternative to this!!

Answer 2

Ditch the schedule. I had to learn that. I was always making lists with times to do things. It NEVER works. My daughter is unpredictable from day to day. Feed him when he acts hungry. If he is dry, warm or cool enough and he's still crying try feeding him. I've noticed, even now, with my daughter that sometimes she eats 2 oz. and then an hour later she wants 4 oz. or sometimes she eats 6 oz. at once. Babies are unpredictable and trying to follow a set schedule is SO hard and stressful.
Good luck.

Answer 3

This is normal, all my kids were feeding every 2-3 hours, there is nothing to worry about. Let baby eat when he/she wants to, they are growing and need that formula for a growing body. You can feed cereal at about 4 1/2 months but not sooner, at six weeks all he needs is formula. When feeding cereal mix 1 tbs with about 4 oz of formula or just follow the directions on the box. Good luck

Answer 4

He is 6 weeks old, he doesn't know what a schedule is. He is having a growth spurt and needs to eat when he is hungry, throw the schedule out the window for now.

To the person that said give baby food or cereal, the baby can't digest that sort of stuff at this time, he is 6 weeks old not 6 months old.

Feed on demand at this time, worry about schedules later

Answer 5

6 weeks is too young to schedule. My girls didn't fall into a predictable eating or sleeping routine until they were 6 months old.

Some time between 4 - 6 weeks, the baby goes through a growth spurt and is hungry and fussy a lot. It seems hetic and crazy now. In the long run, it will be better to throw the schedule out the window.

Answer 6

Feed him when he is hungry and stop trying to manipulate his patterns. He's only 6 weeks old. He SHOULD be eating all the time. Heck.....6 weeks is a common growth spurt time when it is normal for them to want to eat more frequently than normal and you're trying to force him to go in the opposite direction! It's his job to double his birthweight by 6 mos. He SHOULD be eating frequently. You would be too if you needed to double your weight in 6 months!

DO NOT give solids and DO NOT give water at this age. Water can be BAD for small babies. It fills a rapidly growing child up with empty calories. Water supplementation in an infant can lead to oral water intoxication. When this happens, the sodium in his bloodstream becomes so diluted that the baby's body is unable to function properly. This can result in an altered mental state, abnormally low body temperature, bloating, and even seizures (Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 1997;151:830-32).

Answer 7

babies feeding patterns and sleeping patterns change alot during the first year. There is no such thing as a schedule. Once you get used to it baby will change it. Feed on demand. Yes a 6 week old is going through a growth spurt and needs more formula and more sleep..

Answer 8

All babies have growth spurts at specific times in the first few months. At 5 days old, 6 weeks old, and 3 months old. At these specific times your baby will eat more because thier body is growing at a faster rate at this time. Once your baby is about 7 or 8 weeks old, the baby will even out in his/her feedings. That is when you should try to make a routine. Right now your baby's body is just growing and needs the extra feedings to help in that process. I hope it gets easier and this helps you. Congratulations on your child.

Answer 9

Sorry to tell you, but he is a baby and for the first few years nothing is going to work just the way you want it to. Feed him when he is hurgry and play with him so that he will get tired. At night if you want to get a bit of sleep, try keeping him up a bit later and then he will sleep a bit longer. We did this with all 3 of ours and it worked. Remember though, every child is different and what works for some, might not work for you. So don't get discouraged if the advice people gives you doesn't work.

Answer 10

If he is hungry feed him, breastfed babies eat when they are hungry and they aren't on a schedule. So you don't really have to put him on a schedule until he is a little older. If he doesn't like eating 4oz every 4hrs it could just be to much at once and he could be getting gas.... from it. So if it upsets him to drink more then 3oz then don't give more the 3oz to him.

Answer 11

Until they're about 6 months, they need to eat when they're hungry. If you want to try to get him on schdule, you need to do it slowly. With my daughter, when she was about 14 weeks, we started feeding her and extra 2 ounces before bed, and only feeding her twice during the night, and then at 6 months only once during the night (if she needed it, sometimes she didn't), once you get that down, then start working on a daytime schdule.