3 week old baby question?

Question

I only want responses from experienced mothers please! Our baby is 3 weeks old and all he wants to do is eat. Any tips for getting him into a better pattern where he feeds every 2 hours instead of every 20 minutes? Might there be a problem with milk production?

Answer 1

At three weeks, the baby still needs to eat when he is hungry. The first thing I would do is see if he is hungry. I don't know about your baby, but my baby would start sucking on my pinky and then push it out when she was hungry. If she didn't want to eat, she wouldn't suck at all. If she just wanted sucking comfort, she was content with the pinky. But, Lord help us if she was hungry and wasn't getting food when she sucked! LOL. Your baby might have similar "clues". Also, how long is your baby eating each time? If he is falling asleep at the bottle or breast, try to keep him awake. If bottle feeding, try shaking the bottle a bit in his mouth, or slightly jiggling the baby. Talking to him will help, as will sitting him in a more upright (semi-reclined) position. If breast feeding, try the "switch". Each time he falls asleep, switch him to the other breast. The motion itself might help, or you can try jiggling the breast.
Once your baby starts taking more food at a time, his time between feedings will extend. GENERALLY (take this with a grain of salt), for each ounce of formula he eats, that's about an hour until the next feeding, breast feeding is less - it goes through the system more quickly. However, my baby will eat very little in the morning and during the early afternoon, and then take three 5-ounce bottles in a four hour span (she's three months old now). If your baby is wetting enough diapers (don't worry too much about poopy diapers...some babies go days between poops, especially breast fed babies), and continues to put on weight, then it probably isn't a milk production problem. If you are very concerned, ask the pediatrician to monitor his weight. Also, babies go through growth spurts at three weeks, six weeks, and three months (mine was always a little early on the growth spurts), and will, of necessity, need to eat more frequently.
DO NOT give your baby cereal. I dont' care what people say, or what your mother did, etc. It doesn't make them sleep through the night; it can cause bleeding in the intestines (and there will not be enough blood to see in the stool, so, it can lead to severe anemia), and the earlier before six months you start a baby on anything other than formula/breast milk, the more likely the baby is to develop problems later on, including, but not limited to, allergies, diabetes, obesity, etc.

Answer 2

You are just starting to get your milk production going. Make sure you are drinking plenty of fluids to. I did have a problem with milk production and had to supplement with formula. For me it was not a matter of her wanting to eat every 20 minuites, but each feeding would take well over an hour and sometimes 2 and then she would still cry and then I would have to give her a bottle and she would still drink several ounces of formula or sometimes I would pump and be able to get out more that way. Someone else suggested giving rice cereal. Do not do this. The baby is way too young for that.

Answer 3

You don't have a problem -- you have a baby who's right on track. Congratulations. :)

3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months are the average ages of the first four big growth spurts. Nursing so often is how your baby tells your body to make more milk to meet that growth spurt. It only lasts a week or two and then your baby will get back into a more regular pattern. Drink plenty of water and listen to your baby's cues!

Answer 4

You are still establishing your milk at 3 weeks. Just keep feeding the baby when it is hungry. The baby should be getting on a good schedule around 6 weeks or so. Hang in there and do the best you can. My kids are 13 and 11 years old. Time flies really fast, and these first 3 weeks will just seem like a tiny blip in time when you look back...trust me!

Answer 5

Are you breast or bottle feeding? Are you feeding him until he is full or using a set amount of formula? My baby was taking an hour to drink his formula and then hungry again an hour later. After getting nipples with bigger holes he drank it up in 20 minutes or less. He was still hungry an hour, hour and a half later, but it gave him more time to digest that meal before the next. Now he is going two to three hours between meals after drinking 3-4 ounces.

Answer 6

I also have a 3 week old baby (girl), and she is my 6th. Is that experienced enough for you? :) Have you tried a pacifier? If you start by making him wait an hour in between feedings and use the pacifier to satisfy his desire to suck in between, and then gradually stretch that out longer and longer he should soon be going much longer between feedings. Also, I don't mean to sound smart-alecky, but seriously, do you know that babies don't have to eat every time they cry? I'm serious, there are other ways to "fix" a crying baby than feeding. anyhow, good luck and I hope you get some sleep soon!

Answer 7

i am soon to be a mother of 3 my son which is 1 and half he is a chubby thing he was born at 9lbs 8ozs he wanted to feed every 1 to 2 hrs i couldn't find anything to change it i try cereal didn't work i would try maybe giving her a little baby food (1)'s put it in her milk shake it up really good it work a little bit for me but now he still till this day eats like a grown man

Answer 8

I would let him eat as much as he wants. He's doing a lot of developing right now. My daughter (now 20 months old) got severely jaundiced before we even left the hospital because she got dehydrated because she wasn't getting enough breastmilk. I told one of the nursery nurses that my daughter wanted to nurse constantly, and was told "Oh, she's just using you as a pacifier. I'll take her over to the nursery and bundle her up real good. That'll make her feel better." Well, the next day, I noticed that my baby wasn't wetting her diapers like she should. Her pediatrician checked her bilirubin (sp?) levels, and they were extremely high. My daughter ended up under an incubator-type machine to get rid of the jaundice. We also ended up bringing her home with a little machine that we had to keep her on for a few days to get rid of the jaundice. She's in great health now- I just don't want the same thing happening to anyone else's child. If you're baby is wetting/dirtying his diapers like he should, then I wouldn't worry too much. Just check with your doctor to see what he recommends. Good luck!!

Answer 9

There could be a problem with milk production or your baby might just like to suck and in that case a pacifier will work. Try pumping to see how much milk you can fill a bottle with and if their is plenty you can try a pacifier to see if that helps. And the baby is growing so if he needs to eat let him.

Answer 10

Being as I HAD THIS PROBLEM MYSELF i had to at times allow my baby to have a pacifier i know it said to be bad but my son would eat day and night and then get fussy have you had the angel checked for collac ,sometimes you have to let them out grow it sometimes by the first month they start getting to where they get into a routine ,be patient give it another week or two and you will see a difference im sure of it