My son eats 5 ounces every 2 hours and if he could he would eat every hour. what should we do he is starting to gain a lot of weight he is only 5 weeks old
2006-12-28 08:08:16 · 24 answers · asked by Chris T 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
get a doctor and see if he has any problems.
2006-12-28 08:09:50 · answer #1 · answered by apetkw 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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.
2006-12-28 08:43:32 · answer #2 · answered by bluecrabfan 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
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!
2006-12-28 08:22:20 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
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.
2006-12-28 08:38:19 · answer #4 · answered by new resident 1 · 2⤊ 1⤋
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.
2006-12-28 08:23:53 · answer #5 · answered by alecnaaron 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
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!
2006-12-28 10:04:36 · answer #6 · answered by trippinwurmz 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My first could drink 3 a million/2 oz. each and every 2 HOURS while he got here homestead from the scientific institution. My 2d began ingesting 4 oz. around 3 weeks. My third began ingesting 3 a million/2 to 4 oz. at 2 weeks. So..it somewhat is totally ordinary. you may not evaluate any infant. they're all different. And if he's throwing up a sprint, you will desire to burp him approximately each and every 2 oz. or so. do not enable him drink a bottle on the instant down this early. you would be able to additionally want to offer him Mylicon Drops with permission from you pediatrician of direction. :-) sturdy luck!
2016-10-19 02:34:52 · answer #7 · answered by binnu 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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.
2006-12-28 08:13:03 · answer #8 · answered by Pop top 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
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
2006-12-28 08:11:48 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
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.
2006-12-28 08:09:58 · answer #10 · answered by from me to you 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
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
2006-12-28 12:31:35 · answer #11 · answered by lynn 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋