My baby is so hungry - worried- LONG

[bigsize9foot]

Hi

I've just started weaning- LO is 16 weeks- weighs 16lbs and was downing 7.5oz formula 5 times a day and waking up to twice at night for a feed. Lots of other signs so discussed with HV who told me to go for it- so we did.....

HELP! LO is SO hungry. None of this 1-2 teaspoons to begin with at one meal. He eats LOADS. I can't seem to give him enough. For example today he ate 4 times- rice at breakfast (7am) about 4 teaspoons of dry rice made up with his bottlemilk so don't know how many real teaspoons this makes. He drank most of the rest of his bottle too. At lunch he had 4 cubes of carrot. At tea he had only a few teaspoons of made up rice. Hes taking nearly 7oz bottles as well and has been crying once his food is finished.

I'm really confused about a lot of things.

1. Can I overfeed him? He is having 3-4 meals a day at his bottle time and drinking around 4-5oz as well. He is also eating way more than I would expect for a baby only just weaned for a week.

2. Routines. Hes on 4 hour EASY. Bottles at 7,11 3 and 7. Should I be feeding him at these times or feeding him in between to make it more like meal times. EG bottle at 7, meal at 9, bottle at 11, meal at 12/1, bottle at 3 etc. Sometimes he will prefer bottle to food. EG tonight for example he cried hysterically for his bottle- drank it all but wasn't interested in any solids which I tried both before and after the bottle.

There seems to be no routine to his eating which is no good for either of us- I need some kind of plan to work on but I don't know where to start. If he's hungry I feel I should feed him what he wants but then he doesn't take the same amount each time. Sometimes he wolfs loads (last night he had 6- yes 6 teaspoons of rice made up into puree- I had to refill the bowl twice) He then took a 7oz bottle and woke twice in thenight looking for more.

I'm really confused, sleep deprived (his sleeping has gotten worse since we put him on solids) and not knowing where to start. Any advice gratefully received.

Bx

[andibig]

at 16 weeks his milk is still more important than solids. i weaned mt dd at 5 months and offered the milk first and then the solids. at that age your just giving the taster for solids. i would say he's just got a very good appetite. also contrary to what some people think you cannot over feed babies. they just know when they have had enough

[tylersmommy]

Like andibig said, formula is still more important than solids, and it will be for several more months. At his age, he should be getting at least 32 oz of formula per day. Formula is much more filling than solids, and if his bottle intake has dropped a bit in favor of solids, I'd guess that's why he's waking up hungry at night. He might also be waking more from gas, which is really common when first starting solids. Shoot for 32 oz per day, maybe more since he was a hungry boy before, and guesstimate how much solids he should be getting from there.

As for timing, it really depends on what works for you and your LO. Lots of moms give bottle first then solids after to make sure baby fills up on the good stuff. Some give solids right after, some wait 1 hr, some wait 2. It just depends on naps and what works for you. Some moms can give solids first and not see a drop in formula intake...never worked for me!

It's quite possible to overfeed, especially if your LO isn't getting enough formula. New solids eaters, especially younger babies like yours, often don't know how to tell you when they're full. The feeling of solids in their tummies is different from formula, so it's a different full feeling, KWIM? Also, it can take time to learn how to tell you once they do know what full feels like.

Hope that sheds some light!

[bigsize9foot]

thank you. I am feeling a bitbetter today. LO woke at 2am last night and took a full bottle (7oz). He then rumbled about from 5ish after waking at 4 and falling back asleep. His 7am bottle he struggled with- don't know why- took about 5oz with a lot of persuasion. I'm going to try giving solids in between bottles if I can fit it in round naps- saying that I have missed that opportunity today as I'm getting work done in the house. I might try both approaches and see how things pan out. With hindsight maybe I've been pushing him too fast with his solids. Back to square one and start again!

Bx

[Jusser]

Hi Bigsize9foot !  I had a similar problem with my DS - I started to wean him at 4.5 months and like your DS it seemed that I could sit spooning food into him indefinitely and he would just keep eating.  As Tylers Mommy says though, I was aware that he was so young and so new to real food that he didn't really know how not to take it, almost as though it was an activity I was doing with him and he had to join in as long as I was feeding him !  I had a lot of problems with my DS settling for naps, waking early from naps, waking in the night after introducing solids and I finally realised he was refluxing his food (but swallowing it back down so he never really vomited).  Basically the solids were upsetting his tummy and I needed to take things a lot more slowly, but it was a while before I realised this.  Now he is 9 months and by a combination of him now being mobile (crawling) and, I think, his system maturing, the reflux is almost gone and he still eats like a trooper.  It may not be the same problem with your DS but I would say to slow down a little on the solids and emphasise the milk more and hopefully the combination of the two will help his sleep.  Good luck. HTH. Justine.

[bigsize9foot]

Hi

Thanks for everyones replies- things have settled down a bit. I now give Roan his bottles as normal at 7/11/3/7 + dream feed. I give him his solids in between at regular meal times- eg around breakfast 0830, lunch 1230 and dinner 1730. These seems to be working out better. He's taking his milk but also taking the solids but not as much ;-) I think maybe now he was wolfing down the solids because he was so desperate to get his bottle. He eats around 3 cubes of puree or 3 teaspoons of rice mixed up with his milk so he's still eating plenty but just not way too much like before :-)

Fxx