HELP! 6 wk old wanting bottle every time he wakes up from nap

[suzymitchelly]

My DS is almost 6 weeks old and every time he wakes up from a nap (regardless of how long or short it was) he wants to eat - he is formula fed and I give him Enfamil Gentlease.  I also use Mylicon in his formula to help with gas which has helped.  He will cry until his next feeding and I know he is not hungry when he eats 5 oz and 2 hrs later wants more. I think he has gotten used to the idea of getting fed after waking up on the EASY routine so now he expects it every time he wakes up.  He sleeps well at night (will go 4-4 1/2 hours between feeds). He will not take a pacifier and I try to soothe him to go back to sleep but that doesn't seem to work.  We are still working on getting him to go every 3 hours but I am using the EASY routine so the times vary.  I am not sure if I need to up him from 4oz every 2 1/2-3hrs to 5oz. That just seems like too much formula b/c he does spit up at times. I am at a loss as to what to do next for him.  I am researching and trying different things...please help.   Oh, I also have a DD at home with me too...she is 3 so I'm trying to balance taking care of both of them.

[Courtney L]

He is still young...he could be hungry as it is still the early days so they need their calories. You could try upping him to 5oz and see if that helps. 2hrs is a good go for a young lo.

[cgmom]

Hi there,
mine used to do exactly the same, and she was 30min napping! I used to just feed her and get on with it, and she just grew out of it, I can't recall when though, but it didn't last too long. I know it might encourage snacking, etc, but couldn't think what else to do, plus I was worried that she might indeed be hungry.

I hope your lo grows out of it quickly, it was sooo frustrating when I was trying to stick to a routine! It was like 20 EASY's in 1 day!

[suzymitchelly]

Thank you both for your encouragement...I will keep trying different things and let you know how it goes...it is frustrating and I pray I'm not overfeeding him. He's starting to spit up more but will cry if I don't let him finish his bottle.

[Courtney L]

Are you burping him in the middle of the bottle??? My lo is a big spitter and when he was really young I had to burp in the middle or would end up covered at the end! They do go through lots of GS at this young age so it should pass eventually!!! Good Luck!

[muddyfeet]

The rule of thumb I was told was about 2.5 oz per pound of LO bodyweight, spread out over 8-10 feedings at that age. Spitting up is normal for some babies (mine was a huge spitter...for a couple months we carried 3 extra spit rags around because she would just SATURATE them). So calculate how much he should get for the weight, and you'll have a decent idea if you're overfeeding. You definitely don't want to underfeed, and so you need to know how much he needs so you know you're not shorting him. The amount of formula changes based on their age, so at 3 months you'll need to check again what the calculations are.

[~Emma~]

 If your bub is a 'happy spitter' ie not on pain or discomfort from it then  I wouldn't worry too much like pp says.

 Is your LO draining the bottle at each feed? It could well be growth spurt. 

[suzymitchelly]

Thank you for all of your replies. Definitely helpful I have been burping him at least 2 times during his feedings and he will burp.  He is not always wanting a bottle now when he wakes up so I'm glad for that. Now we are dealing with horrible gas pains and hiccups. My ped said he could have silent reflux so we started Enfamil AR today so I'm praying this will help.  We gave our dd Enfamil AR when she was little and it caused her to be constipated so hopefully this won't happen to him.  He weighs 9.1# now so by the 2.5oz calculations he should be getting around 22oz. Well, he is getting around 30. He drains all of his 4oz bottles and eats 8 times a day.  The new formula is thicker and I am trying a #3 Avent nipple for thicker liquids but it flows too fast for him as he sputters. Not sure what to do about that one.

[Lolly]

My DD is on Enfamil AR (and DS was too) and we haven't found constipation to be an issue, you can always offer an oz or 2 of cooled boiled water through the day if it is.

If he is draining all his 4oz bottles you need to increase them by an oz so he can stop because he is full and not just because the bottle is empty! With the teats, try for a few feeds it may just take him a while to get used to it otherwise go back to the no2, it may well be fast enough for him at the moment as the enfamil does the main thickening in the stomach. Worth a try anyway if he is struggling with the faster flow. We use the Avent variflow which has 3 settings on it but I find it a lot faster on no1 than the Tommee Tippee vari flow we used to use.

Let's hope it works for him!

Laura