11 week old (was 5wks prem) reducing volume & can't stick to EASY

[fruity]

Hi,
I have had a lot of help on here before with my now 2 year old so would really value help with my 11 week old.

She was 5 weeks prem and really should have been in special care as she was too weak to feed. She was syringe fed BM for 2 weeks (she was 6lb 11oz at birth) then took EBM til she was 7 weeks. She struggles with the flow of teats, 1 seems too slow but 2 is too fast. She was seeming to be a bit colicy so we put her on Aptamil comfort.

She is a sleepy baby so we have to wake her to feed and she rarely takes more than 3oz, it is usually 2/3oz every 4 hours or so and it can take a good hour and a half to get this volume in her. I am not sure if this is down to her problem with the teats. I have tried every type of bottle in boots! She was checked for tongue tie but doesn't have it.

I have been struggling to get the EASY going as my 2 year old was poorly & hubby is deployed but i really want to get going with it but with the erratic feeding it seems a hard task, can someone suggest what a typical day should look like for an 11 week old baby whp was prem?

I dream feed her at 11 and she takes another small feed sometime between 12-2 and another between 4-6

1) What teats / bottles would you recommend for Aptamil comfort formula
2) How much should she be taking per feed?
3) Should I see the HV as she is only taking about 18oz per day max?
4) What would a typical day look like for an 11 week old who was 5 weeks prem?

Thank you so so much in advance!

[Lolly]

So at 5 weeks prem she is around 6 weeks adjusted (she was a good size born!) so at this age bottle fed babies are taking around 4oz a feed so she's not too far off. Both mine were on a comfort formula at one stage and I used Dr Brown's bottles and I *think* level 3, they seemed ok on level 2 but changing up made a big difference. If you have Avent bottles their vari-flow teats are good for thicker formulas, Tommee Tippee closer to nature variflow are good too but are slower than Avent.

I would say the feeds are taking too long though which may not be helping. A bottle feed should be done in about 20 mins, so your LO is snacking really if feeds are taking that long and she won't be having a chance to get properly hungry by the next feed time. I would start fresh with the first feed of the day, see how much you can get in her in 20 mins and then stop the feed and see if you can hold on for 2.5 - 3 hours. If she is showing clear hungry signs then obviously feed her but she should be able to last at least 2 hours on a formula feed at this age. The other reason for not stretching feeds out is you need to discard a bottle feed an hour after a baby has started drinking from it because of bacteria growth in the warm milk.

Have a look at this link for some examples of routines http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164027.0 Your nightfeeds look good though!

HTH - come back with any more questions!

Laura

[dizzy]

My LO was 4 and a half weeks prem and we had trouble feeding at first like you. We use Dr Brown bottles and confort milk, on teat 2 at the moment and he is 17 weeks, 12 and a half adjusted. My lo is on 4 hr easy now but was on 3 hr at same age as yours so may need to extend time between feeds to make her more hungry. I think if she will have 3 oz each feed that is ok, my lo only has 3 oz on some of his now.

[fruity]

Hi girls, thank you so much. Have been following example b on the link and she is taking much more, is happier and getting in to it. We are thrilled. Thank you!

[Lolly]

That's great, well done! 

Any more questions, please come back to us!

Laura

[yaelihrpz]

Hi,
How does a baby all of a sudden become a snacker?
My baby girl was exactly two months old yesterday.
She was more or less on a routine of feeding every three hours +- from the beginning. After a while she started being able to hold for 4 hrs at night and even 5 hrs sometimes.
Her normal feeding quantities were between 130-160cc and the feedings didn’t take long. But she started spitting up/ vomiting about 3 weeks ago.
Recently (about two wks ago) she started being unable to finish any feed in one go. The first break would be after 60cc and the rest I would have to struggle with and she no longer finishes more than 100cc. In total feedings take more than an hour and she doesn’t poo as much or sleep as much during the day plus she now feels hungry again after an hour or two.
Then I started thinking she might have reflux so I don’t insist with her feeding anymore but she eats ridiculously low quantities and wakes up more at night and I can’t stick to a routine anymore.
This is very frustrating as I don’t know how to get back on track.
Thanks in advance!

[dizzy]

Take her to see someone, sounds like reflux to me. Going through the same thing with LO2 and have been prescribed meds to help.

[Lolly]

I agree - it does sound like reflux, you need to see your Dr and discuss how she is. Have a look here for some information http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=654.0

Laura

[yaelihrpz]

Thank you both!!! This is very helpful. I will see someone tomorrow and hopefully she will get better asap I can't see her this miserable...