4 months and drinking TOOOOO much milk

[Rizo]

We are having a bit of trouble with DS feeds. At the moment he seems sooooo hungry, he has always been a big hungry boy but not we have been told by PLunket (like a Health Visitor) that he shouldn't be having this much milk.

At the moment he would have feeds of 200ml (7 1/2 ounces) at 6.30, 10, 1, 4 and then 7. Sometimes it could be 6.30, 10.30, 2, 5 and 7 depending on his day. He also has a DF at 10pm.

This week he has been waking for his DF anytime from 9.30 and tonight he has just woken and it is only 9.10pm!!!!

Today he has had heaps of milk
6.30 - 200ml
10.30 - 150ml
1.30 - 190ml
4.15 - 190ml
6.30 - 180ml
7.00 120ml
This is extra than usual and he is still hungry?? He is also on hungry baby formula but I don't know if it makes a difference.

I also have a post of NW board as he had started waking super early at about 1am when he had been sttn, this has now stopped but now we get a NW about 4.30 which NW mods suggested maybe hungry. He will resettle with a dummy til 6am if I'm lucky.


Please help, I can't understand why and how he could still be hungry

[Lolly]

Well, he's having about 34/35oz on the day you posted which isn't a huge amount really (whatever the plunket nurse says ). There is a big growth spurt at 4 months which could well explain the extra feeds he has needed.

Is he draining his bottles? If he is you really need to put more in them, babies don't overeat and are very good at self regulating and taking what they need. At 4 months having 270ml bottles isn't that unusual, where is he on the growth charts, is he sticking to his curve? What weight was he born and how much does he weigh now?

What size teat have you got him on now?

Sorry for all the questions!

Laura

[Rizo]

where is he on the growth charts, is he sticking to his curve? What weight was he born and how much does he weigh now?

He was own at 7pound 14ounces (50%) but quickly went up to the 90%, he is now at the 75% and is slimming out. I tend to have slimmer babies so when he hit the 90% it was a shock. The last time he was weighted he was 7 kg, I'd say he is probably 7.5kg by now
[/quote]
He drains his bottles 75% of the time but I had upped them to 240ml a few weeks ago and changed up a teat size and because of his reflux he spilled quite a lot more. So we cut them back and he has been much better. With a size 3 teat (size larger than he has now) he would drain all bottles in about 3mins!

[rach321]

Is his reflux under control? Is there a chance he is comfort eating and using the milk to stop the acid burn? It doesn't sound like that much milk to me, as long as he is following his growth chat curve then I really wouldn't worry.

[Rizo]

Yeah he used to have some trouble with burning throat but now he just seems to be a happy spitter!

He is definitely not comfort eating as he always is very clear about when he has finished and he always stops if he isn't that hungry (rare, but occasionally)

[Rizo]

Should I still increase his bottles? or go up a teat size as well?

hoping he may be able to go longer than 3hours consistently with bigger feeds as he is doing a 2h A time and we are trying to push it again to improve 45min naps

[Lolly]

I would, he may just have needed a while to get used to bigger feeds and the faster flow. They only way to get longer between feeds is to give them more really!

Laura

[Rizo]

Great, thank you for your advice. I am going to start with the bigger teat tomorrow and see if that helps. The good news is he is now going around 3 1/2-4 hours between bottles which is great, plus a DF at 10pm. Hopefully this will continue!

[Lolly]

Great progress! Well done both of you! Let us know how the bigger teat goes!

Laura

[Amanda5555]

Wondered if I could chime in here as I'm having a similar problem trying to figure out how much to offer ds.  He has reflux and milk protein intolerance.  He is on max meds for his weight and pain is definately better. He has been spitting up a ton in the last couple of days although doesn't appear uncomfortable anymore with it. Previously he was very uncomfortable and was definately comfort eating. He was in 100th percentile for weight for a while and gained very quickly from birth. Now weight gain has slowed since special formula and meds.  He is taking 4 feeds a day of anywhere from 5-7 oz in last almost week now and is going sometimes 3.5hrs sometimes 4 hrs between feeds at times.  He has just started this longer time between feedings he used to feed every 3 hrs like clockwork. He sleeps from 7pm-7am or even 730 I do have to wake him on occasion seems to be happy even to go 13hrs at night on occasion. He weighs 16lbs as of last wednesday.

B tends to be extremely figity while feeding. Not crying anymore just pulls it out and back in alot. I have as of tonight switched back to smaller teat size to see if it helps as he is also choking alot more lately. I often have to distact him off the bottle because he cries coming off the bottle as he has since birth. I don't think its necessarily discomfort or not being full he has just had a rough road since birth and think it could be learned behavior unfortunately. I question if he really does know when he's full. He seems to be getting enough as he's not waking throught the night and is lasting longer between feeds but it doesn't seem to matter how many oz I offer him he would take it all every time. Because of the reflux I'm afraid to over feed him and cause more problems.  Any advice would be appreciated.

One question is if he doesn't know when he's full on account of the reflux and/or damage done from MPI how should I go about figuring how much to feed him without giving too much?  
TIA
Amanda

[*Kara*]

One question is if he doesn't know when he's full on account of the reflux and/or damage done from MPI how should I go about figuring how much to feed him without giving too much?

The generally accepted amount is 2-2.5 ozs per pound of body weight.

So at 16 lbs, that would be 32-40 ozs per day... divided among his feeds.

That said, my DD never got above the 32 oz mark and I think Laura's LOs were very much the same and maxed out at 25 ozs or so

[AJsMom]

Hi, I'm in a similar position. My lo is now almost 16 weeks and has always been a hungry baby. She has been having 6oz each feed for a few weeks now ( ~ 36/37 oz a day) and she pretty much always finishes her bottle. This week she has been super hungry and has been feeding every 3 hours - she is a bit under the weather thou. Last time she was weighed she had gone from the 50th - 75th percentile. The health visitor suggested I put her on hungry baby milk but the advisor at aptamil said it was bit premature for that. The reason I haven't been giving her more milk with each feed is because she sicks up a lot, half the time I think she is just over eating and therefore throwing it back up. She is completely not bothered by it. She has also never slept thru the night, which does suggest she needs to eat more during the day but I don't want her to be more sick.

[Lolly]

That said, my DD never got above the 32 oz mark and I think Laura's LOs were very much the same and maxed out at 25 ozs or so

  Yup - if they got up to 30oz in a day we had the flags out!

AJsMom - there is a big growth spurt around 16 weeks/ 4 months so it sounds like your LO has hit that point! I would increase the bottles by 1oz and see how she does, now she is a bit bigger she may be able to take bigger feeds. If 7oz works ok and she is still draining the bottles add another oz.

Laura

[Amanda5555]

Hmmm so I don't know what to think then. My guy is sleeping 12 hours at night but only eating like 22-24oz a day. He actually goes from 5-6pm until like 7 am.  Guess I'll just have to watch his weight closely.  I will continue offering 7 oz for now and see what happens. He seems a bit less figity since I decreased the teat size back to number 1.

[ENMS]

My guy is sleeping 12 hours at night but only eating like 22-24oz a day

Amanda, so long as he's gaining weight reasonably, I wouldn't worry too much.  When my DD's reflux got controlled, she went from 75th percentile to 25th, and has stayed at the 25th ever since - it is her 'normal' curve and the 75th was created because she was feeding to soothe the reflux. Once the reflux was controlled, she didn't need that anymore.  Hopefully it's the same for your DS?  With my DS, the first time his reflux got controlled at 3M, he STTN for about 3 weeks and needed around 25 oz (instead of 35 oz before it got controlled).  That lasted until the 4m GS and ever since he has been feeding much more, back to his 35 oz.