Author Topic: 6 week old (6 weeks prem) wont cluster feed  (Read 1612 times)

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Offline 7yeargap

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6 week old (6 weeks prem) wont cluster feed
« on: August 06, 2012, 20:54:43 pm »
Evening, im trying to get my DS2 to follow the routine but just doesnt want to cluster feed. He is taking 3oz at each feed (7.30,10,30,1.30,4,30,7.30,10.30) he is then left to see when he wakes up which is usually around 3am. He weighs just over 6lb now and the hospital said he needs to have 10z every 3hrs based on his weight but he wants more than that (drains a 3oz most of the time) should I leave it as it is or keep trying with the cluster feeds???

born through emergency C section at 35 weeks - suffered with reflux as a baby. A challenging boy with Aspergers syndrome and PDA but he still manages to make me smile every day x


Born through emergency C section at 38 weeks - suffering from reflux but still smiling x

Offline Lolly

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Re: 6 week old (6 weeks prem) wont cluster feed
« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2012, 07:43:18 am »
Not all babies Will cluster, mine never did. However if he is draining his bottles you need to put more in them. Bottle fed babies should have a bit left in the bottle so you know they stopped because they are full and not just because the bottle is empty.

Laura


Offline 7yeargap

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Re: 6 week old (6 weeks prem) wont cluster feed
« Reply #2 on: August 07, 2012, 19:26:55 pm »
Yeah I had been putting more in each one but I stopped as I was running out of milk and he wasn't taking it (he is on nutramigen as they suspect a dairy allergy like my DD1) He is also really windy and wont bring it up, been giving him a little bit of gripe water which seems to be helping but with him being prem I didn't want to use too much. He was fed at 7pm this evening so I'm going to try him again at 9.30 and then 11 before I go to bed and see what happens as last night was awful having me up every 2 hours. He seems to want to feed more at night which is very annoying!!!

born through emergency C section at 35 weeks - suffered with reflux as a baby. A challenging boy with Aspergers syndrome and PDA but he still manages to make me smile every day x


Born through emergency C section at 38 weeks - suffering from reflux but still smiling x

Offline RachelC

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Re: 6 week old (6 weeks prem) wont cluster feed
« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2012, 02:35:07 am »
Is the every 2 hours at night new?  Could be a growth spurt, very common at 6 weeks.


Proud to have breastfed for a combined total of 35 months


Offline 7yeargap

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Re: 6 week old (6 weeks prem) wont cluster feed
« Reply #4 on: August 08, 2012, 20:20:20 pm »
yes only the last couple of nights really, he was 6 weeks early and as each week has gone he has woken up more and more in the night. I have been giving him 4oz bottles today and to my surprise he finished nearly all of them. the only down side is its taking him nearly an hour to finish it because he is so windy :(

born through emergency C section at 35 weeks - suffered with reflux as a baby. A challenging boy with Aspergers syndrome and PDA but he still manages to make me smile every day x


Born through emergency C section at 38 weeks - suffering from reflux but still smiling x

Offline Lolly

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Re: 6 week old (6 weeks prem) wont cluster feed
« Reply #5 on: August 08, 2012, 20:25:28 pm »
What bottles are you using? Have you tried the ones designed to make them take less air in? A hour is a long time for a bottle feed, even for a little one.

Is it just wind or could he have reflux - that's quite common with prems and does cause feeding/ wind issues as well.

I never found gripe water to be very good with my two - made my DS projectile vomit so we gave up on it. We found Infacol (UK brand) more effective, I'm not sure where you are but there is probably an equivalent, it contains simeticone which helps the wind to gather into bigger bubbles so they can burp more easily.

Laura


Offline 7yeargap

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Re: 6 week old (6 weeks prem) wont cluster feed
« Reply #6 on: August 08, 2012, 20:42:56 pm »
I took him to the gp on mon to have domperidone prescribed but she couldnt do one without speaking to a ped at the hospital due to his weight. Im still waiting to hear back from her so going to ring again in the morning. Both my other two had reflux so I know the drill!!! hes started crying after burping/being sick so its obviously acid too so I will be asking for ranitadine too!! hopefully I will get the meds sorted and things will get better.................

born through emergency C section at 35 weeks - suffered with reflux as a baby. A challenging boy with Aspergers syndrome and PDA but he still manages to make me smile every day x


Born through emergency C section at 38 weeks - suffering from reflux but still smiling x

Offline 7yeargap

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Re: 6 week old (6 weeks prem) wont cluster feed
« Reply #7 on: August 26, 2012, 22:18:33 pm »
Evening, well after another stay in hospital he has been put in meds which have helped with the sickness but he still won't cluster feed and now won't take a feed at 10/10.30pm. I tried doing a dream feed but he wouldn't suck so I tried waking him but he won't wake up either!!! I left him the other night to see how long he slept for and went fro
7.30 - 12.30. He will then wake up every 2/3 hrs and snack through the night. Any ideas on how I can get him to have a good feed before I go to bed so I can actually get some sleep??!! X

born through emergency C section at 35 weeks - suffered with reflux as a baby. A challenging boy with Aspergers syndrome and PDA but he still manages to make me smile every day x


Born through emergency C section at 38 weeks - suffering from reflux but still smiling x

Offline 7yeargap

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Re: 6 week old (6 weeks prem) wont cluster feed
« Reply #8 on: August 26, 2012, 22:20:24 pm »
Also I wanted to ask, as he was prem do I go by his actual age or what he should be when looking at the recommendations in the book for EASY?? X

born through emergency C section at 35 weeks - suffered with reflux as a baby. A challenging boy with Aspergers syndrome and PDA but he still manages to make me smile every day x


Born through emergency C section at 38 weeks - suffering from reflux but still smiling x

Offline Lolly

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Re: 6 week old (6 weeks prem) wont cluster feed
« Reply #9 on: August 27, 2012, 07:27:21 am »
If he was prem I would go by his actual age not what he should be as his actual age is the amount of development he has had since birth just like he would have if he had been born at full term.

He may not need to cluster feed, I have 2 refluxers and neither one would cluster feed and they wouldn't dreamfeed either. You can try the DF a bit earlier or later to see if catching him in a different part of his sleep cycle works but if he won't feed you can't force him. He is very little so I would leave the DF for now, feed him when he wakes hungry and you can always try the DF again in a few weeks when he is a bit bigger.

I hope the meds are working - what did they put him on?

Laura