New here and have a baby who eats a whole lot

[PuppyLuf]

Hello!  I'm new to these boards.  I have read a lot online about the Baby Whisperer and I've ordered two books (solves all your problems, and secrets of) although I have not received them yet.  My friend turned me to the BW, saying she had had good luck using it with her two children.

I recently adopted a newborn boy and he is exclusively formula fed.  He is 5 weeks old, 10 lbs. 6 oz., and gets a special formula for reflux that has rice starch in it.  He also has/had reflux and gets a medicine for it that seems to do the trick.

However, he eats far more than any child his age should.  He has a 6 oz. bottle every 3 hours, so a total of almost 48 oz.  This includes every 3 hours throughout the night.

My doctor suggested seeing if there was just a need for sucking and to give him a bottle with a little water or a pacifier, but no, LO screams bloody murder if he doesn't get a large amount of formula, and he does not spit up a lot of formula after his meals, so he is actually eating it all.  If he gets less formula, he screams the whole day.

He cannot go more than 3.5 hours ever without a meal, and as I adopted him as a single mother, this has been very hard on me at night.

I tried cluster feeding last night, but was not sure how much each bottle should contain.  Should each bottle be a full feeding, or should it be a smaller amount each time (say 4 oz. each)?  Either way, he sucked down a full bottle (6 oz) at 6, 8, and 10 pm, and still woke up at 1:30 am for a feeding.

My doctor's advice was, "Well, if he's keeping it down and he wants it, keep shoveling it in."  So I do, but it would be nice to go a bit longer than 3 hours between feedings.

Any thoughts or advice?  Thank you.

[Lolly]

Hello and welcome! You are doing a great job with your baby!

My doctor's advice was, "Well, if he's keeping it down and he wants it, keep shoveling it in."

LOl! I like your Dr

What meds is he on for the reflux and how much? Often frequent feedings can be because of pain from reflux and they feed more often because it sooths the pain for a while. That said, it's usually small feeds they want so that may not be the case for you.

3 hourly feeds are right at this age, and many babies don't go much longer at night until they get bigger. He is going through a lot of growth spurts at the moment so he does need the calories. It seems like a lot of formula at the moment, but you will probably find that he doesn't actually increase the amount much over the next few months.

Is he draining the 6oz bottles? If he is you need to put another oz in, you may find that a bit more helps him to go a bit longer, especially at night (but keep to the 3 hours in the day).

What do you think?

Laura

[Buttonbobs]

You've had some great advice from Laura and I don't have anything to add really other than some ((hugs)) and a bit of reassurance, my DD always ate a lot more than her contemporaries and I used to worry she was getting too much. She is a bigger child now but not overweight. The sleepless nights will pass, although I remember it feeling forever at the time.

Can you get anyone to help for a short time in a daytime so you can get a little extra sleep?

[creations]

Hello and welcome to BW
My LO couldn't go more than 2.5 to 3hrs between day feeds at that age and although most babies move to 4hrly feeds at 4 months mine never could so we continued at 3hrs until solids were introduced at 6 months. With solids coming between milk feeds he could then manage to get to 4hrs between milk feeds. Just wanted to share as example that each baby is different and has their own needs. The nights will get easier.

[PuppyLuf]

Thanks for your replies!  They are very helpful.  LO is on Prevacid, 1/2 tsp. per day.  I split it up into two doses.  He completely drains his 6 oz. bottles each time.  I tried putting 7 oz. in there last night, as suggested, and he drained that, too, but then he spit up about an oz.  He  seems to eat pretty much on a 3 hour schedule, so not sure if it is a soothing mechanism.

He spends a lot of time, when in bed, grunting and groaning, like he is trying to poop, but I don't think that's why he's doing it.  Maybe gas?

Within the last week, we've had three episodes of uncontrollable crying in the evening (colic maybe?) that continued until he got another full bottle about an hour and a half earlier than usual.  So maybe not colic.  I'm just confused.  Then, after those screaming spells and eating two bottles, he sleeps for a 5 hour stretch, which never happens otherwise.  Maybe he's just so exhausted from screaming...

I feel very helpless.  My mom has invited me to spend weekends at her house so we can split night feeding duties, which has been good.  Still, so hard to bond with an adopted baby who screams all the time.  Even my mom is at a loss and says he's a rather difficult baby.

Thank you again for your thoughts.

[Florena49]

I dont know much about bottle feeding, but just to say that clealry you are doing great my LO had colic from 3 weeks and it was incredibly hard fealing with that screaming every night for the three of us( my mum stayed with us for a month) my LO is nealry 4 mongh and we just started stretching to 3.5 hour feeds at 5 weeks i think we just about managed 2.5 hours 3 only if he slept!

[Lolly]

Can you tell me the strength of the prevacid - is it the suspension he is having? I'm not sure about the dose yet, but to me it sounds like the reflux isn't under control. Have you tried giving the dose as one? Splitting a PPI for babies sometimes works better, but if each dose isn't big enough it's better to give it in one dose.

Laura

[PuppyLuf]

It is 3 mg suspension.  I split the dose thinking it might help for longer.  I will try just doing the one dose.  I wonder if anything else is going on because he grunts and groans for much of the time he is in shallow sleep.  I don't know if that is food related or not.

Anyhow, it's 6:30 pm here, and he has already had 36 oz. of formula since midnight last night.  I'm going through a canister of formula every 2-3 days.  I do hope you're right and he equalizes eventually, or I will go bankrupt!

[PuppyLuf]

I did go to the doc today, and not-so-little-one gained 30% weight since last doc visit.  So, his Prevacid dose needed to be doubled!  He is now getting a dose in the morning and one in the evening.  Plus, apparently he went through a growth spurt this week, as suggested on the other board.  So he was super hungry, super cranky, and now he's sleeping like a log all day except to eat.  I read not to keep him awake during the day during growth spurts, even if it is our regular routine to wake every three hours.  Activity time is gone for a few days, I guess.

Doc said to just keep increasing his formula, and if he breaks 8 oz., I'll have to give him more than one bottle at each feeding.  They gave me over 20 sample containers of Enfamil AR for him.  Nice people!

I did get a container of Hungrier Baby Milk to eventually try if reflux is ever under control.  I had to get it from Amazon and shipped from UK because they don't make it in USA.  We'll see what happens there.

[Me.and.my.two.boys]

I'm glad you've had him weighed and his meds have been increased accordingly hopefully you notice a difference. About the hungry milk - I tried that (I'm in the UK) and it didn't seem to make a difference except make DS2 constipated so I wouldn't try it yet.

Hopefully you notice a difference with the meds increase

[creations]

About the hungry milk - I tried that (I'm in the UK) and it didn't seem to make a difference except make DS2 constipated so I wouldn't try it yet.

Yeah, I would avoid it tbh.  I don't think it has any higher nutritional value so really it's filling baby up without giving what they naturally need, there's no evidence it helps at all and is not suitable for babies under 6 months old.  Here's a link to the UK health service info
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/Pages/types-of-infant-formula.aspx#close

Hope you see an improvement in the reflux now he has his higher dose

[Shdef]

Is it possible that something else is going on with the little one? You said he is adopted, how old was he? Was there anything going on in pregnancy you don't know about? Smoking, drinking, drugs?

Babies also feel when they are not with their mother in the first few first, it is traumatic for them. He might be drinking so much to comfort himself. Have you tried a sling for calming him and some regular skin to skin for bonding? Carry him around, let him hear your heartbeat, take in your smell, etc. He needs to get to know his new mummy intimately to feel secure and bonded.

Hugs 

[PuppyLuf]

Well, I think it was just a large growth period.  He went to the doc and had a 30% weight increase in 2 weeks or so, which shocked the doctor.  The baby is not overweight, just grew fast.  He is now down to 6 oz. every 3.5 hours and 7 oz. for longer stretches at night.

I was in the room next door to his birth mother in the hospital, and I took him home a day after birth mom had left, when he was 2 days old.  I realize he knows birth mom's voice and smells, etc., but I don't think it was related to that, as it started about 4 weeks along.  When birth mom comes to visit, he no longer reacts to her as mommy anymore (she is a friend and the adoption is open).

I carry him in a sling often, facing in when I take the pup for walks, and outward when we are in the house and he wants to look around.  He is holding his head up well now at 7 weeks and is a large, strong baby.

I guess we'll keep shoveling in the formula, as my pediatrician says.

[tarala]

PuppyLuf, no expert advice to add, but just encouragement. I'm a foster mom (foster to adopt), on my second placement, now 1 month old. Things keep changing with these little guys - for the good and the not so good! Our first placement was a chubby 2 month old that cried a lot and ate a lot. It was intense! But Tracy's book made us realize he was overstimulated & gassy, and we had a huge turnaround in a few days with new bottles & new routines. Different situation, but just wanting to give you hope!
Glad you have some support from your mom. Hope things keep getting easier.

[PuppyLuf]

Thanks, Tarala, for the encouragement.  It's certainly a work in progress figuring these things out.  Poor little guy was in bed crying his head off with gas cramps and a stuffy nose. We tried cluster feeding but it just made him horribly crampy.