Does my 2-week baby eat too much??

[GCDollar]

Hi All,

My baby boy is 2 week + 4 days. I mainly breastfeed him but some times my breast milk is not enough especially during the night (having to get up and feed him 2 times), I feed him formula. My husband wants to help feed him during the night, so I express some milk during the day in the bottle.

Last night, my husband fed him with my expressed milk, about 100ml. My boy seemed having enough, so my husband put him in cot to sleep. Five minutes later, baby started to cry, sucked his hand, moved his mouth around looking for feed. My husband had to top him up with 20ml formula. That wasn't enough. A total of 60ml formula was fed before he finally looked satisfied and fell asleep.

The total feed was 160ml! Is that too much for a 2-week old baby? The night before, he had about 130ml. I can't imagine his tiny little tummy can fill that much of milk. Plus He didn't vomit any milk at all. It made him sleep for 4 hours, then he's awake again...asking for feed...

Should I worry? How much should he be fed? Should I take him to GP? Please give me some suggestion.

[MamaPan]

I am not sure re the formula but I demand bf my baby (and did with my last as well). at times he takes SO MUCH in feed after feed... and others he has a long break.. I just go with that. for example last night he fed at 6, 7.30, 8.30, 9.30... they were pretty good feeds most of those times so i would say he took a lot of milk in.. he then had a longish sleep (3 hrs) til the next feed... i think sometimes they cluster feed and are esp hungry or unsettled at times... i think you cant over feed a bfed baby but i am not sure how it works with formula top ups.. (why are you doing them by the way?)

[mbear]

At 2 weeks baby will and do feed a lot...my H is 6 weeks old and i still feel like im constantly sitting on the lounge feeding him...it does settle down though. Hes still very young, i would not worry about feeding him too much - breastmilk - at this stage. Like my lovely PP has said, you cant overfeed a breastfed baby. Breastmilk is very easily digested...thus reason b/f babies can tend to want to be fed more in a 24hr period. His stomach at this age is about the size of your clenched fist, reason we do feel like all we are doing in the first few weeks is feeding...so from what youve described, hes doing fine....

IN terms of formula, same question - why are you feeding him both ??

[GCDollar]

I am not sure re the formula but I demand bf my baby (and did with my last as well). at times he takes SO MUCH in feed after feed... and others he has a long break.. I just go with that. for example last night he fed at 6, 7.30, 8.30, 9.30... they were pretty good feeds most of those times so i would say he took a lot of milk in.. he then had a longish sleep (3 hrs) til the next feed... i think sometimes they cluster feed and are esp hungry or unsettled at times... i think you cant over feed a bfed baby but i am not sure how it works with formula top ups.. (why are you doing them by the way?)

because at night i dont have much breast milk. he sucks my breast a few times then stops and gives an unhappy face. i guess it's because he couldn't gey much out of it. so i top him up with some formula. is that a bad thing to do?

[LaDeeDa]

Babies that young only have a tummy the size of their little fist so they eat A LOT ....
He might stop and then start 5 mins later because he had some wind in his tummy and once he burps or farts he frees up more room for milk.

When DS was that little we could feed up to 5 times a night - which is perfectly normal

Also your milk is still coming in and setting up supply and by givinig him formula you'll make your supply dwindle as it's all supply vs demand.

GL

[mbear]

Your letdown may take a little longer than usual too (when milk comes in and is fast flowing.....). Suckng = more milk made by you....so the more you can get him on your boob the better.

[GCDollar]

thanks. how often should I burp him when breastfeeding? after one side or every 5-10min? I've tried both, but he sometimes still vomit milk And when burping him, how long should I keep patting his back or holding him on my shoulder?

[Lulu]

Don't top up with formula in these early days, this will reduce your supply. Babies feed often, he may be a little impatient (!), but it's his constant feeding (more than twice in one night is very normal) that tells your boobies how much to make.

If you drop the formula, and let him feed as aften as possible things will fall into place xoxoxo

[MantaRay]

Congratulations on your little bundle of joy GCD. The first weeks are really confusing but you are doing a great job.

It's a pity that no-one tells you what you need to know up front. Firstly, that it is very rare to not have enough breast milk. And also that newborn babies needs to feed often. 8 - 12 times in 24 hours is the normal number of feeds. As has been mentioned, babies tummies are the size of their tiny fists - they are designed to feed often. And our breasts are designed to feed often in the early days. Frequent feeding helps to establish and maintain your supply, and also ensures that your baby gets lots of cuddles and skin to skin time, which is also very necessary for a newborn. Cluster feeding, a few feeds in a short space of time, is also common and is in no way a sign that you don't have enough milk.

The early days can be very tiring as the feeding is frequent, there is lots to learn, and your baby might not yet have got the hang of day and night, so can be waking frequently in the night. All of this does settle down though and it gets easier. Many mums find that not worrying too much about housework, and getting as much rest as they can works best for them. You can set yourself up in a comfy chair with a drink and the phone or TV remote and just relax while you feed. Or you can feed lying down (if that seems really hard now, it will get easier with practise). Don't worry about what others think of your house - any who has ever had a baby will totally understand about mess, we have ALL been there. Truly, none of us are superwomen, we can't do it all. We have all tried to do it all and realised we can't, and looking after baby and ourselves has to come first.

Topping up with formula can be the beginning of the end of breastfeeding as it will affect your supply. Breastfeeding works on supply and demand - the more you feed, the more milk you make. It might help you to think of it like saliva in your mouth - when your mouth is dry, you produce more saliva quickly. When your mouth is full of saliva you don't produce anymore. Breastmilk production is like that - an empty breast will produce more milk quickly. And the action of the baby sucking at your breast also triggers the production of more milk. So if you are concerned about supply, breastfeeding more frequently is the best thing to do. Unfortunately, for every bottle of formula you give, that is less demand for your milk, and less supply. In the first 6 weeks this is especially critical so it is best to avoid the formula if you can.

The best way to know whether or not your baby is getting enough milk, is by what is coming out - that is the wet and dirty nappies. He should be having at least 5 wet disposables, or 6 - 8 very wet cloth nappies (and somewhere in between for MCN) in 24 hours. Until he is 8 weeks or so, he should also be having more than one runny-ish poo in 24 hours. Would you say your baby is doing this? If so, there is most likely nothing wrong with your milk supply.

How do you feel about this? Do you have more confidence in your milk supply now? There are so many things going on for a newborn that it can be very hard to understand what is happening. They can cry for a lot reasons - often all they need is a cuddle because the world is a very busy, noisy place after the womb. It doesn't necessarily mean they are hungry. They can also have a start-stop time of it when feeding if they have wind pain, if you have a fast flow, or for a variety of other reasons. Sometimes is takes a while to figure out what is happening, other times you never really work it out, because these things all usually pass with time anyway.

If you would like to discuss your situation with a breastfeeding counsellor who is a mum who has been through the early weeks with a newborn themselves, the ABA 24 hour, toll-free helpline - 1800 mum 2 mum - is a fantastic service which is a very big help to many mums. Even if it's just for reassurance it can make a big difference.

And just one other thing to consider - when you give a baby a bottle, they have no control over the flow. The liquid runs into their mouth and they have to swallow or choke. Just because they empty a bottle doesn't mean that they were hungry in the first place.

I wish you all the very best on your parenting journey. These first weeks are by far the hardest. It will get easier and I hope it helps you to know that you are doing a fantastic job. Let us know how you go hun.

[Lulu]

If they pull off, I will give bubs a back rub/burp, then stick them on the other side. Some nights they laze and will take awhile to feed, when they get older they get really efficient and draining those boobs! DD took one side at a time often, then would have both.

If I remember rightly bubs fed for up to 30mins each side in the early days, then got it down to about 10 on each side in a few months.

[LaDeeDa]

If he starts to get wriggly or pull off the boob it could be air...
Just pat his back or jiggle him gently until he brings it up - sometimes he might bring some milk up with it and thats ok too.

Just remember your both still learning to feed - if you did want to drop the formula now would be a good time to do so (it's ok if you don't want to) as it takes about 6 weeks for your supply to settle into a routine.

Even now at nearly 5months DS will feed and then 10 mins later let out a huge burp or fart and then start whinging for the boob again

[tenar]

As long as you keep breastfeeding exclusively, your body will produce enough milk for your baby. It's being produced constantly, to meet his demand, so you can't actually run out of the stuff. Maybe he'll take longer to have a feed at different times. This could be because of the way he feels at different times of the day, or because your milk comes out a little differently at different times of the day. Nothing worse than that, and I wouldn't be worrying about it. Your breasts will probably sometimes feel fuller than other times, but this doesn't mean that when they don't feel full there isn't any milk, because they are constantly producing the stuff.

Something that doesn't seem to be well understood by many people (going on conversations with my parents group, anyway), is that if you give formula to your baby sometimes, your milk supply will adapt to his reduced demand. Then you genuinely won't have enough milk for him, and this can lead to you eventually giving up on the breastfeeding altogether. Then your son won't have that wonderful food, filled with the perfect nutrition for him and loads of antibodies as well, with all of its protective effects against future diseases and other problems. If you switch back to breastfeeding only now, while your supply is still easily variable, you'll have an easier time of it than trying to switch back in a few weeks when your supply will have settled into being quite constant.

At this young age, it is really important for your milk supply for him to suck frequently, especially at night time. As I understand it, this is because most of the hormonal stuff that makes your milk happen (and, incidentally, causes the contraceptive effect of breastfeeding) happens during the night. Waking for 3 or 4 feeds overnight is normal for such a young baby. Some nights my daughter had even more feeds than that It's hard work, but it only lasts that way a few weeks.

(By the way, if you are going to keep skipping night feeds, you may need to consider contraception, because you lose the breastfeeding-contraception effect as soon as you aren't doing so many feeds overnight.)

Good luck with sorting it out. There is loads of great advice available here, so keep asking questions!

[MantaRay]

GCD, not all babies even need burping. Usually, as Lulu said, mums try to burp when the baby pulls off and before changing sides. There is no hard and fast rule though, and if no wind comes up, don't worry. The vomitting is very normal also and nothing to worry about.

Just one other thing (sorry to overload you with so much information), it is best to feed from one side until the baby is finished, and then offer the second side (that is, don't "time" the feed on the first breast and move him to the other side because the time is up). In the early days babies don't often take the second side during a feed, but usually mums offer it anyway. One day when he is bigger he will probably start wanting it. And if he wants it now, that's ok too!

[GCDollar]

Thank you all for the information and suggestion.

I have one more question. Sometimes, my baby falls asleep when I breastfeed him with one side. I burp him or change his nappy to wake him up; and then offer him the other side. He usually sucks for a much shorter time on the other side and falls asleep again. In this case, should I express my milk to a bottle for later feed? I heard more expressing could increase supply. Or, should I just let it be, and wait for him to wake up and have the next feed?

Thank you again!

[MantaRay]

That's a good question. Expressing does increase supply, but your baby feeding increases it more. When supply is low, feeding more frequently is a better option than expressing between feeds, although both should help.

In the first 6 weeks it's important to get the "demand" set up so that the supply gets "set" to the right level. Usually it's not a good idea to express regularly during the early weeks as it can lead to an oversupply (which believe it or not can be a problem also). If you are feeling full and uncomfortable after a feed, it is best to express enough off so that you are more comfortable to reduce the risk of mastitis. Expressing until you are empty though is sending a signal to your breasts that your baby needs more milk, so isn't such a good idea. After the first 6 - 8 weeks, if you feel up to it, it is fine to start expressing to build up a store of EBM. But only if you want to!

[Lulu]

Let it be chick - give yourself a break expressing ok? Bubs will tell your boobs how much to make, exp will interfere. Babies are the most efficient expressers!

[mbear]

Or, should I just let it be, and wait for him to wake up and have the next feed?

..hon, my Harry - 6 wks only takes one side. i agree with lulu let it be...

try and tickle his feet when trying to wake him...it sometimes get my H back into sucking.....HTH.

[MamaPan]

it sounds like he is acting very normally for a healthy little bubba hon... go with your instinct it sounds right - feed from one side til he stops - see if he needs to burp - offer other side and see what happens
personallyi would lay off expressing and formula for now...