[MMC66]

I'm looking for honest oninions/experiences from seasoned bottle feeding moms out there. I have only breast fed my bio kids (and a long time ago).

My precious little angel is 12 days old now. The pediatrician tells me she should be eating around 18 ounces a day - and every 2 - 3 hours. Well....not my little Addy. Since midnight last night she has downed 18 ounces and it's only been 10 hours - she eats sometimes every hour and acts genuinely STARVING. My instincts say just feed her but this seems a little excessive. I've tried the pacifier, baths, the swing, singing, all the usual diversions, she'll have nothing to do with any of them. Her bmom was a smoker so she came out "small for gestational age" at 5 lbs 12 oz. She was 6 lbs 1 oz at one week and looks plumper every day. Is she just catching up or am I looking at a future olympic wrestler here. HELP!

Martha

[mommytobug]

My husband and I were talking about this a few days ago. When our daughter was borin in ND, we took her weekly to a well baby checkup til we left the state. They told us to feed a few ounces (cant remember exact) and that it should increase by one ounce for every week. Well, we went back and she was eating around 6 ounces every 3- 4 hours. The nurse proceeded to scold me and my daughters birth grandmother stood up for me and kindly told her that she was hungry and we were feeding her appropriately. She has always been a big eater. She would eat 3 jars of carrots at a meal when 6 months old. She is tiny but tall and must have high metabolism because at 6 she still eats more than her friends and is smaller....................so go with your gut ONLY YOU KNOW YOUR BABY!!! If she is hungry, then feed her .............

[LisaCA]

hi martha,

I'm not a seasoned mom, just one who has had the same issue. dd arrived at our hotel and proceeded to eat what the books termed "excessively" (a lot at frequent feedings). She really liked her bottle and her pacifier, and she knew the difference. Very quickly she was downing 3 oz at a time, astonishing folks. She was born full term (only one week early) and at 6lbs 14 oz. She eventually slowed down her feeding, but only when she was about 2 months old. She still prefers to eat a lot at each feeding and gets cranky when you take the bottle away. And she's not overweight (she's about 12.5 lbs and nearly 4 months old).

I went with my feelings and fed her when she demanded it (as a newborn it was roughly every 2-3 hours, sometimes every 1.5 hours) and gave her as much as she wanted, pausing to burp her several times a feeding. I also stretched feeding time out to last at least one half hour, just to make sure she was well-burped. I say trust your gut, forget the books and the doc and do what you feel she needs.

congrats again!

LisaCA

[wanttobeparents]

If she was born small, she may be playing catch up. Matthew was 4lbs, 5 oz full term. He had his ups and downs with feeding (he had a feeding tube), but we fed him when he asked. At one point, he put on 2 lbs a week until he caught up. Because of his small size, we were only supposed to feed him 1.5 oz at a time in the beginning, so he was fed very often.

If she is not throwing it back up, is small, and seems content with what you feed her, do it. A little bit burped back is not a big deal. Most of the bottle projectile vomited means too much.

If she gains weight and jumps from 10th to 99th percentile, you might want to cut back. Your peditritian will guide you at your next visit.

Peggy

[blessed with 2]

Both my kids ate way more then what the "proffessionals" said. Other then spending more on formula, there was no problem! If you were breastfeeding you wouldn't even know how many ounces the baby is taking, so why limit it from a bottle? Like another poster said, watch for signs like vomitting that you are giving too much, but otherwise, I say go for it! My son was very small when we got him and then he ate like crazy and gained weight. He has never had baby fat, and is still at the 75th percentile for his height and only 25th for weight!

[MMC66]

These responses have really helped! I didn't call the pediatrician because I was afraid she was going to tell me I was feeding her too much and to back off. I think I'll just feed her when she's hungry - sounds simple enouch

[darnspacemonkey]

I have the other experience- my cousins child ate all the time- any time he cried (and wasn't easily comforted) she fed him. After about 6 months the doctors really scolded her (and she is a nurse)! Long story short- baby on a diet, mom with hernia. But I think it took more than a couple of months for this to happen.

[blessed with 2]

Good point, you do need to make sure the baby is truely hungry. I'm sure we have all heard about babies who have a bottle or breast each time they make a noise, I don't think that is good either! But as long as the baby is really hungry, they know their tummies best!

[michellemartin]

A good way to distinguish hunger is when a baby is hungry they ball their tiny little fists while they cry or fuss.

[Byngee12]

When my 12 y.o. was born she tipped the scales at over 9 lbs. and she started out drinking 3.5 oz per every 2 hour feeding. By the time we came home from the hospital, about 5 days post because I developed strep throat and a fever and required IV antibiotics, she had decreased the time between feedings to about 1.5 hours. At 3 weeks this kid was drinking 5 oz every 2 hours non-stop. Pacifiers and bottles of water did not help. If she wasn't given formula she screamed and crammed her fist in her mouth and sucked as if they were lactating! She gained 3 pounds her first 6 weeks and boy did her Dr. rant and rave. I felt like I should strap her to a treadmill! This kid would scream unless she was fed around the clock. My Mom also told her Dr. to back off and told me to feed that baby! I did, she got fat but slept longer during the night ( 4 hours) after we gave her minute traces of cereal at 2.5 months. Today she is skinny as a rail but eats like a horse! Lucky for me she will eat "good" stuff like raw veggies covered in ranch dressing for a snack and lots of turkey and fish even turkey burgers and bacon. She also runs a lot. I just think some kids have very high metabolism rates. Tara

[amyway_j]

When my daughter was born she ate between two and three times the amount that she was "supposed to." One of my fond memories is laughing with the birth parents and birth grandparents at the hospital about how much she would eat and how strongly she sucked. The nurses told us to limit her feedings, but we all agreed that there would be no stopping her. I'm glad we trusted our instincts because the pediatrician said as long as she wasn't excessively spitting up to let her eat as much and as often as she wanted to. She has slowed down now (she is three months old), but for the first month we jokingly called her "the tank."