Feeding My Baby - Brainerd,MN

You can try increasing by an ounce. Some babies are just hungry and
can tolerate it. Or you can try feeding him every three hours. See what
works better. Congratuations.

1 mom found this helpful

Oh, bless you, E.! When to feed and how much to feed caused me no end of worry the first few weeks! You think, am I keeping this little thing alive....? And, what will make it worse, is that EVERYONE will tell you something different which makes it even more anxiety provoking!

I nursed both of my children for about 10-15 minutes on each side (or less, if they fell asleep) every two to three hours. You counted from the beginning of the first session to the beginning of the second. So if baby started nursing at 12:00 and finished at 12:30, he could still be ready to nurse again at 2:00.

It sounds like you are using formula, and I think the "rules" might be different.

I think you could try giving him 3 ounces instead of 2 every four hours. OR, if you would prefer, feed him two ounces every three hours.

Lots of people worry about schedules, but if a newborn seems hungry, I say feed him!

Good luck and congratulations!

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I am assuming you are bottle feeding based upon the question? My son ate about every 3 hours. We fed him completely on demand. If he still seemed hungry after he finished the bottle we would offer another oz and see. You basically let him determine when and how much he eats. Your pediatrician or the website for your brand of formula should have additinal info.

We NEVER WOKE THE BABY. It was (and is, DS is almost 6) our cardinal rule of parenting. If he was hungry, he woke up and let us know. Never waking our baby led only to having two sane parents - not to any night/day confusion for us.

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Congrats new Mama!! Is he on formula? 2 oz seems like plenty for being three days old. Try feeding him every 3 hours instead at 2oz. If you think you need to increase from 2oz fine go up an ounce at a time. 3-4 hours on formula is about right. Make sure to wake him during the day for all of his feedings or he will be awake a lot at night catching up on his calorie intake.

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Feed your baby on demand.. Every 2-3 hours. Also keep in mind that lots of babies "cluster feed" each evening which seems to help them sleep longer periods at night.
As for one comment that suggested feeding more to encourage sleeping thru the night... Don't expect this any time soon. Newborns need to eat around the clock and most babies I know still have one or more nighttime feedings as old as 8 months old.

It sounds like you are bottle feeding so my answer will reflect that. Do feed him every 3 hours during the day, or even more often if he seems hungry. Let him eat as much as he wants, he will not eat more than he needs. Always make more in each bottle than he usually eats. So if he usually eats 2 ounces, make the bottles at 3 ounces until he is consistently drinking 3, then go to 4 ounces.

Follow his lead and remember that he will eat more at some times than others, just like all of us.

Enjoy your new little one.

I have always fed my babies no less than every 3 hours. In fact, lots of research shows that if you keep them on a 3 hours schedule during the day until they are sleeping through the night, they will be ready to sleep through the night sooner (because they are used to getting lots of calories during the day). You will know your are feeding to little if he still seems hungry, and too much if he is turning away or spitting up.

Oh and if he has his days and nights mixed up - never waking the baby leads to the baby being up all night and asleep all day. We never woke the baby at night, but during the day we followed an eat, play, sleep routine. Baby never stayed awake for more than 1.5 hours early on. As soon as there was one yawn, or an eye rub they went to sleep and were usually up for another feeding about 3 hours later (I have 4 kids).

I breastfed on demand, so don't have times or amounts -- just fed the baby when he acted hungry, so I don't have advice for you there. I would say that if he seems hungry, he may need to eat more; however, there are two things to consider: 1) some babies just have a high need to suck, so may be fussy even if they're not hungry, wanting to suck (which is soothing to babies) more than an average baby does, but not needing nourishment; 2) bottles tend to empty faster than breasts, so babies may drain their bottles and have eaten a sufficient amount, but still need to suck.

[You don't say why your baby is bottle-fed, but if you want to breastfeed and are having trouble with it, the book "Breastfeeding with Comfort and Joy" at http://www.breastfeedingwithcomfortandjoy.com will be helpful.]

I breastfeed as well, so it is hard to tell how much they are getting, but I would feed them every 2-3 hours. In a newborn like yours, I would lean toward feeding them more often in the day, then more formula in a feeding. They say their stomach's are only as big as the size of their fist. Feeding every four hours seems too long to me. My third baby is now almost four months old, and is up to eating almost 4 oz bottles of my breastmilk at daycare, but she was only drinking about 2-3 oz. a bit over a month ago when I returned to work. Good luck, and I hope these answers help you :)

You should be offering a bottle more often. 4 hours is too long for a brand new baby. Every 2-3 hours would be a good place to start, but really go by when your baby seems hungry. They should eat when they want at this age. As your baby gets older you can lengthen the time in between feedings. Make more than what you think your baby will eat. Try 3-4 oz. Your baby will stop when full by turning his head away or not taking the nipple. When you have been feeding your baby for a couple of weeks you will get to know how much he typically eats and it will be easier for you to gage how much to make. It might help you to keep a log of how often and how much he is eating.

The nurses always told me I could give 2-4 ounces every 2-3 hours. That's the schedule the hospital put my twins on - if they weren't hungry, they wouldn't really eat much. After I brought them home, and with my youngest also, I put them on an "on-demand" schedule, feeding them any time they were hungry. This worked great for me, and after a few days of keeping a feeding chart, I was able to see a pattern in their feedings. They would eat about 3 ounces every 2 1/2 hrs or so. As they got bigger, the feedings got bigger, and the time stretched out between feedings.

Base on my three kids, I would say, typically 1 ounce of breast milk last them for an hour, so if you feed once 4 hours then 4 ounces. However my kids as newborns were not able to eat so much at a time, their stomachs are so tiny at that time. Mine were able to eat as little as 2 ounces every 2 hours or 3 ounces every 3 hours the first month when they were born.
Formula lasts longer since it takes longer to digest it, so they might not feel so hungry, so it might last for an hour longer than breast milk.

You more and see how much he can drink, then you can calculate approximately when to give the next portion.
Or
Feed as much as he wants and then feed next time he asks for it by starting to fuss.

In terms of measuring out the formula, it's easier to make up a 4 oz bottle than a 3 oz. Just don't force him to drink all 4. Let him stop when he's done. Or, keep doing the 2 oz, just a little more frequently. If he's still sucking trying to get more when the bottle is empty, he's DEFINITELY still hungry and you could mix up another 2 oz. Good luck!