Newborn Feeding Advice

He's too young for cereal. If he falls asleep after eating 3 ounces, then wake him up!

Hi D.,
I am sorry that you are going through some tough times. I went through the same thing with my daughter. I was strictly breast feeding and she was never satisified. I called lactation specialists until they knew me by name hehehe. I finally had to realize that I could not do just breast feeding. I had to suppliment with a little bit of formula. Thank God that my daughter never preferred one over the other but i have learned that some women have to do both. It is all I could do. So just know that it is not your fault and you are not a bad mom for doing this. Some of our bodies are not cut out for breast feeding. Our pediatrician says do not give cereal in milk unitl 4 mos. Their little bodies can not handle that type of substance yet. Just know that this is tough times and you will get through it with a happy baby. I hope I helped at least a little.

Good luck and hang in there!!!
J. Z

My advice is to put cereal in the bottle, i had to do that with my first child(he is now 3, today) and i'm doing the same with my baby girl and they look, feel satisfied after and also helped my son to gain weight and is helping my girl with the same issue and they are doing fine, try that since he is a boy they always eat much more than girls i know this for a fact, so again try it and see if that works.

Good luck to you, oh! also ask the doctor they usually recomend doing this, mine did with my son.

D., This is completely normal for a young infant! Their stomachs are very small and empty out quickly. As I am sure your doctors have already told you, FEED ON DEMAND! This is important advice because all babies are different. What works for one will not work for all. It has been quite a while since your first son...hang in there and call you pediatrician for advice. They are the experts for a reason. If you don't get a good feeling about them then ask around and change Dr.s! However, it sounds to me that your doc is giving you the right advice. The way your baby feeds may not be convieient for you but that is what works for him. It is common for babies not to eat much the first few days. I assure you that your baby's eating habits are completely normal. He does NOT need cereal. Be careful when listening to this advice there are many conflicting stories out there. I have done some research myself and found that feeding cereal to soon or to late can cause problems...allergies etc. Before trying anything like this it is really best to call the doc. They will have the best intentions for your children as well as the best pool of knowledge to make educated decisions! Hang in there and enjoy that hungry and healthy little boy...he is your gift.
E.

He is going through a growth spurt. They have them frequently at this age. I know it is annoying now, but it will pass...until the next growth spurt. :)

Don't start cereal until your Dr advises because starting too early can lead to food allergies which fortunately my kids don't have but my nephew does and it is a pain to deal with.

That is true, starting cereal to early can actually upset their little tummies and usually doesn't work anyway. My little one did the same thing for about 2 weeks, and then settled into a better routing, of course she still wanted to eat every 3hrs. but it was a bit more managable. I agree with the drs. feed him when he is hungry as his tummy grows he will be able to hold more formula and will then feed less. Is he gaining weight appropriately? Try other means of holding him off if you want, like a paci, but this did not work for me. Good luck...

D.,

If you are nursing your son it could be he wants to nurse for comfort but it sounds like you are doing formula from your email. Have you tried giving him a pacifier when he awakes soon after feeding? It may be that he hasn't learned how to put himself back to sleep yet and isn't really hungry but needs the sucking. I would HIGHLY recommend reading 'The Happiest Baby on the Block' by Harvey Karp. There is also a DVD that shows his techniques. We used this for my daughter and it allowed her to sleep for much longer stretches. We mostly used the swaddling and sucking on a pacifier, but would also shush and jiggle her when she became fussy. All of his techniques work and it's a quick read. If you don't have time to read it, rent or buy the DVD - it is well worth it. If he doesn't take the paci initially you might try a different kind - some babies are very picky. Our daughter would only take a Soothie brand paci. I would also recommend talking again with your pediatrician for suggestions. We tried cereal in a breast milk bottle at night which didn't work. I've read that studies show it has no effect on sleeping in infants. Hang in there!

Hi D.,

First, I must say...3 week old babies DO NOT need cereal! When you do start feeding him cereal, I would advise you NOT to put it in the bottle. When you go to feed him cereal from a spoon later, it will be much harder for him to learn to eat that way because he's already getting the cereal taste from a bottle (sucking) and it will confuse him. People say to put cereal in the bottle because it helps them sleep (full tummy). That is NOT TRUE at all!! I've worked with babies most of my working career and there is nothing that proves that cereal in the bottle helps them sleep.

Your son is eating exactly as he's supposed to!!! When my 10 month old daughter was newborn, she always ate every hour and a half to two hours. I know it seems like you're feeding him all the time, but he's a growing boy!! He needs food that often. Newborns have very tiny stomachs that can only hold a few ounces at a time. So, they eat pretty often. Don't worry, your son is right on!!!

The cereal makers put that as warning for leagl reasons. Call your pediatrician. She will be able to tell you if it is okay. I have twins that are now nearly two. They were diagnosed with reflux right after birth and I had to thinken their milk with cereal from the beginning. Your pediatrician will be your best source for clarification.

D.,

My advice on the cereal is do what you think is right. You do what you gut tells you to. My doctor said wait till 4 months till I started cereal also but he is not the one up 3 and 4 times a night either, so we started cereal at 4 weeks old. Have you ever read a baby getting sick from having cereal too early. As far as the formula goes I would try holdong off a little bit longer each time between feeding and increasing the amount of formula. I think my daughter was on 4 oz at 4 weeks. Also try burping him more often to try and keep him awake to make sure he finishes the bottle. Good luck and I hope this helps.

A.

Well i can definatly inderstand you struggle when my daughter was brought home from the hospital she was only eating about an ounce every 3 hours(she was small and they advised me not to feed her more than that) but about a week later she seemed to be hungry all the time eating every hour...what i did was give her a bottle ....If she started falling alseep id take off her clothes...she she would wake right up and eat a little more! Now she also had a "condition" where she was thowing up her food after every meal So i started giving her a little bit of cereal in her formula and that stopped and she wasnt hungry as often as she was...shes almost 2 now and doing great no health problems or anything! So i would say to use your intuition....If you feel like hes hungry all the time try putting a little bit(table spoon or two per 3 ounces) of cereal in his bottle...it should make a world of a difrence...BUT DO WHAT YOU THINK IS BEST FOR YOUR CHILD! Good luck and i hope i helped!

My son was the same way, only I breastfed. My son ate every 1 1/2 - 2 hours. It was tough! When I'd try to make him eat more, he would throw up, even when I burped him a couple of times while nursing. So I stopped trying to overfeed him! He did take a bottle while at daycare. But he would only drink about 3 ounces at a time. None of my children ever drank an 8 ounce bottle. I think the most was about 5 ounces and that was when they were a bit older. My husband even gave him rice cereal once when I was gone and he was about 2 months old, and yes he slept, but when he awoke, he had a terrible stomach ache and gas. That was the only time he had rice cereal before he was about 4 months old. My pediatrician said their tiny stomachs are not ready for that yet and when we give it to them, we just expand and upset their tummies. She also said there is a reason they don't get teeth until they are a bit older (when they are ready for more solid foods). She said people mainly give them cereal because they think it will make the baby sleep more, so parents can sleep more, but that doesn't always work. And she has two children the same ages as two of mine. Think about it. When we as adults start to eat more than usual and fill our stomachs until we are full, I know I feel miserable afterward. And then after eating more each time, your stomach will have to expand to be able to accomodate what you are eating, therefore making your stomach bigger and you eat more the next time and the next. Think about gastric bypass, the doctors give them a smaller stomach, so they don't eat as much, or can't eat as much. That's just how I look at it. If you stuff him now, wont he just be hungrier and eat more the next time? That's one of the problems we have. We have too much and we don't know when to stop. Babies and toddlers stop when they are full. Adults and older children don't always do that. We could learn something from watching them! Anyway, enough about my opinion, you have to do what you are comfortable doing. Think of feeding him as a bonding time! And congratulations on your new baby!

definatly no cereal, hes way to young, at that age they just eat all the time, something to think about, a toddlers stomach is the size of their (the toddler) fist, think about the size of a 2 yo fist, pretty small, no realize that your newborns stomach is even smaller, they can only put a small amount of food (foumula/BM) in there at a time, then they sleep and pee/poop it out and start over. its just a busy time with a newborn but as he grows his feeding will get bigger and stretch out longer. i remember how you feel though, i tried to BF my first and i felt like i spent all day with him attached to a boob, it was very tiring but you'll get through it :) good luck!