I recently returned to work and I have a few questions about how much my 13 week old son should be eating. He is strictly breastfed, so I pump at work and the babysitter (who happens to be my sister!) gives him bottles. She is sometimes able to give him up to 7-8 ounces, whereas when myself or my husband gives him bottles, we can only give him as much as 5 ounces. (We have been very lucky that our son will take bottles from anyone, including me). My question is this: How can I tell if she is overfeeding him or if I am underfeeding him? When I come home from work and nurse him, it's almost as if I cannot give him enough to eat and I don't know if this is because he's used to taking more from a bottle or what. At night, he is now getting up more frequently to nurse and it seems as though I am not satisfying him. He used to sleep from 9pm to 4 or 5am, would nurse once, then sleep until at least 7...Thanks!
He could be going through a growth spurt. Also My son wouldn't eat nearly as much from a bottle as from me just because he knew he could get better and more comfort nursing. You might try pumping right after nursing him to keep the milk supply going.
Relax, and let your son be your guide! If he is gaining weight and going through lots of diapers each day (wet and dirty), then he is certainly getting enough. Don't fret too much about the number of ounces - just nurse him as much as you can, for as long as you can. Your supply should adjust to his needs and your new schedule soon. Be sure to talk to your doctor or a lactation specialist if you have any major concerns. Keep up the good work, and best wishes with your little one!
Hi A. - WOW, what a BIG bundle of joy!! He may not be hungry at all, he may just want to be with you, his mama. You are working during the day, so he probably misses you and just wants to be close to you. 13 weeks is WAY TOO LITTLE to be giving him any kind of rice cereal, and you don't want him to choke. If he is gaining weight, then he is fine. I liked the idea of pumping after you nurse, the stimulation will make you produce more. Good luck, L.
I would talk to your babies doctor first, but here's my story.. When my son was that age, 16 years ago, I had the same problem. He was up all through the night and during the day he would not stop crying for long. My Mother came over after she had a hysterical daughter, me, on the phone for an hour. She brought some rice cereal with her. She took a bottle of my breast milk, added some rice cereal,and enlarged the nipple on the bottle just a little. She then took my very upset son from me and proceeded to give him the bottle. Now I know that pediatricians say not to give babies anything like this for fear of allergies, but I figured my Mother had raised 5 of us and we were all okay so I let her go with it. When she was done my son slept for 7 hours straight. My Mothers words were " honey I know the doctor has a degree but I have a Mothering certificate the poor baby was starving." After that I did what my mother said to do and I'm happy to say it worked beautifully. My son is 17 and is not allergic to a single food. I hope this helps a little.
My second is a big boy and when he was about 6 or 7 weeks old I started giving him some rice cereal in his bottle . . . DOCTOR's advice! I was having to feed him A LOT of bottles but he just wasn't getting enough food. The rice cereal really helped.
I just made a normal bottle for him and added some rice cereal. If you buy the FAST flow nipples for bottles, you won't have to try to make the nipple bigger yourself to allow the thicker liquid to flow. Making the nipple bigger isn't as easy as it seems. We found the fast flow nipples work the best after MUCH trial and error.
Adding the rice cereal helped him sleep longer also. He wasn't waking up because his tummy was staying fuller longer.
You can always call your son's doctor's office too if it worries you!
Hope this helps! Good luck! :)
I agree with the poster before, let you son be your guide. As long as he gains weight and has enough diapers there is no need to worry about how many ounces he drinks.
Two main things come to mind about his increased appetite in the evening or at night, first, it could be a growth spurt and will resolve itself soon. Second, he may be reverse cycling (nurse more frequently at night than during the day). Some babies will do this (some moms encourage it) so they get most of their nutrition at night when mom is home and they can nurse - the increased frequency of feedings will also increase your supply.
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/reverse-cycling.html
The general guideline is 2 to 2.5 ounces per pound. Consider yourself lucky. My 17 wk old will rarely take more than 4 oz.
