7 Month Old Eats Every 2 Hours Still- and Only 2-3 Oz. Bottles

My son (who is now 17 months) was the same way. I've heard that boys are more likely to have an eating pattern like this. It makes for some very long nights, but it does get better. Good luck!

No 2 kids are alike...relax! feed him when hes hungry. You said he is healthy and growing...everything will be fine.

Hello. I am in the same boat you were in 2 years ago! my 7 mnth old (girl) eats every 2 hours and between 2-5 oz per feeding. she is very healthy and gaining weight. i only feed her breasmilk and cereal once a day. at night she wakes every 2-3 hours to feed. my question is did it get better? did the spans between feedings get longer? did you do anything different to change her eating habits? does adding solids change anything?

It sounds to me like you have an oversupply (fore and hind milk imbalance) and overactive letdown. Do you feed on both sides every time? Does your son ever have green stools? What you describe is exactly what I've gone through with my little man at about 6 weeks. Part of it was a growth spurt, but when it continued on for more than two weeks, I knew something was wrong.

Oversupply is when you have too much fore milk (the milk that comes out first), so baby gets to much of that and gets full on it. It is watery and quenches thirst, but it doesn't keep baby full for very long, because it has very little protein and fat content. So baby then has to eat more often and it does cause excess spit up.

To fix our problem, I started feeding him on one side only for three hours. So if he woke up and nurse at 7am, then he'd nurse on the same side every time he was hungry until 10am. That really made a difference! Also, if I was too full on the side he was about to nurse, I'd express a little so that he'd get less of the fore milk and more hind milk. It took a week or so, but we did get things straightened out eventually.

You said it yourself "He is gaining weight and is a very healthy happy baby." Sounds like you have it under control. I think it is normal to think their eating habits are strange or too frequent but it is that we fit our meals around our schedules rather than when we are actually hungry. They say we in the west are heavier because of this and we have lost our instincts to eat when we are hungry and stop when we are full.

My son did the same thing. He would also frequently pull off while eating. I breast feed and it was actually making my nipples bruise - ouch! He didn't spit up too much, but would throw up if he over ate. I made an appoinment with a lactation consultant/nurse practitioner and she said she thought it might be reflux. Apparently they eat frequently because it coats their tummy and makes it feel better. She put him on zantac and told us to give him a little bit of rice cereal 2 times per day (morning and night). I was really hesistant because he didn't seem too fussy (only a very little bit when he ate) and I didn't want to medicate him if not totally necessary. She said to just give it 3 days. It worked! He only had to be on the medicine for 1 month and is now at about 5 feedings a day - big improvement from the 10+ he was doing. Good Luck!!

I have a six month old girl and she only eats about 2-3 ounces every 3 hours. The most she has ever drank at once was 6 ounces and she has only done that once or twice ever and when she did she spit a lot of it up. She isn't a breakfast eater so I feed her baby food after her bottles for lunch and dinner. Sometimes she eats the entire jar other times just a couple bites.

She is happy and healthy so I try not to let how little formula she eats stress me out too bad but sometimes it worries me. Her doctor and everyone I have talked to has said babies know when they are full and how much they need to grow. So I think as long as they are happy and always at a healthy weight then they are eating all they need.

My son ate every hour and a half to 2 hours until he was about 7 months old, then he was every 2-3 hours until he was a year. I breast fed, so I'm not sure how much he ate each time, but when I supplemented with pumped milk or formula before he went to bed, he drank about 2 oz. I also asked my dr. at every appt, and he said some babies just eat more often. My son is 21 mos. old now and he's a great eater. So I would say to just hang in there--I know the lack of sleep is hard, but it gets better eventually! (My son finally started sleeping through the night at about 13 months.)

I would start to space his feedings out more. I know what your doctor said and it's not like you are going to let him go hours without food....just stretch him out a half an hour or so, stick with that for a few days/week and then stretch a bit more. I can't see how that would harm him and hopefully in a few weeks you are getting more sleep!! I really do think sometimes the eating schedule just a habit and suddenly when he feels like there is any room in his belly at all he wants to fill it up. Maybe he is so used to being full that anything less then full he thinks it's time to eat again! Good luck!

I'm just guessing that it is the formula he is throwing up... Why give it to him? Breast milk has everything he needs and formula has corn syrup and other toxins that breast milk does not.

Anyway, don't worry about how often he eats. All babies have different eating habits, as do all people. 7 months old is still awfully young to be regulating his food intake. Slow down C. ~ he just got here! :o)

Hi C.,

I am a new mom with a 15 week baby at home, too and he does the same thing. While I don't have a whole lot of experience being a mom, my mother, however, had 14 children and breast fed all of them. Not a single one was the same. Two of them breast fed every 2 hours until they were 9 months, while others were happy eating every 3 hours. Some were very fussy eaters causing her to really watch her diet, while others weren't bothered by anything.

Just remember that if you've checked with your pediatrician, trust your instincts. If you aren't sensing anything is wrong, then your baby may just find that it's more efficient to eat every 2 hours than every 3 or 4. You're definately not alone!

my daughter is going through this right now she is in he hospital for it and doctors are very concerned. she is going on 6 months and is eating just like your son she is also not rolling over, sitting up, and when she stands up its on her ancles. she also does a very werid breathing thing once in awhile. we have no idea what is going on yet but i hope to know soon. so if i was you i would get a second opinion cause my childs doctor told me it was fine too and now im finding out its not.

The book Baby Wise is short and very helpful on understanding feeding schedules. I have three kiddos that were breast fed (and I used advice from the book)and from my experience a 7 month old should be able to go much longer and eat more per feeding than that, unless there is an underlying medical condition. I assume he is just used to "snacking" and not filling up. Try to space it out little by little 15-30 minutes and he will most likely start eating more each time. Good luck!

My son will be a year old in one week. He still eats every two hours and only about 2oz - 3oz. He is also breastfeed and receiving a bottle about 3 times a day. He also never liked baby food. About 6 months old he went to eating finger food. I guess I have never been concerned because he is a big boy. I had also told my Doctor this and they said that it is nothing to be concerned about.

My son also ate/nursed every 1 1/2-2 hours until a year old about 4 oz at a time and ate only very small amounts of food at "meals". At 18 months, he's doing great and eating "normal" amounts of food and nursing too. Every child if different when it comes to food. I trusted my son to know when he was hungry and when he was full. He is strong and healthy - seemed to work for us. I read somewhere (maybe "Baby 411" or a Mayo clinic book) that forcing food can lead kids to not trusting their own hunger cues and knowing when to stop.

Dear C.,

This seems very unusual to me...just the fact that if he eats more than 5 oz. he vomits is something that needs to be looked into. I can't imagine that you aren't completely worn out...up and down every two hours day and night. Do you have him in his own bed where he can sleep undisturbed? The eating could just be a bad habit that needs to be changed, but I'm still concerned about the vomiting....although I guess if you just fed him 2 hours before that and then he eats 5 oz, which his stomach is not use to, this could be the reason. Try waiting longer between feedings and then feeding him more, and see what happens...hopefully that will help.

C.

My 6 1/2 month old is doing the same thing... I hold her out on feedings and she still will only take 4 ounces if its been a long time...sometimes 5. She doesn't throw up when she does have five-so that is the only difference. It sure would be nice for night time to get more sleep, but again the doctor said to not feed her and try her nook- no luck. It works for one feeding by by the next she is starving....but doesn't eat more. I think she is just fine as she is a very healthy baby and happy. Just like some babies need a lot of sleep and some don't...eating habits are different too. Just keep trying different things...he'll come around eventually!

I thought 7-mo-old babies eat more like every 4 hours or so. But it sounds like there's really not much you can do. You can't overfeed him, or he'll throw up. And you have to feed him when he's hungry. So hopefully it'll just get better. But it doesn't hurt to get a second opinion either. Good luck.

For now I would just keep an eye on things he's pretty normal I think. Don't force him to eat more than he wants... that can start a bad habit of gorging. If he continues on this pattern after he's 24 months, you might look for a second opinion. If he's still eating every 2 hours by the age of 4, I would definately seek medical advice/help. While children do need to eat more frequently than adults, by the age of four, he should be eating 4 meals/day and no more (a large breakfast, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, and an early supper about 6:00).

When he has more than 5 oz and "throws up", is it actually vomiting, or just a lot of baby spit-up? If it's truly vomit, I would have a 2nd pediatrician check him out.

You must be exhausted from still getting up every 2 hours. I am of the opinion that you can gently coax your son into a more agreeable eating routine.

At around 2 months old, my son would sometimes sleep for 8 or more hours straight, and sometimes still wake up in the middle of the night. When he would awaken, I wouldn't immediately feed him. I would soothe him (kept it brief), give him his pacifier, and put him back to bed. Most of the time he did fall back asleep. If he continued to fuss, I knew he was truly hungry and needed feeding. Now he does eat more during the day, and he's sleeping for 10-11 hours straight.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

I would try to make him wait for 3 hours, then 4 hours to get him on a better schedule. He should be eating more baby food by now. Something else you can try is adding a teaspoon of infant cereal to his bottles to fill him up more (1 teaspoon per 2oz of formula). This worked for me.