Feedings

Sometimes it takes a while for babies to get use to cereal. Don't give up on it. I know doctors say its bad but when my daughter was 3 weeks old I started her on cereal. Formula just didn't keep her full enough. I fed it to her right out of a spoon and about a week later she was doing really good on cereal and sleeping all night long. I think some babie just have bigger appitites them others. I say feed him when he's hungary. Maybe he gets fussy because he's hungary. Well I wish you luck being a new mom is one of the hardest things I ever did. Its wonderful at the same time though.

My baby is also 4 months old and is eating 6 oz of formula every 4 hours. Is your baby showing hunger cues when he's fussy (sucking on his hands, tongue thrusts, etc)? He also just want to suck on something...do you give him a pacifier? I know you're breastfeeding, but he should be pretty established in that now so if you're okay with using a pacifier, then go ahead and try it. My son also cries/gets fussy when he has a wet or dirty diaper so one thing I do is wait about 15 minutes after he eats so he's had a chance to wet his diaper and then change him. Evenings are also typically the fussy time of the day for most babies-there are a lot of other parents going thru the same thing at the same time of day! If nothing else works, he may just be tired or over-stimulated. If you're still concerned about whether or not he's eating enough, talk to your doctor and find out what they think.

Congrats on your first child!

Hi L.,

Try increasing the amount you offer your baby in his bottles. Start out with 6 oz. then 7, 8 and watch to see how much he takes on average. What you might find is that he eats more at a feeding but eats less often. Most babies I've cared for eat more than 4oz. at a feeding at four months old. I would guess aroun 6-7oz. Good luck and let us know how things are going.

C.

Is your son gaining weight? As long as he is gaining weight, he is getting enough to eat. That being said, I was always told to let my babies eat until they indicated they were full (by not eating any more). Be sure to stop and burp him periodically during the feeding, so he will not spit/throw up his milk. Generally speaking, babies will not over eat and will stop when they are full. By the time both of my children were four months, they would take a bottle every 3-4 hours and would sleep around 6 hours through the night (but each child is different). If you have any concerns, please discuss them with you pediatrician.

I didn't look at the other responses. But if he is eating this much I would say cereal in the formula would be helpful. Not sure what you mean when you said it didn't work out so well, it shouldn't be any different than giving him a bottle, Don't try to spoon feed him, mix the cereal in the formula and feed it from a bottle, you will need a larger caliber nipple so the cereal can flow through, it doesn't give him lots of cereal, but will help fill him up. Good luck

I'm a first time mom of a 5 month old. I do remember the same thing happening with her about a month ago. She had one night where she ate 10oz in one sitting. Around that time I bumped up her breastmilk at daycare from 4oz to 5oz and then gradually over the month I bumped it up to 6oz. I know the doctor told me around 4 months they should be eating 6-8oz at a time, but I let her dictate how much she wants. If your little boy is fussy a lot, maybe you should try to feed him a little more and see if that calms him down. If it doesn't help then you know that probably isn't the problem. I'm finding that there aren't a lot of answers out there to many parenting questions and it turns out to be a lot of trial and error.

I agree with the "feed them if they're hungry" theory. The only one who knows (EXACTLY) how many calories your child needs is your child. Trusting your child's body and teaching him to do the same will go a long way towards teaching him to lead a healthy life.

You might want to check with a doctor to see if he has acid reflux. That's something that is pretty common with infants. My child had it when he was a baby and he rarely ever spit up. Its possible that his reflux is getting soothed when he feeds and therefore wants to eat more often because it feels good. That might be why he gets fussy even though he's eaten and you know he's not hungry. My baby took Pepcid which was prescribed by the doctor and it seemed to help a lot. Just an idea.

Good luck!

W.

Feed on demand. Feed until he gets uninterested. My son did very well with on daemand feeding. He is not overweight and is growing on the average curve. When babies are that young they do not know how to over-eat. You should be fine feeding him when he asks for it! My son was breast fed for 10 months and then had my frozen pumped milk for three more months. As long as you son is gaining weight and you are going to regular check ups the pediatrician should let you know if there is a problem with the rate of weight gained. I think it just takes more to feed some kids...high metabolism or something;)

Hi L.,
My advice (for what you pay for it) is to feed your baby more. They will let you know when they are full. He could just be going through a growth spurt and need the extra food. Is he less cranky when he eats more? I used to make 6-8 oz. bottles (I didn't nurse long) and if my girls didn't finish the bottle I would just put it in the refrigerator and warm it up later when they needed one. My girls were not very fussy babies. Just go with what you feel is right and ask your ped. I hope this helps a little.
C.

Hi L.,

I had the same problem with my baby. She was born big and was fussy quite often. I found what worked for me is if she completely empties her bottle and was immediately fussy then she wanted more. I would added 2 more ounces on her next bottle and she usually drank the little extra she needed until she was statisfied. By time she was 4 months old she was drinking 6 to 7 ounces at a time. Good luck!!

N.

I personally feel you need to feed your baby more. I am the type of mother that when my kids were babies they were not on a schedule. I was a stay at home mom. The cereal I started at 1 month old also. I would spoon feed her that. If she is eating that much with others you should take the hint that she is hungary and if she is happy when she is with them and fussy with you. Ya she needs to eat! I would recomend moving her up to at least 6-10 oz. How often does she eat? If she eats at least every 2 hours with you and less with others ya that is a sign also.
The best of luck to you.

Babies don't overeat. They only eat until they are full. If he is fussy chances are you are not feeding him enough. Make a larger bottle and see if he eats it all. He may eat more at some feedings and less at others, but it sounds like he is not getting enough to eat. If you are still concerned after trying this always call your pediatrician for more guidance. I may have drove my pediatrician crazy but I relied heavily on her advice. I hope this helps. I have two of my own. They are now 4 and 2. Goodluck!

Believe it or not, babies most often know when to stop eating. Bottles are a hard determinate because they are not you. Your body and the baby will talk to eachother feeding wise. When he needs more , your body should produce more, when he needs less it will produce less. The best bet is to check with your ped.

I have two kids and I did the 'feed them if they are hungry' method. So they were eating 6-8 oz per feeding by about 4 months but every child is different. Trust your instincts. If she is fussy she is letting you know that she needs something. Some times its hard to figure out what that is and if nothing else is wrong see if she wants a bottle. Infants don't eat like adults do, they'll eat when they are hungry and if they aren't hungry they won't eat :)

in my humble opinion, that is waaaay to much to be fed at once. a super great website for any information you could ever possibly need to know about breastfeeding is kellymom.com (also shows where she's gotten all of her information). breastfed babies dont need near as much out of a bottle or at a feeding as formula fed babies do (formula isnt as easily digestable therefore more needs to be fed to get the proper nutrition) and most people are used to feeding formula to babies therefore have the tendency to feed to much breastmilk out of a bottle ... most of the time 3oz is sufficient. your baby's little tummy may just be getting a little stretched and used to being overfed so when he doesnt get quite that much from you directly its a little disappointing .. also make sure you're using the slowest flow nipple on your bottles and dont change that as long as you're also breastfeeding, or baby might get accustomed to getting milk way easier from the bottle and therefore begin a bottle preference (preferring over breast that is). hope this helps, and please checkout that website...its awesome!!
jen

by the way, i have an almost 11month old that i breastfeed, have gone to many many breastfeeding support groups at the milkworks here and have friends that are active with LLL also .. i dont know if these other moms are talking about formula feeding or feeding breastmilk from a bottle as they are very much different in the amount of calories and nutrients they contain per oz of fluid. i agree that babies inherently know how much they need, so never ever deny feeding when they want more (especially directly from you) but also keep in mind that it takes their bodies/brains 20min to realize when they're full just like adults :)

I have an 8 month old daughter and we went through some similar things. He might be going through a growth spurt. I think at 4 months I began to slowly increase my daughters bottles to 6oz. We also began feeding her cereal at 3 months. I would attempt to spoon feed her cereal a few times a week, she picked it up quickly. We are first time parents also. I was paranoid about overfeeding but the amount she wanted varied. So I say try to increase the amount being fed, he will let you know when he is full.

It has been my experience that they know what they need to eat. I did the opposite, and over fed mine, which take only one time, and got the whole bottle thrown back up on me. Its not a fun experience. But this should help you know if you are over feeding him, if he spits up way too much milk, its too much milk. lol Good Luck!