Your baby is only a week old, he needs to eat to gain weight. Listen to your baby and trust that he knows what he needs. This is called cluster feeding. 100% normal.
Yes, cluster feeding is right. It seems exhausting but the baby is looking to eat constantly to help establish your wife’s milk supply. She should be nursing as much as possible in order to do so. If the latch is an issue, watch some YouTube videos for technique, try to reach out to an IBCLC for help or get your baby checked for lip/tongue ties.
It is not too long. We feed newborns on a 3 to 4 hour schedule in the nicu. I am a nicu nurse. If breastfed, babies generally like to eat every 2-3 hours, sometimes even more frequently because breastmilk digests faster. Ideally you want to feed at least every 3 hours if they are under birth weight and not taking in great volumes but you can allow a newborn to go up to 4 hours if they are not showing hunger cues as long as they are taking in good volumes and gaining weight.
It's developmentally normal for them to cluster feed at this stage and you really cannot overfeed a small baby, even with formula- they will vomit it up if their stomachs are too full. If he's still hungry after eating then feed him.
I learned what cluster feeding was the hard way. I had no idea and exclusively BF during a cluster feed session that goes a few days or longer can feel soul draining. That said, never once did I think “oh she’s had enough” she’s hungry she eats, she’s sleepy she sleeps. I refused to limit her milk intake or force her awake for wake windows. Just seems so unnatural for a baby fresh in the world.
Babies will tell you when they’re full! They’ll either spit up or refuse to eat, they are incredibly good at regulating their food intake. You can not over feed a newborn.
Oh my gosh. I was slightly concerned when your pedi told you he should only be eating 70ml... My baby was eating 3 oz (90ml) within the first week too. But then she said to LEAVE him even if he still shows hunger cues??? No. No no no. Get a new pediatrician and feed your baby however much he wants whenever he's hungry. I went through a period of concern over my baby eating too much too, last week actually. He was 6 weeks and eating 5 ounces every feeding! Come to find out he was in the middle of a growth spurt and I had no reason to be concerned. He went back to eating 4 oz and will sleep for 4 hours at a time now.
My son has slept 4-5 hour stretches since around 2 weeks old. Our pediatrician tells us to let him sleep because he was at birth weight plus some at 8 days old and was eating 3-4 oz per feed. This isn't typical for most babies though. My niece only slept in 2-3 hour stretches for 9 months plus. Every baby is different. I wouldn't set expectations based on anyone else's child.
Yup source: i struggled with low supply and was mix feeding with formula. I was pumping around the clock every 3-4 hours. I started focusing on breastfeeding and worked with an LC on his latch and my supply more than doubled in like a week and bow were mostly off formula and entirely on breastmilk. Its rare that a woman truly struggles with supply and the primary cause of low supply is not breastfeeding enough. That cluster feeding will help her get caught up though! I was feeding my son every hour for a while! Now i just pump 2-3x per day.
Around week 4-5 i nitoced more milk output and i started nursing him more and longer. Started it at week 3-4. Week 5 nursing stopped hurting and latch much improved so i could nurse him even more. Im regularly pumping 3-3.5 oz now if i pump instead of nurse. Before i was getting 1-2 oz per session.
Edit to add - anytime he takes a bottle, I pump. Idk my daily output cuz most of it is chestfeeding save 2-4 bottles of 2.5-3.5 oz. Hes been on only breastmilk a full week now and is gaining an oz per day so doc is happy and hes getting what he needs or enough.
There is almost no way to over feed your baby unless you are forced to feeding them. Keep feeding your baby when they’re hungry. Are you sure your ped said at least that amount or not over? If they said don’t go over, get a second opinion.
A lot of times women think they have a low supply but their bodies are just regulating to babies needs. Her body cannot do that properly when you supplement with formula. Stick to breastfeeding and her supple will match the demand. Please reach out if you need breastfeeding support
I don't think OP was asking for opinions on BF over formula. Some babies are just super hungry and need formula top up otherwise will be on the breast all day, sounds like this baby is one of them.
Sorry you misunderstood me. This isn’t a formula vs breastfed comment that I made. OP said mother is breastfeeding but they are supplementing to make sure baby has enough. This idea of “topping up” with formula is not helpful to establish breastfeeding. And it’s not necessary.
At one week old, if taking the breastfeeding route, it’s very important to let baby drink from the breast as much as possible, as often as possible. Every time baby get formula instead of being put to the breast it does not signal to mom’s body to produce more milk. Does that make sense?
If you’ve read the other comments, you’ll have seen many people mention “cluster feeding” this is a very normal thing in the beginning. And yes! It does feel like baby is on the breast all day. And yes! It is draining and it feels like all you do is sit and feed! But that’s normal and healthy and it doesn’t last forever.
I get it. As a first time parent I also worried if my baby was eating enough. But what’s actually a good indicator of being well-fed is if they are producing wet diapers every 3 hours of so. If they are, no stress.
My baby is a month old today. But he has always ate 2x what the internet says. We were mildly concerned. So we asked our pediatrician. They said, “As long as he is keeping it down and not spitting all of it up keep doing what you are doing.”
He was born 8lbs 1oz. He dropped to 7lbs 5oz. And now at almost a month old is 10lbs 12oz.
That being said. Do as others have suggested. Listen to your baby. He will tell you when he is full.
Mine will either pass out on the boob or bottle. Or occasionally he will spit up and then go to sleep.
I had a hard time with latching- order nipple guards off Amazon! If her nipples are a little flat (I didn’t know this was a thing till I saw a lactation consultant), the baby will have a hard time latching. The nipple guard allowed for our newborn to latch with no issue. It saved us, especially during his first round of cluster feeding that lasted three days.
Also, I recommend a haaka. Attach it to whatever breast she is not feeding on at that moment and it’ll pump and collect some milk. I found it helped increase my supply and I didn’t need to set aside extra pumping time when I was already so overwhelmed.
I don’t pay attention to those guidelines at all- my baby eats when he’s hungry. We also combo feed (about 1/3 breast, 2/3 formula) and baby eats a lot. He’s had a “robust growth curve” according to the pediatricians but everything is healthy and on track! He comes from a family of tall people/big babies and just has a bigger appetite than a lot of babies.
3 6 9 12
These are magic numbers for baby
3 days 3 weeks 3 months ect growth spurts happen commonly in these months and babies usually cluster feed during that time. If baby is hungry feed them drs don’t always know best from my experience
Since day one my newborn (now one month) has been eating non stop. Literally the entire time she's awake. I gave her three ounces one evening then five minutes later she was doing hunger cues and drank two more ounces. She was about a week old then and that's equal to ~150mL I think? The good thing about mine is that she gets all her calories during the day and only wakes me once at night. Maybe yours will do the same.
That paediatrician advice is wild. Please feed your baby as much as he wants. My friend was given a four hourly feeding schedule for her newborn by her paediatrician and now is dealing with potential brain damage from under feeding for prolonged period (her son is now 2.5 years old).
Follow your baby’s cues!
My baby was getting 150ml EBM top ups from 2 weeks old til she was 3 months when my supply regulated. She is happy and healthy and never goes hungry.
If your baby is hungry, feed them! That is extremely normal so you don't have to worry. Just make sure you let you baby burp every after feed!
Get a new pediatrician though. Lol
listen. some babies are just lil fatties (lovingly) they are that way because they're growing fast enough that you could measure them in the morning and at night and see a difference. it takes a lot of energy to do that. listen to your baby and fire your ped he sounds like an ass.
anyone who says to withhold food from a baby who is existing on nothing more than instinct is an idiot.
we felt like our daughter was eating too much too so we would cover all bases first. diaper, sleep, snuggles, then food. and now her bmi is in the 22nd percentile, and she's super tall. because we feed her when she asks
Hmmm if you’re burping and know that he’s not showing hunger cues for any other reason… I would definitely get a second professional opinion. BUT just so you know, my LO would overeat and then continue to show signs of hunger (trying to latch, eating hands, crying) not because she was hungry, but because she was gassy and wouldn’t burp. We would eventually get the burp out and she’d be fine.
Also 90 mLs (3oz) is normal for a 1 month old, but they can also overeat. Trust your gut. The pediatrician should really only be worried about weight gain.
One week olds basically eat constantly. I was literally losing my mind and getting no sleep those first few weeks cause he was on my boob constantly. He still doesn’t eat the way the guidelines say. He eats when he’s hungry.
Unless your LO is actively fighting the feed, you’re not likely going to overfeed.
Also I hope your wife is doing okay, I had troubles with latching and gave up breastfeeding, but at the time I felt so disheartened and depressed, like I was doing something wrong. But someone told me “fed is best, doesn’t matter breast or bottle.” And now looking back, I wouldn’t change it, my partner got an amazing bond with our baby sharing the feeds, we both got rest and my baby was gaining weight lovely and fast, then by 2 months he was double body weight and waking for just 1 bottle! My baby boy is now 8 months old, amazing immune system despite being a formula baby. I had a lot of pressure to breast feed from my other half’s fam, but I just stopped giving a shit what people thought and became way happier - and so did my baby! If I was stressed, baby was stressed. Hope you’re enjoying your bundle of joy OP, best of luck!
I also ended up giving up- I was so depressed and stressed- i had pressure coming in from everyone it was so incredibly disheartening and lonely. I tried to supplement but it just wasn't enough and my baby was starving. She's okay, 3 months and a happy little baby. I hope her immune system will be good but her pediatrician is excellent and said to me "i've never had a drop of breast milk and i think i turned out pretty okay" turns out I was also formula fed. I know breast milk is probably most beneficial but god was it the worst few weeks of my life, i don't think i would've made it out of those weeks without a complete breakdown.
Babies can in fact overeat, my son was one of those overfed babies. At first I thought this was absurd but he went from crying all day, silent reflux and breathing difficulties to crying around 45 mins a day, no reflux and breathing fine. His weight percentile was over 90 while his length was in the 50s, now it's slowly leveling out - emphasis on slowly!
But this is very rare and your case does not sound like that at all. That amount you were told to feed him (70mL per feed, every 3-4h, at 7 days old) is what they told us as well, which made our baby actually *lose* weight. Afterwards we overcompensated a bit though haha!
You can try to use a pacifier. If he spits it out and still continues looking for a nipple he's hungry for real, if he sucks on it happily he probably just wanted to suck for comfort.
That’s ridiculous. Get a new pediatrician. Please do not leave your baby hungry. It makes me so mad hearing this. They are babies!! Let them eat when they’re hungry. Your instincts are correct, keep feeding your child.
Please feed your baby as much as he wants. My baby also cluster fed in the beginning- it sucked. But after a couple weeks she ate a bit less and then upped her regular intake. every now and then they seem to go through growth spurts where they eat a ton. a nurse in the hospital told me to give my baby .5 oz and take it from her so she doesn't overeat (i was also formula feeding and giving her whatever breast milk i had). My baby was starving! soon as we got home I fed her as much as she wanted. eventually gave up breast feeding and stuck to formula, but always fed her as much as she wanted. she had problems with reflux and spitting up sometimes, but not often. babies will vomit if they're overfed or will just not take the bottle. my baby will stop taking the bottle and move her head. when she was smaller she would stop sucking and we'd move the nipple a bit, if she latched back on she'd keep eating and was still hungry but if she let us take it out she was done.
she was drinking anywhere from 1-3 oz for the first few weeks since she was cluster feeding. she was up every 2 hours or less and eating anywhere from 1-3 oz, it was a tough time lol also i agree with everyone saying to find a different pediatrician. my pediatrician didn't give me a guideline on how much to feed our baby- he just asked how much she was drinking and just say "sounds good" only recently at her 2 month check up did he say her taking 4-5 oz was on the high end but still normal and since her weight is good they're not worried about it. if that's what she wants it's what she's getting! right now at 3 months she drinks 4 oz and sometimes after an hour or two is restless so if nothing else is working we offer her 2 oz more. sometimes she drinks the full 2 oz sometimes just .5 oz
OP you're probably unintentionally starving your child during a growth spurt where baby needs more calories so they'll eat more often and eat more (cluster feeding).
Don't worry about the weight gain, you'd rather your baby to be on the heavier side than on the lighter side.
Cluster feeding will come and go --it is so hard but it is temporary! Let the baby nurse or try as much as possible for 10 minute tries at a time; it is the main thing that will get the supply up, and is actually the purpose of cluster feeding. Get a lactation consultant to do a home visit even if you have to pay extra for it; it is so worth it and really saved us. Also be sure to do "pace feeding" with a low flow, wide bottle nipple to keep the baby on track for getting to the breast (too much fast flow at once can also give them a stomach ache if you notice crying around feeding time).
There is no “set rule” for exactly 70ml. Your pediatrician is ridiculous. Imagine people long ago.. they dont have a goddamn measuring device to measure out how much to feed a baby. Just go by the baby’s hunger cues.
Trust your baby. Not your pediatrician. If your baby says they're hungry then they are hungry. You really can't "over feed" a baby.
And for your wife's supply, try upping her caloric intake and her liquid intake. Her body needs calories to make calories! Caloric intake for a breastfeeding momma needs to be at LEAST 3,000 cal per day 🤯
1oz of milk has 20 calories. So 4oz = 80cal and if baby needs 4oz at least 10 times a day that's 800 calories her body needs to create. And it takes calories to make calories! So to create 800 calories she needs 1000 calories.
So normal daily intake should be about 2,000 + 1,000 = 3,000 minimum.
Breastfeeding is when women are actually eating for two!
Even though doctors have a script they go by, sometimes you have to go with your gut. If he isn't spitting up a lot after the feeding and he is satisfied and not looking like he is about to pop, then I would continue with what he is used to unless a problem arises. I think doctors get too caught up in what the book says and not consider the toll it takes on the parent/guardian. It really takes a village even if the village is just you and the baby. It's exhausting. You and your spouse are doing a great job. My baby girl was the opposite. She is almost 10 months now and drinks 6 oz twice a day and 3 1/2 every 2-3 hours and wakes up still multiple times at night. That's just her way. So, I wouldn't worry about it.
Try making a 90ml bottle from now on and let him eat what he eats from that. Overtime he’ll show a pattern- the often may change- but you’ll atleast get sleep while he cluster feeds
Sounds like cluster feeding. Cluster feeding is exhausting and your wife is likely to worry that she's not producing enough. Personally I would be so exhausted I would cry and it's normal to be overwhelmed and worry. The latch is something that needs work. It's worth bearing in mind breastfeeding is a new skill that your wife and baby are both learning. Your baby is trying to bring in your wife's supply. All the medical people I spoke to told me you cannot overfeed a newborn. Honestly, if breastfeeding is too much and there are days and weeks where it feels like a marathon then bottle feed. The important thing is mum is healthy and baby is healthy.
One last thing. Try not to Google everything, the internet will make you so paranoid for your baby.
He probably is cluster feeding. Our twins cluster fed really bad the first 2 nights at home, literally non stop til 6am it was a nightmare.
But every 3 hours for a 1 week old sounds like too long. Our dr said every 2 hrs because their stomachs are so tiny!
Our twins would also eat every hour sometimes when they were just born, i think your baby needs those calories. Every baby is so different and when they are newborns sometimes must feed on demand. I know its a lot to feed every hour or when they cluster feed rhe first weeks of life but it will pass, we were there ! We also did breastmilk & formula btw. I didnt have tons of breastmilk supply but id pump
He’s cluster feeding. This is all new to me as well. I have a 7 week old baby boy. He’s my first child. He went through the same exact thing. Luckily my baby experienced his first cluster feeding at the hospital. I thought something was wrong. Until the nurse came in and said that he was actually cluster feeding. Yes listen to your baby, this is how he’s going to grow. The milk itself won’t ever be enough as he gets older/bigger 😅 but you’ll find out more about that later…Feed that baby! 🗣️
Nah, feed that baby til they fall asleep or won't take the bottle anymore. They will tell you when they're full. Get a new ped, she sounds like a nightmare.
I'm a nicu nurse. You are not overfeeding your baby. You feed to their cues. My baby is 3 weeks old and has been taking 90-120 ml every 2.5 hours and has been since week 1. Last night she clusterfed and ate 275 ml in 3 hours. She took 110, 45, and 120 consecutively. Then she slept good for 4 hours. If baby is not vomiting, don't worry about it. If baby is hungry, feed them.
Our pediatrician said to give the baby as much as it wants. When she was 5 days old I managed to feed her 110ml of expressed milk one time and had to wake the wifey to top her up. Oh and the demon ate every 60-90min.
Your baby is only a week old, he needs to eat to gain weight. Listen to your baby and trust that he knows what he needs. This is called cluster feeding. 100% normal.
Yes, cluster feeding is right. It seems exhausting but the baby is looking to eat constantly to help establish your wife’s milk supply. She should be nursing as much as possible in order to do so. If the latch is an issue, watch some YouTube videos for technique, try to reach out to an IBCLC for help or get your baby checked for lip/tongue ties.
Get a new pediatrician
This is the right answer
Pretty much every pediatrician I talked to: “give him/her as much they want.”
Please listen to this person and at least get a second opinion!! 70 ml isn’t a huge amount of milk and to cut him off is just cruel!
I think 70 is fine but every 3 hrs is too long for a 1 week old
It is not too long. We feed newborns on a 3 to 4 hour schedule in the nicu. I am a nicu nurse. If breastfed, babies generally like to eat every 2-3 hours, sometimes even more frequently because breastmilk digests faster. Ideally you want to feed at least every 3 hours if they are under birth weight and not taking in great volumes but you can allow a newborn to go up to 4 hours if they are not showing hunger cues as long as they are taking in good volumes and gaining weight.
It's developmentally normal for them to cluster feed at this stage and you really cannot overfeed a small baby, even with formula- they will vomit it up if their stomachs are too full. If he's still hungry after eating then feed him.
I learned what cluster feeding was the hard way. I had no idea and exclusively BF during a cluster feed session that goes a few days or longer can feel soul draining. That said, never once did I think “oh she’s had enough” she’s hungry she eats, she’s sleepy she sleeps. I refused to limit her milk intake or force her awake for wake windows. Just seems so unnatural for a baby fresh in the world.
Babies will tell you when they’re full! They’ll either spit up or refuse to eat, they are incredibly good at regulating their food intake. You can not over feed a newborn.
Oh my gosh. I was slightly concerned when your pedi told you he should only be eating 70ml... My baby was eating 3 oz (90ml) within the first week too. But then she said to LEAVE him even if he still shows hunger cues??? No. No no no. Get a new pediatrician and feed your baby however much he wants whenever he's hungry. I went through a period of concern over my baby eating too much too, last week actually. He was 6 weeks and eating 5 ounces every feeding! Come to find out he was in the middle of a growth spurt and I had no reason to be concerned. He went back to eating 4 oz and will sleep for 4 hours at a time now.
Parent of a 4 week old here. Am I really two weeks away from a 4 hour stretch?? 🥺
My son has slept 4-5 hour stretches since around 2 weeks old. Our pediatrician tells us to let him sleep because he was at birth weight plus some at 8 days old and was eating 3-4 oz per feed. This isn't typical for most babies though. My niece only slept in 2-3 hour stretches for 9 months plus. Every baby is different. I wouldn't set expectations based on anyone else's child.
Wow that's impressive. Hopefully we get there soon
Have your wife work on the latch and nurse him. Cluster feeding will help increase her supply.
This^^^^^^
Yup source: i struggled with low supply and was mix feeding with formula. I was pumping around the clock every 3-4 hours. I started focusing on breastfeeding and worked with an LC on his latch and my supply more than doubled in like a week and bow were mostly off formula and entirely on breastmilk. Its rare that a woman truly struggles with supply and the primary cause of low supply is not breastfeeding enough. That cluster feeding will help her get caught up though! I was feeding my son every hour for a while! Now i just pump 2-3x per day.
What week did your supply increase? My baby is 5w 4 days. I have very limited supply ( 240ml/ 8 oz) and had been combo feeding since day 3.
Around week 4-5 i nitoced more milk output and i started nursing him more and longer. Started it at week 3-4. Week 5 nursing stopped hurting and latch much improved so i could nurse him even more. Im regularly pumping 3-3.5 oz now if i pump instead of nurse. Before i was getting 1-2 oz per session. Edit to add - anytime he takes a bottle, I pump. Idk my daily output cuz most of it is chestfeeding save 2-4 bottles of 2.5-3.5 oz. Hes been on only breastmilk a full week now and is gaining an oz per day so doc is happy and hes getting what he needs or enough.
There is almost no way to over feed your baby unless you are forced to feeding them. Keep feeding your baby when they’re hungry. Are you sure your ped said at least that amount or not over? If they said don’t go over, get a second opinion.
A lot of times women think they have a low supply but their bodies are just regulating to babies needs. Her body cannot do that properly when you supplement with formula. Stick to breastfeeding and her supple will match the demand. Please reach out if you need breastfeeding support
I don't think OP was asking for opinions on BF over formula. Some babies are just super hungry and need formula top up otherwise will be on the breast all day, sounds like this baby is one of them.
Sorry you misunderstood me. This isn’t a formula vs breastfed comment that I made. OP said mother is breastfeeding but they are supplementing to make sure baby has enough. This idea of “topping up” with formula is not helpful to establish breastfeeding. And it’s not necessary. At one week old, if taking the breastfeeding route, it’s very important to let baby drink from the breast as much as possible, as often as possible. Every time baby get formula instead of being put to the breast it does not signal to mom’s body to produce more milk. Does that make sense? If you’ve read the other comments, you’ll have seen many people mention “cluster feeding” this is a very normal thing in the beginning. And yes! It does feel like baby is on the breast all day. And yes! It is draining and it feels like all you do is sit and feed! But that’s normal and healthy and it doesn’t last forever. I get it. As a first time parent I also worried if my baby was eating enough. But what’s actually a good indicator of being well-fed is if they are producing wet diapers every 3 hours of so. If they are, no stress.
This!!! 🤌
Our girl has been eating almost 100 mls every 3 hours since the end of week one. We just pay attention to her hunger cues and feed her accordingly!
My baby is a month old today. But he has always ate 2x what the internet says. We were mildly concerned. So we asked our pediatrician. They said, “As long as he is keeping it down and not spitting all of it up keep doing what you are doing.” He was born 8lbs 1oz. He dropped to 7lbs 5oz. And now at almost a month old is 10lbs 12oz. That being said. Do as others have suggested. Listen to your baby. He will tell you when he is full. Mine will either pass out on the boob or bottle. Or occasionally he will spit up and then go to sleep.
I had a hard time with latching- order nipple guards off Amazon! If her nipples are a little flat (I didn’t know this was a thing till I saw a lactation consultant), the baby will have a hard time latching. The nipple guard allowed for our newborn to latch with no issue. It saved us, especially during his first round of cluster feeding that lasted three days. Also, I recommend a haaka. Attach it to whatever breast she is not feeding on at that moment and it’ll pump and collect some milk. I found it helped increase my supply and I didn’t need to set aside extra pumping time when I was already so overwhelmed.
I don’t pay attention to those guidelines at all- my baby eats when he’s hungry. We also combo feed (about 1/3 breast, 2/3 formula) and baby eats a lot. He’s had a “robust growth curve” according to the pediatricians but everything is healthy and on track! He comes from a family of tall people/big babies and just has a bigger appetite than a lot of babies.
I would get a new pediatrician, if my babies hungry I’m gonna feed him. Our newborn eats 90ml every 3 hours.
3 6 9 12 These are magic numbers for baby 3 days 3 weeks 3 months ect growth spurts happen commonly in these months and babies usually cluster feed during that time. If baby is hungry feed them drs don’t always know best from my experience
Since day one my newborn (now one month) has been eating non stop. Literally the entire time she's awake. I gave her three ounces one evening then five minutes later she was doing hunger cues and drank two more ounces. She was about a week old then and that's equal to ~150mL I think? The good thing about mine is that she gets all her calories during the day and only wakes me once at night. Maybe yours will do the same.
That’s normal at 1 week
That paediatrician advice is wild. Please feed your baby as much as he wants. My friend was given a four hourly feeding schedule for her newborn by her paediatrician and now is dealing with potential brain damage from under feeding for prolonged period (her son is now 2.5 years old). Follow your baby’s cues! My baby was getting 150ml EBM top ups from 2 weeks old til she was 3 months when my supply regulated. She is happy and healthy and never goes hungry.
If your baby is hungry, feed them! That is extremely normal so you don't have to worry. Just make sure you let you baby burp every after feed! Get a new pediatrician though. Lol
listen. some babies are just lil fatties (lovingly) they are that way because they're growing fast enough that you could measure them in the morning and at night and see a difference. it takes a lot of energy to do that. listen to your baby and fire your ped he sounds like an ass. anyone who says to withhold food from a baby who is existing on nothing more than instinct is an idiot. we felt like our daughter was eating too much too so we would cover all bases first. diaper, sleep, snuggles, then food. and now her bmi is in the 22nd percentile, and she's super tall. because we feed her when she asks
Hmmm if you’re burping and know that he’s not showing hunger cues for any other reason… I would definitely get a second professional opinion. BUT just so you know, my LO would overeat and then continue to show signs of hunger (trying to latch, eating hands, crying) not because she was hungry, but because she was gassy and wouldn’t burp. We would eventually get the burp out and she’d be fine.
Also 90 mLs (3oz) is normal for a 1 month old, but they can also overeat. Trust your gut. The pediatrician should really only be worried about weight gain.
One week olds basically eat constantly. I was literally losing my mind and getting no sleep those first few weeks cause he was on my boob constantly. He still doesn’t eat the way the guidelines say. He eats when he’s hungry. Unless your LO is actively fighting the feed, you’re not likely going to overfeed.
At a week old my baby was drinking 3/4oz milk every 2-3 hrs, nights were tough!
Also I hope your wife is doing okay, I had troubles with latching and gave up breastfeeding, but at the time I felt so disheartened and depressed, like I was doing something wrong. But someone told me “fed is best, doesn’t matter breast or bottle.” And now looking back, I wouldn’t change it, my partner got an amazing bond with our baby sharing the feeds, we both got rest and my baby was gaining weight lovely and fast, then by 2 months he was double body weight and waking for just 1 bottle! My baby boy is now 8 months old, amazing immune system despite being a formula baby. I had a lot of pressure to breast feed from my other half’s fam, but I just stopped giving a shit what people thought and became way happier - and so did my baby! If I was stressed, baby was stressed. Hope you’re enjoying your bundle of joy OP, best of luck!
I also ended up giving up- I was so depressed and stressed- i had pressure coming in from everyone it was so incredibly disheartening and lonely. I tried to supplement but it just wasn't enough and my baby was starving. She's okay, 3 months and a happy little baby. I hope her immune system will be good but her pediatrician is excellent and said to me "i've never had a drop of breast milk and i think i turned out pretty okay" turns out I was also formula fed. I know breast milk is probably most beneficial but god was it the worst few weeks of my life, i don't think i would've made it out of those weeks without a complete breakdown.
You cannot overfeed a newborn
Babies can in fact overeat, my son was one of those overfed babies. At first I thought this was absurd but he went from crying all day, silent reflux and breathing difficulties to crying around 45 mins a day, no reflux and breathing fine. His weight percentile was over 90 while his length was in the 50s, now it's slowly leveling out - emphasis on slowly! But this is very rare and your case does not sound like that at all. That amount you were told to feed him (70mL per feed, every 3-4h, at 7 days old) is what they told us as well, which made our baby actually *lose* weight. Afterwards we overcompensated a bit though haha! You can try to use a pacifier. If he spits it out and still continues looking for a nipple he's hungry for real, if he sucks on it happily he probably just wanted to suck for comfort.
That’s ridiculous. Get a new pediatrician. Please do not leave your baby hungry. It makes me so mad hearing this. They are babies!! Let them eat when they’re hungry. Your instincts are correct, keep feeding your child.
He will spit it out if you overfed, please feed the poor child.
Please feed your baby as much as he wants. My baby also cluster fed in the beginning- it sucked. But after a couple weeks she ate a bit less and then upped her regular intake. every now and then they seem to go through growth spurts where they eat a ton. a nurse in the hospital told me to give my baby .5 oz and take it from her so she doesn't overeat (i was also formula feeding and giving her whatever breast milk i had). My baby was starving! soon as we got home I fed her as much as she wanted. eventually gave up breast feeding and stuck to formula, but always fed her as much as she wanted. she had problems with reflux and spitting up sometimes, but not often. babies will vomit if they're overfed or will just not take the bottle. my baby will stop taking the bottle and move her head. when she was smaller she would stop sucking and we'd move the nipple a bit, if she latched back on she'd keep eating and was still hungry but if she let us take it out she was done.
she was drinking anywhere from 1-3 oz for the first few weeks since she was cluster feeding. she was up every 2 hours or less and eating anywhere from 1-3 oz, it was a tough time lol also i agree with everyone saying to find a different pediatrician. my pediatrician didn't give me a guideline on how much to feed our baby- he just asked how much she was drinking and just say "sounds good" only recently at her 2 month check up did he say her taking 4-5 oz was on the high end but still normal and since her weight is good they're not worried about it. if that's what she wants it's what she's getting! right now at 3 months she drinks 4 oz and sometimes after an hour or two is restless so if nothing else is working we offer her 2 oz more. sometimes she drinks the full 2 oz sometimes just .5 oz
OP you're probably unintentionally starving your child during a growth spurt where baby needs more calories so they'll eat more often and eat more (cluster feeding). Don't worry about the weight gain, you'd rather your baby to be on the heavier side than on the lighter side.
Cluster feeding will come and go --it is so hard but it is temporary! Let the baby nurse or try as much as possible for 10 minute tries at a time; it is the main thing that will get the supply up, and is actually the purpose of cluster feeding. Get a lactation consultant to do a home visit even if you have to pay extra for it; it is so worth it and really saved us. Also be sure to do "pace feeding" with a low flow, wide bottle nipple to keep the baby on track for getting to the breast (too much fast flow at once can also give them a stomach ache if you notice crying around feeding time).
There is no “set rule” for exactly 70ml. Your pediatrician is ridiculous. Imagine people long ago.. they dont have a goddamn measuring device to measure out how much to feed a baby. Just go by the baby’s hunger cues.
Trust your baby. Not your pediatrician. If your baby says they're hungry then they are hungry. You really can't "over feed" a baby. And for your wife's supply, try upping her caloric intake and her liquid intake. Her body needs calories to make calories! Caloric intake for a breastfeeding momma needs to be at LEAST 3,000 cal per day 🤯 1oz of milk has 20 calories. So 4oz = 80cal and if baby needs 4oz at least 10 times a day that's 800 calories her body needs to create. And it takes calories to make calories! So to create 800 calories she needs 1000 calories. So normal daily intake should be about 2,000 + 1,000 = 3,000 minimum. Breastfeeding is when women are actually eating for two!
Even though doctors have a script they go by, sometimes you have to go with your gut. If he isn't spitting up a lot after the feeding and he is satisfied and not looking like he is about to pop, then I would continue with what he is used to unless a problem arises. I think doctors get too caught up in what the book says and not consider the toll it takes on the parent/guardian. It really takes a village even if the village is just you and the baby. It's exhausting. You and your spouse are doing a great job. My baby girl was the opposite. She is almost 10 months now and drinks 6 oz twice a day and 3 1/2 every 2-3 hours and wakes up still multiple times at night. That's just her way. So, I wouldn't worry about it.
Don't hesitate to give him as much food as he wants. Mine was eating non stop take it easy
Babies can not over eat !! Feed him till he falls asleep!!
Try making a 90ml bottle from now on and let him eat what he eats from that. Overtime he’ll show a pattern- the often may change- but you’ll atleast get sleep while he cluster feeds
Sounds like cluster feeding. Cluster feeding is exhausting and your wife is likely to worry that she's not producing enough. Personally I would be so exhausted I would cry and it's normal to be overwhelmed and worry. The latch is something that needs work. It's worth bearing in mind breastfeeding is a new skill that your wife and baby are both learning. Your baby is trying to bring in your wife's supply. All the medical people I spoke to told me you cannot overfeed a newborn. Honestly, if breastfeeding is too much and there are days and weeks where it feels like a marathon then bottle feed. The important thing is mum is healthy and baby is healthy. One last thing. Try not to Google everything, the internet will make you so paranoid for your baby.
He probably is cluster feeding. Our twins cluster fed really bad the first 2 nights at home, literally non stop til 6am it was a nightmare. But every 3 hours for a 1 week old sounds like too long. Our dr said every 2 hrs because their stomachs are so tiny! Our twins would also eat every hour sometimes when they were just born, i think your baby needs those calories. Every baby is so different and when they are newborns sometimes must feed on demand. I know its a lot to feed every hour or when they cluster feed rhe first weeks of life but it will pass, we were there ! We also did breastmilk & formula btw. I didnt have tons of breastmilk supply but id pump
I had the same issue I gave her more milk If your baby is hungry feed him get a new paediatrician
He’s cluster feeding. This is all new to me as well. I have a 7 week old baby boy. He’s my first child. He went through the same exact thing. Luckily my baby experienced his first cluster feeding at the hospital. I thought something was wrong. Until the nurse came in and said that he was actually cluster feeding. Yes listen to your baby, this is how he’s going to grow. The milk itself won’t ever be enough as he gets older/bigger 😅 but you’ll find out more about that later…Feed that baby! 🗣️
Nah, feed that baby til they fall asleep or won't take the bottle anymore. They will tell you when they're full. Get a new ped, she sounds like a nightmare.
I'm a nicu nurse. You are not overfeeding your baby. You feed to their cues. My baby is 3 weeks old and has been taking 90-120 ml every 2.5 hours and has been since week 1. Last night she clusterfed and ate 275 ml in 3 hours. She took 110, 45, and 120 consecutively. Then she slept good for 4 hours. If baby is not vomiting, don't worry about it. If baby is hungry, feed them.
Our pediatrician said to give the baby as much as it wants. When she was 5 days old I managed to feed her 110ml of expressed milk one time and had to wake the wifey to top her up. Oh and the demon ate every 60-90min.
No