How is everyone’s LO eating so much at 6-7 weeks?

[michelett]

@kcollins14 Oh sorry, i wasn't suggesting fortifying, just wanted to let you know that not mixing the formula and bm was an option. My LC recommended not mixing them so as not to waste that hard earned breastmilk!

But if fortifying sounds interesting, I'd ask your pediatrician about that. It's not something that is regularly done.

 

[pizzacamel]

@kcollins14 I can't speak for breastmilk because we are EFF, but where I live the guidelines for a bottle of formula at room temperature is 2 hours. I am on my 2nd child and we only offer room temperature formula, it makes it so much easier when out and about not having to worry about finding somewhere to warm a bottle, or carrying a warmer.

 

[mynameisapp]

@kcollins14 We have this same issue since formula bottles are only good for one hour after she starts drinking from it. There will likely be a learning curve so I’d say start with 2 oz and adjust from there depending on how much she takes. Are mixing and heating requirements? There are lots of options if you don’t have to mix and if she will take cold or room temperature bottles.

 

[thelifted]

@kcollins14 At 7 weeks my EBF baby was only eating 2 to 3 oz a feed. It was a battle but he was also eating every two hours, even in the night. Is she still eating every two to three hours at night? That helps get feeds in.

 

[epistleofjames]

@thelifted This is my 7 week old! He only likes to have 2-3 oz at a time before he falls asleep. And then will wake up in 1-3 hours & want his next round.

 

[kcollins14]

@thelifted we were told by ped last time to let her wake us up at night instead of waking up every 3 hours, but that was at 30+ percentile during 1 mo. appointment. we are only now just going back to squeezing in 1 more feeding at night and actually waking on schedule. Thank you for your response!

 

[thelifted]

@kcollins14 It’s great she’s sleeping for you during the night but it might just be a time to squeeze a feed in. Maybe you can do a dream feed since she’s sleeping good!

 

[snowmang]

@kcollins14 This sounds exactly like us

Our LO had a posterior tongue tie! It’s been revised.

My babe is in the 1st percentile at 4 lbs 12 oz though and was never able to take much.

She’s 8 1/2 lbs now at 13 weeks and she is generally taking 65 ml - 120 ml a feeding. On a good bottle she will drink 2 oz in 15 minutes. This is after the revision. It was well over double that before.

We spend hours a day feeding. My LO can’t latch so I pump and my husband and I bottle feed the milk. I make barely enough.

Over the past 7 days she’s averaged 7 feedings a day, averaged drinking 19.28 oz a day, averaged 2.7 oz a feed.

We just had an appointment with a speech n language therapist who specializes in feeding/oral movement and my babe does not know how to use her tongue at all.

She relies on her lips for suction (think like a straw) does not know how to flange lips. We have a bunch of exercises now to strengthen her tongue.

She also doesn’t have the natural gape/tongue out reflex though.

 

[godsgatekeeper]

@snowmang Unsolicited advice so feel free to ignore! If you are still trying to direct nurse and/or just working on her bottle latch, we had great success switching to a wide-sloped nipple. I particularly liked the evenflo balance + bottles since they really encourage a nice wide latch and flared lips (contrast to something like the comotomo where they can really only use their lips to suck)

 

[snowmang]

@godsgatekeeper Thanks! We are still on bottle, trying to introduce the breast in a positive way to get her interested.

Someone in this group a month ago or so mentioned their regret was using dr browns bottles because it had their LO sucking like the bottle like a straw. They recommended pigeon bottles.

We did try the comotomo 2x but our LO just leaked milk all over lol

The pigeon bottle has been great at flaring lips out, deepening latch as well. There’s a line that shows where her lips should be.

 

[godsgatekeeper]

@snowmang Comotomo are terrrrrible for bf so it’s good you ditched them! The pigeon ones look good though! And Dr brown are highly recommended but goddamn they have so many pieces

 

[snowmang]

@godsgatekeeper Our LOs latch looks so much better on the pigeon bottle.

They resemble the Lansinoh bottles but the nipples are slow flow in comparison I guess.

 

[kcollins14]

@snowmang Thanks for the info! If you don’t mind asking when and how was the posterior tongue tie diagnosed? Did the ped have a suspicion based on feeding patterns u describe and tests were done to confirm?

 

[snowmang]

@kcollins14 We have been working with a lactation specialist since week 4.

My LOs mouth was so small it would’ve likely been harder to diagnose, especially because the pediatric dentist said it was very far back.

Our Lactation consultant referred us to the pediatric dentist. The dentist looked at her tongue underneath and our lists of symptoms and diagnosed it.

This particular dentist apparently won’t always do the frenectomy only if it’s deemed necessary.

 

[jessicasa]

@kcollins14 I don’t think lazy is the right word. It sounds like she’s getting tired and unable to transfer adequate amounts. Have her checked by a pediatric dentist AND LC for tongue and lip ties; a frenectomy might be needed. A pediatrician is not trained to detect tongue and lip ties; you have to find a pediatric dentist that performs the frenectomy and they can confirm if the ties are there. My baby went through the same thing and post procedure she takes in 4-6 oz in 8-10 minutes

Edit: babies with tongue and lip ties swallow more air and spit up and vomit regularly. My baby used to spit up or vomit multiple times a day. Post procedure it only happens once a week or two

 

[nadine777]

@kcollins14 As long as your ped isn't concerned about gain, I would relax on this. Our first never took more than 2-2.5 Oz regularly in a bottle. We were stuck on a 3 hour clock for 10 months, but he's a healthy kid and is finally starting to put on some weight now at 2 years. They're all different

 

[emmfon]

@kcollins14 https://health.ucdavis.edu/media-resources/children/documents/general/First 12 Months_rev.pdf

 

[trivette]

@kcollins14 I had a preemie baby 5 weeks early, but she is 7 weeks now- 2 weeks adjusted age. She was 5lbs 10oz at birth and dropped all the way to 5lbs 1oz 5 days after birth. I am exclusively pumping as she never had a good latch (we’ve seen 2 LC with a third lined up this week) and was given a special formula from my pediatrician to use with my breast milk.
The first 4 weeks we would fight with her to eat. She just would take forever to eat 1-1.5oz. She now regularly takes 2-3oz a feeding about every 3 hours. I wake her during the day to eat if she’s sleeping and we let her go at night (max she sleeps is 4.5 hours RARELY).
Also using dr browns with a preemie nipple. Takes her about 30 minutes to eat. 20-25 overnight because she’s generally hungrier.

 

[iwely]

@kcollins14 We are struggling with a similar issue at 7.5 weeks. Baby chokes on the bottle, then gets frustrated and refuses it even though she’s hungry. We JUST did the tongue tie release so time will tell, but we met with two lactation consultants, a PT, and a feeding specialist first to work on different exercises.

It is SO hard to watch your baby not be able to eat and get frustrated about it. My heart breaks for her each time. We are trying to ease up on pressure and make eating a happy experience. The first sign that she is choking and/or getting frustrated we do something soothing to re-organize her.

Sorry you are going through this too.

 

[kcollins14]

@iwely I’m sorry you’re going through it too…Sending positive vibes your way! Best of luck to your little one and I’m sure we will make it through this!