I don’t know what I’m doing wrong

[godblessmosha]

My son is a different baby during the night than he is during the day. At night he sleeps anywhere between 5-7 hours then feeds and goes straight back asleep for another 4 hours. He does this every single night after his bath and it’s amazing. He’s happy, I’m happy. But then during the day he seems to never be full from drinking milk. He’s only a month old and he would drink 4-5 oz and then be looking for more an hour later. He gets so upset and it spirals into him having a break down nearly every feed during the day. He also stays awake way too long, like 2 hours between naps sometimes. Once I get his asleep he could sleep for 1-1.5 hours for a nap which is great. But it’s trying to get him asleep that’s the hard part. He’s always so upset about being hungry that he takes awhile to settle. I’ve tried different gas drops, bicycle kicks and all that thinking it might be gas. I even switched formula because I thought the gentle formula was not filling him. So far we are only on day 3 of the new formula and he seems to have calmed on the breakdowns but he’s still wanting milk every 1-2 hours even after drinking 5oz. Any tips on what I can do?

Edit: just wanted to include that his bedtime feed and middle of the night feed are both big feeds too usually 4-5oz.

 

[patrotter]

@godblessmosha If he’s still hungry, feed him. Try a 6 oz bottle.

 

[godblessmosha]

@patrotter But is he even hungry? Cause when he drinks 5oz and looks for more I give it to him obviously but then he cries like he’s in pain while still trying to drink it. I give him gas drops but he just keeps wanting to drink more even when it hurts. Could it be reflux?

 

[patrotter]

@godblessmosha Some babies with reflux will try to eat past satiety because the milk soothes their throat. Maybe try the 6 oz bottle after his longest period of sleep? See if he finishes all 6 oz, and if he does maybe he’ll go longer until the next. Also ask your doctor about reflux meds or trying AR formula.

 

[rami_1]

@godblessmosha Yes ask your doctor about added rice formula or Pepcid drops. We have Pepcid drops and it’s worked wonders

 

[godblessmosha]

@rami_1 He has his next appointment on Wednesday so I’m going to mention it then and hopefully get it sorted. Hate the idea that he’s in pain all the time!!

 

[rami_1]

@godblessmosha I think of it as the indigestion from pregnancy. It’s uncomfortable but not painful. He only has 1 way to express discomfort and that’s to cry. If it’s reflux don’t blame yourself lots of doctors tell you “oh babies cry it’s ok” “babies want to be held all the time you just have to learn how to lay them down” it took me telling the pediatrician that I have helped raise all 5 of my siblings children and none of them cried like this something is wrong.

 

[godblessmosha]

@rami_1 Yeah I feel the same because I helped raise my younger siblings and I never remember them crying like my little guy. Sometimes he just cries so much that he just falls asleep but I’m trying everything I know to soothe him. Hopefully doctor will listen to my concerns and give him some kinda drop for relief.

 

[rami_1]

@godblessmosha If they don’t or then down play it stand firm tell them it’s not like any other baby’s cry you’ve experienced you need a solution and just waiting and seeing isn’t an option.

 

[irisbritney]

@godblessmosha How old is he? How much total for the day does he drink? Does he take a pacifier?

 

[godblessmosha]

@irisbritney He is 4 weeks old, he drinks around 24-28oz a day and yes he does take a pacifier. Usually if he’s having a breakdown mid feed I’ll try the pacifier incase he wants to suck for comfort but he gets mad that there’s no milk and he cries more!! The last two days I’ve been able to get him to nap a bit more in his little swing but I hate leaving him to sleep in there!

 

[irisbritney]

@godblessmosha Oh 24-28 oz is fine! Feed on demand

 

[bwilson2]

@godblessmosha Feed him! He’s hungry!

 

[sjohnson08]

@godblessmosha You’ve got a great sleeper there, I’d be wary of trying to change too much during the day. It does seem like that bottle feeding is too close for him to digest properly before moving to the next one. I was told to keep a gap of 3-4 hrs at least in between bottle feedings.

I think your baby is trying to make up for the missed feeds (from the night before) as he’s doing long stretches of sleep. He’s filling his tank to get ready for nighttime. My suggestion would be to try and add another bottle during nighttime. This might reduce the feedings during the day.

Check the recommended feeding guide to get an idea if her having more than that. Try and use a pacifier in between feedings to stretch out the time. Sometimes babies show same signs for hunger and discomfort.

Have you tried contact naps? Sometimes I contact nap with my baby to do a reset (when his routine goes out of whack) as he sleeps longer when he’s with me. I only do it for a day or so to get him into a rhythm of 3 hourly feedings.

 

[albertdavid]

@godblessmosha Did your pediatrician say to change formula? That may be causing an issue since it takes 2-3 weeks to adjust to a formula and he’s so little. Definitely feed on demand because they may be going through a growth spurt. My baby sometimes drank 6-8oz before bed around a month old then smaller bottles overnight and then he stopped once he had the growth spurt. But either way if he’s hungry: feed him. It’s almost impossible to over feed a baby since they would just spit up the excess. Also at a month old it’s ok for them to have longer waking windows.

It sounds like you found a sample routine and are following it too closely. Every baby is different.