6 week old and frequent eating - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

kirsten07 · 04-22-2008, 10:55 PM

my son is going to be 6 weeks this week, there are sometimes he want to eat every hour and a half or even every hour, i always feed him i cant get his mind off of it. is it ok to be feeding him that often? he is drinking 5 ounces right now and once in awhile 6oz, but he wont wait more than 4 hours to eat again but its usually every 3hrs. my friend has a 3 week baby who she feeds rice cereal to and slept for 7 hours once......is it safe to be giving that to a baby that young, and is it also safe for a new baby to go that long with no bottle? Is my son ok eating as much as he does? i didnt think you should give rice cereal until there a few months am i wrong? Also, my son a problems taking naps during the day even when i know he is overtired, how can i get him to stay asleep?

Tiff24 · 04-23-2008, 02:31 PM

First of all, feed your son when he's hungry. This is a very common concern of first time moms that they are overfeeding. If your son is hungry, he's hungry.

Follow his cues, he won't over eat. Babies this young only eat when they are hungry. He might be going through a growth spurt also. Second, a 3 week old should not be getting cereal. That is WAY too young. The only time a baby under 3 or 4 MONTHS should get cereal is if a dr has recommened it for reflux. Cereal should not be given to a baby that young to make him sleep longer either. Babies eat so often because they need those nutrients to grow stong and healthy. In my opionion, it is VERY irresponsible to give a 3 week old baby cereal AND to let them sleep for 7 hours straight.

kittyroo · 04-23-2008, 08:08 PM

I agree completely with Tiff. 100%.

Secondly, my son ate every 1 and a half to 2 hours for ages. Just hang in there. I promise it gets easier. You can't see it right now but you will.

G8r4evr · 04-24-2008, 12:08 AM

My little one is 7 wks old today and she is eating 4 ozs every 2 hours (except at night, she will go 4 hrs without). It seriously seems like all I do is feed her...you defnitely arent alone.

tamela67 · 04-24-2008, 05:38 AM

I am kinda having the same problem. My baby is 4 weeks, and I also agree with feeding when hungry and absolutly no cereal until 3 or 4 months, but my little guy is what my dr calls " lazy baby" when it comes to eating. This means he will only eat enough to feel ok and goes back to sleep with only eating 1-2 oz. What this means for me is feeding every hour!! This is not my first baby and my others always got themselves on a pretty good feeding schedule by 3-4 weeks. If by chance we are out and he doesn't eat for a few hours, he will sometimes eat more but then very soon goes right back to eating every hour or so. My question is does anybody have a good way of helping him get on a little better eating schedule? Even 2 hours sleep would be better than 1!