my son just turned 2mnths old and hes an eating machine, eaatin 40 plus ounces in a 24hr period, hes a sleepy eater and his sleeping schedual he sleeps once 3-4 hrs at night then 2 hrs at a time till noon then is up all day till late afternoon and sleeps 2-3 hrs and is up till 11pm or 12am sleeps for 3-4 hrs and so on and so on when hes awake hes not crying the whole time but hes usually eating and looking around then gets fussy like hes tired.....so im not sure if hes sleeping enough cause my daughter ate and slept for the first 3 months so this is strange to me i dont know how to help him sleep more....and hes already gone thru his 6wk growth spurt at 4 wks and hasnts stopped eating like this since
He might not necessarily be hungry enough for 40+ ounces; he might just have a need to suck on something. I know that 4 mo olds only need about 24-30 oz. Have you tried a pacifier? That might help give you a bit of a rest.
6 or so oz per feeding at this age is not unusual. Just be sure you aren't feeding him to soothe. If you just fed him recently, be sure to use every other soothing method you can first before you break out any more food.
Babies will go through stages...growth spurts. When he's in a growing stage you'll notice that all he does is eat and sleep. When he's not growing you'll find that it's nearly impossible to get him to sleep and you'll wonder why the heck he won't eat. You'll see these stages every few weeks, and then as he grows older the timeframe between stages will lengthen. This is normal and nothing to be worried about. You'll learn to recognize the stages for what they are and adjust accordingly.
It sounds like he is a hefty boy and weighs enough for you to stop feeding him the in the middle of the night. Talk to your ped about sleep training. He won't like it, but this is a habit he has, and you can do something about it.
Talk to the ped. You can still get food into him without staying up all night, both of you.
Dawn
okay, my sons are 15 & 24....& they both were put on cereal at 1 month by their drs. I had different drs for them, because we moved to a different city.
Both drs felt strongly that they were "big boys, big eaters". I found it fascinating that both drs shared opinions on this...even tho' my sons were 9 years apart in age.
Anyway, with my older son, he was taking 8oz bottles by the end of Week #2. It was rare for him to go the full 3 hours btwn bottles. Sleeping was about 45 minutes during this 3 hour timeframe. The excessive feedings + the lack of good sleep + his size....all factored into the dr's decision.
By contrast, my younger son was taking 6oz bottles every 3 hours. It also was rare for him to sleep more than 1-2 hours....at any given point... around the clock. His size + growth was slower than his brother's, but still a "big boy".
Both sons did very well on cereal at such an early age. With today's world, this is not considered an option for babies. My only opinion on that ....would be: both of my sons did well, as did all of the other 20+ children in our circle of friends/family. Not a single one of them waited until 3 or 4 months....or later....to start cereal/foods. All of them did well with it, without allergies/gastric issues.
One more thought: does he use a pacifier? Does this soothe him past the need for the bottle? Could it be a need to "suck" as opposed to eat?
& moving on: do you allow him to cry & then soothe himself....or do you pick him up as soon as he begins to fuss? I have an infant in my daycare. I had to teach the older kids that it was a.o.k. for her to cry! If we leave her alone, then she settles herself & goes back to sleep. A very good thing! I am blessed that she sleeps in her bed & self-soothes. At home, she requires the swing or bouncy seat to fall asleep....or to soothe back to sleep. Riddle me that....LOL
Yikes... if people are telling you to quit feeding your 2mo... I wonder what they'd say about mine at that age!!!
Avg of 20oz PER feeding from apx 6weeks -10months. Granted, my son was an outlier, most infants don't eat that much... but chalk that up to being fast growing skandanavian baby.
To me... 40oz sounds skimpy. Eating every 2 hours, that's only 3oz and a smidge. Eating every 4, that's still only 6oz and change.
I'm wondering if he's getting distracted, gassy, refluxy and isn't actually getting enough to eat? 8-10oz is waaaay more normal for eating every 2-3 hours. He's getting only about 1/3 of that.
You don't say how much he weighs, but the general guideline for oz of formula per day is 2 times his weight on the low end and 2.5 times his weight on the high end. How are you deciding when to feed him? What are his hunger cues? If it is just based on fussiness then he may not really be hungry at that time, but is soothed by the sucking so is not refusing the bottle. Sometimes overfeeding can cause fussiness which often leads to more feedings (to calm the baby) and it becomes a vicious circle. I would recommend discussing this with his dr to see what he/she says about your sons growth, eating and sleeping patterns, and what you should expect at this age. Best of luck to you.
Growing boy! Are you breast feeding if so he may not be getting asmuch as you think he.is. if hes bottle fed try adding one tablespoon of rice cereal to a 6 oz bottle. I used to be one of the anticerial bottle moms lil but after I had my piggy it saved my life! Just read the responded and for gosh sakes.don't listen to dawn!!! Hes 2 months not 2 years!
He is only 2 months old and each child is very different. He could just be a hungry child. 40plus ounces seems like a lot, but maybe for him it isn't. I think "average" is 2 to 4 oz every 2 to 3 hours. That is a huge range. I'd suggest talking to his DR and see what they say.
I noticed a few people mentioning sleep training or self soothing, however, he is too young to sleep train or to cry it out at this age.
