D.B.
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I had posted this but realized with some questions that I didnt post enough information, so Im going to add it so ppl can see if theyve experienced this.
So since my son was born he's been a cluster feeder. 1.5ozs here, .5ozs there, the most he takes at once is 3.5oz and thats VERY rare. He's 6mths old and the doctor is giving me heck because of it but I have tried making him super hungry before he gets the milk and he'll still be satisfied after about 2 ozs and then 30 mins later another oz, then 15 mins later another oz. Majority of his drinking is about 1.5ozs at a time and he's happy.
Its not that big a deal to me as long as he gets what he needs, Im a stay at home mom currently so he is my main focus. Its just its effecting his sleep, which means its effecting his mood... Before bed he'll eat anywhere from 3-5ozs, 5 being a very rare occasion as well. And it'll take about an hr for him to finish them all. But he gets up 2-4 times a night wanting a couiple ozs! He wont take a pacifier, he sucks his thumb, but he'll only suck for so long before he's screaming because he's genuinely hungry... The big problem is his first tooth is coming in and he cant be doing this with teeth because it'll create cavities or rot them and my little brother had rotten teeth when he was younger, it was terrible! This is my first child so Ive never experienced anything like this and I want to know if anyone else ever has and what they did to stop it.
My son is on Enfamil formula, and he does great on it, so he's not on breastmilk (it didnt work out) and he does eat cereal, sometimes just hrs before bed to try and make it work for him to sleep more. He's also had some other veggie solids and such hoping that it would help. He was getting cereal in a bottle but his tummy couldnt handle it so its bowl fed only. And he eats the oatmeal not rice, its easier on his tummy. He doesntspit up alot but he does ahve asensitive tummy sometimes.
I hope these details will help more in seeing the situation, its not a flow or no solids issues, there's something else going on with my bubba! I just want him to get a good nights rest and be a happy boy!! I should also mention he takes 3 naps a day raning from 30-45 mins, they're not long ones so that shouldnt be effecting them either.
He falls asleep sometimes close to eleven!! even when Ive been trying since hrs earlier to put him to sleep, but generally between 9:30-10 is when he passes out and is UP UP between 730-830 generally.
hope this extra info helps!
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You mention he takes an hour to eat 3-5ozs, does he need a faster flow nipple. He might be getting too tired sucking to finish eating more. My son is 2 months old and sucks down 5ozs within 10-15 mins. I wouldn't wait til hes extremely hungry either because he may be too upset then to eat like my little one gets sometimes. He should be able to go at least 2 hours between feedings. Personally I think if hes taking at least 30ozs total a day I wouldn't worry.
Sounds like he needs faster flowing nipples and more at one time. Start getting him on a schedule, I know you said you are at home with him right now but 6 months is a perfect age to start this. He should be drinking around 5-6 oz bottles at a time and 3-4 hours inbetween each.
I wasn't able to get my son on a set schedule until around 8mos. Sounds a lot like my little guy when he was about 6mos. I don't know that this is abnormal. Maybe if he was 16mos but not at 6mos.
I started trying some sort of schedule around 6mos.... My husband and I both work, but you could still try this.
6am - Wake up (we had to wake ours up, so you could adjust your time to 7am) and have bottle. We'd let him have as much as he needed and we fed on demand.
9am- Nap (however you get him to sleep, but try to get him in HIS bed)
11am- Wake up and another bottle after maybe some cereal or we started with green beans at this age. Have some 'play time'.
12pm- 'Lunch' of cereal.
1230-1pm- Bottle & 2nd nap.
230-3pm- Wake up. Bottle. Play time. And we'd try to keep him awake until after dinner around 7pm.
7pm- Bath, bottle, bed.
9pm- Wake up to change diaper and give him more formula goes right back to sleep.
That 9pm wake up to change diaper and give him more formula would give us 4hrs of sleep without interruption most of the time.
Good luck! Hope that helps a little.
Our son only had a tsp of rice cereal in his nighttime bottle at this age.
He sounds like my oldest. I swear, she had reflux and nobody would ever diagnose her because she was gaining weight. The child NEVER slept. NEVER. She would cat nap for 10 or 15 minutes at a time. At night she rarely slept more than 1.5 hours at a time no matter what we did. I could feed her baby food, formula and cereal all day long. Nothing helped. It was awful. At 10 months we started her on table food and noticed a remarkable difference.
It sounds like you've spoken to your pediatrician and they've told you what to do, just haven't told you how to do it. Perhaps it's time for a new doctor. Or, as Dawn B. suggested, as specialist. My oldest still has stomach issues to this day because her doctor wouldn't believe me. I wish I had fought harder for her!
Teething seems to hurt kids the most at night or during nap time. I don't know why that is. Maybe try to give him some Tylenol or Motrin to see if that helps him.
