HELP!?!?!?!?! am i feeding too much ?

Our are 7 weeks, and they are eating 4.5 to 5 oz with 5 2 tablespoons of rice cereal every 3 hours. At night they'll go 4 hours. They eat 6 or 7 times a day.

DR said it was ok to add rice cereal but never said how much, (they were up to eating 6 oz and wanting more after 2 hours. Thats why we added the rice cereal.

We weighed them the other day and they've hit 10lbs! they are 7 weeks old and were born weighing 5-10 and 5-13. So i'm worried we are over feeding them.

help!?!?!

-K-

 

My pedi said cereal should be saved until 4 mos at the earliest. I know some people swear by it, but I have read where it can be hard on a very young digestive tract and lead to IBS later in life. My hubby was fed cereal at 8 days and has all kinds of issues with his digestive system including IBS. One of his "issues" may require surgery. I'm convinced it was early solids introduction, but who knows for sure.

Your twins may be wanting to SUCK and not just EAT, so I'd make sure you used a slow flow nipple (not really possible with rice in the formula) to make them take longer to eat to get in some of that important suckling need and try to to paci's for non-nutritive suckling. They COULD just be trying to get in some suckling time. If the doctor isn't worried about them, they're probably doing okay, though.

 

I think you are ok with the formula...mine were eating about that at that age. Just a bit concerned as to why your DR suggested starting rice cereal before 2 months of age. I think it is too much rice cereal. Mine are just about 5 months and while DS started cereal at 4 months, DD just started and is on 1 tbsp per day!!

Also, I think if they were eating 6oz and wanting more...perhaps it's a growth spurt. At 6-8 weeks this happens.

In my opinion, you should stop the rice and just do the formula. Unless of course they are on rice for reflux. If they are going through a growth spurt, excessive eating shouldn't last more than a week, then they will seem to sleep more for a few days. It's great that they are growing so well.

I'd be interested in what others have to say.

 

We are feeding ours about 6oz per bottle (no cereal at all) and during the day they are between 3-4 hours and last night they went from 9pm to 4am and had their bottles. My DD woke at 7:30 for her next bottle but my DS is still asleep. I have heard of the cereal to help with the last bottle but not more than one bottle per day.

 

I would agree with everyone else about the cereal. Personally, I never gave it even though people told me I should. It seemed more like a filler to me & the formula/breastmilk has more nutrients.

When we 1st started out, I was getting a LOT of help from a lactation nurse. Now, it's a little different with just formula b/c babies digest it slower.....but she said not to be surprised if they go through phases where they just want to eat all day long! They go through growth spurts and need extra calories sometimes. And, they do like that sucking for comfort. But, eating every 3 hours at that age is good. Some babies eat every 1 or 2 hrs!

Even if you're not breastfeeding, you could still try finding a good lactation nurse to ask them. (Just call the hospital.) We did a combination bf/formula (now formula only) but the LC was a REALLY good source of information when it came to how much babies should eat/how often, etc.

 

As long as they aren't getting sick right after eating I continue to feed them as you are but then I had a tiny baby. Maybe one day you should feed on demand and see how much they eat when they ar being the boss.

 

My guys both did the same exact thing. We had them on rice cereal due to reflux AND due to excessive eating. Jonah could take 7 oz and not complain...that was just too much in my opinion. The rice did help that some what. They are still big eaters. We are currently on 35 oz per boy (and they are only going to be 5 months in a week).

I do agree though that some of it could just be the need to suck. Unless you need the rice for reflux, you could try cutting it out again and just trying to stretch them by 15 minutes every feed. They really do have to "learn" that they can go longer than an hour or two. I'm not saying hold them off if they are screaming bloody murder (b/c it really could be a growth spurt), but if you can distract them, that's your way of building the time in between feedings.

HTH. Shannon

 

One more thing...the general rule is 2.5 oz of formula per pound.