slow feeder

how long should it take for a 7wk old to drink 4ounces? it takes my son almost 40 minutes. would it help to switch from level 1 to level 2 nipples? we are using dr browns natural flow bottles.

 

Well, I have one baby who can drink 7 ounces in about 7 minutes when he's in the right mood, and I have another (Mr. Slow and Steady) who takes up to an hour to finish his bottle! Average is about 30 minutes, 45 when he's tired. An hour when he's really tired. He even drinks slowly when he's starving. It's just his style. I've tried three different kinds of bottles, all with the same result. He uses #2 nipples (#3 is too fast for him). I used to worry about it (he's always been slow - he could breast feed for two hours straight and still not be full, it was crazy), but now I realize that's just his personality - slow and steady wins the race - he may be slow but he's a pound heavier than his speedy brother!

 

Oh my gosh, I am glad I am not the only one! YES, my babies both ate very slow when they were younger, about an hour to feed both, at a minimum! Now at 6 months old, they are a bit quicker. I think 7 wks may be a bit too early to change to a stage 2 nipple but you can always try it. They will let you know whether they like it or not! One time we accidently put a stage 3 nipple on Brenden's bottle when he was like 3 months old and he threw a FIT. We didn't know what the trouble was! Then we figured it out..oops! Sorry boy! But now if we put him on a stage 3 nipple, he finishes in no time. And I did notice a difference in speed when I changed Natalie to the fast flow nipple too. I agree with the pp that it is linked to their personality too. We always said Brenden was the slow poke and Natalie was the speed demon. But still, I could never get them to finish, even to this day, in less than 15 minutes. So I guess it depends. Boy what life would be like if it didn't take so long to feed them. It used to be that you'd feed them, and it would take an hour, well then they would feed again like an hour or two later! UGH. Now at least we get at least 3 hrs in between feedings if they choose to take an hour to feed. But now we having been introducing cereal and fruits/veggies, so mealtime takes longer anyway. Good luck....

P.S. Brenden is on the Avent bottles and Natalie is on the Playtex drop ins.

 

We have one baby that has always been a slow eater. They are almost eight months and she will nurse for 40 minutes. At daycare when they get bottles, Ellie will down her six ounces in five minutes - Allison will take up to an hour. She is just a slow eater.

Angel

 

Mine were poke a longs too. Took 30 min just for 3oz, now they do it in 5-10 min lol

 

Our daughter was a slow drinker and always fell asleep at the bottle, which i didn't want her to do, espeically when she barely ate anything yet! At the 2 month appt I asked my ped about changing nipples and she said to give it a try ... We did, and it definitely speeded things up. We never had any issues with her spitting up or anything, so it was a seamless change ... i would ask your ped, but I'm sure it's fine ...

 

We don't let them feed for more than 30 minutes - there comes a point when they are not getting anything from the feeding anymore and 30 mins is about it. Usually, though, they need only 15-25 mins to down 3-4 oz. - the hungrier (and/or more awake) they are the faster they will eat, is what we have seen. We are using medium flow nipples, if that helps - we used the slow flow nipples exactly twice then switched b/c it just went soooooooooo slow and frustrated the babies and the parents!