A 'not so hungry' baby!

run_Forrest_run

Our 4 month old baby girl is not one to pig out! For the past 6 weeks are have noticed she is never really big into feeding a lot! She sleeps very well at night, she would sleep straight for 9 hours (yes, we are very lucky!) and when she wakes in the morning she would only take about 2 flOz of milk! As the day progresses she will begin to take more, maybe she might even take 7 flOz in one sitting but that's about it...so her total intake on a typical day would be around 25 - 28 flOz. Recently we have started her on baby rice just to help increase her grub intake...she has good and bad days on the rice!

She is gaining weight but as the doc told us it is only 'modest'! She was a fine 8lb 12oz at birth and at 4 months on Saturday she is now 13lb 10oz.

Friends have said that baby girls can differ greatly than boys when it comes to the amount of grub they take on board...friends of ours have a 6 week old baby boy and he is taking up to 40flOz and over per day!

Has anyone else experienced this with babies and feeding?

Ickle Magoo

My son was and still is a sparrow eater....to this day (he is now 16months) we have never managed to get more than 5oz into him in the one sitting....now my daughter is another matter completely....she has hollow legs and will drink almost as much as her big brother already (she is only 4wks old too!)

We took him to various nutritionists and pediatricians and they all said the same thing....

Babies are like the rest of us....some are greedy and will eat the arm off you & will eat more than they need and at the other end of the spectrum are babies like ours who only eat as much as they need to get nutrition from and not a mouthful/spoonful more....and remember, some babies don't actually like milk! :eek:

Now, my son was premature and so is a bit small for his age anyway - but not by very much and you would never know he didn't eat much....he is not a fussy easter - just not a big eater!

As long as your daughter has plenty wet & dirty nappies and is putting on weight then she is thriving....try not to compare her to other babies that may be greedier than she is....if you are really worried, mention it to your PHN but they should be keeping a weight chart and as long as she stays in the correct centile then it doesn't matter how much milk she is taking....I would mention it to rule out any underlying medical condition (my son had reflux which didn't help!) - but otherwise we have had to consider that our son just may not be a gigantic child....he has plenty of time to sprout and plenty of time to eat - so we have stopped panicking but it is such a worry when they are so little...best of luck

Meant to add....my cousin and DH's brother were both tiny babies and small children & then they hit puberty & both are now over 6ft!

BrianCalgary

My 17 year old daughter sounds like your forrest. Even today she will sit at dinner and pick at her food for quite a while. She is thinner than others but very healthy.

I wouldn't worry too much about her. As long as she is eating.

joebhoy1916

run_Forrest_run wrote:

Our 4 month old baby girl is not one to pig out! For the past 6 weeks are have noticed she is never really big into feeding a lot!

Are you on about the Aptamil stuff the food you put in the bottles?

My daughter stopped taking that when she was about 3or4 months old wouldn't worry about it! Start giving her potatoes with gravy or as you said
the rice but my daughter wasn't keen on that though! Give her plenty of fluids
water and a small bit of sugar!

embee

run_forrest_run,

My daughter is almost 15 weeks, and up to now, has been a great grubber, but she seems to be uninterested in the bottle these days. I'll be trying her with solids next week. Have you tried your little one with some solids (other than baby rice, which is just as bland, if not blander, than the milk)? It may be she is bored of milk, wants a bigger challenge. As your doc says, as long as she is putting weight on (and keeping it on), its nothing to worry about.

I'll be giving my little one some baby rice for starters, then onto some pureed veg.

run_Forrest_run

yeah, we are going to start on some pureed veg this weekend, we started on the rice (which, as you said is totally bland!) and are adding some pureed pear to it just to sweeten it up a bit and she seems to like the pear alright but still not a big fan of the rice...I don't blame her! The PHN said she was happy with her weight gain...it may be modest but that's just her way I guess! Plenty of wet & dirtry nappies anyway!

Thanks for your reply!

we started her on Aptamil but her nappies were all over the place (tis early in the morning, I don't want to make anyone sick!) and the docs tested her and saw that she was lactose intolerant so we switched to SMA LF. We noticed a huge improvement in her skin and her nappies were what normal dirty nappies should look like (before that we didn't have a clue as this is our first!). But still she is not a big feeder...from what I read in the replies there is no real cause for concern so I'm happy!

She rarely brings anything back up...ever since we switched her onto SMA LF (Lactose Free) she keeps everything down...before then she was on Aptamil and would often throw up some milk even after wind...babies eh, the joy!

oh jaysus, I can only imagine what sort of eater she may be come teens! I think it can be tough on teenage girls when it comes to food etc..all these mags on about diets etc..scary stuff! oh well, a while before we come to that bridge.

Victor

I've heard comments that the start on solids makes a huge change, they take longer to digest and it means the baby can go without food for longer. Really good for overnight.

Also, squeezing every last bit of food intot he child isn't good. If they are hungry, they will come looking.

BrianCalgary

Hey forrest, sounds like things are under control. Enjoy her. Reading your trials has brought back many memories and has given me a chuckle. That's what is wonderful being able to look back and laugh. I get to watch my grown princess play in the High School wind ensemble next week.

They are such a joy.