Is this hunger? Should there be a supplement?

I really want your opinion on this. My family is driving me crazy with this.

I know I have posted that my cousin and I have babies about a month apart. Mine is older.

Mine is FF, and his is BF( with pumping for bottles while mom is at work)

I watch his baby maybe once a week, other relatives are with him the other days.

He is 3 1/2 months and gets fed every 4 hours 5 1/2 ounces.

He drains those bottles. He finishes them in record time.

my aunt ( the grandma) is convinced he is not getting enough to eat. He is a fussy baby and cries alot and she is convinced it is due to hunger. She really feels they need to supplement with formula. I know for a fact that it is hard for her to pump the bottles she does. The other day it was 6pm and time for a bottle and my cousin told me not to give it to him because his wife was going to be home in 45 minutes and she could feed him. He said if they could "save" a bottle, all the better, less for her to pump.

My aunt wants me to talk to them and suggest they try to either give him more ounces or supplement with formula. she is also mad that they will not start solids until 5-6 months.

I personally do not want to get involved. I do not want to tell someone how to take care of their baby. It is not my place.

Those of you who breastfeed and had to supplement, are these signs?

Do you think this baby is getting enough?

Re: Is this hunger? Should there be a supplement?

IMO-no he is not. If he is draining every single bottle, they should be increased by a 1/2 oz until he leaves 1/2 oz to an oz. The nice thing about BM is you can refrigerate whats left over for the next feeding unlike formula. I would suggest that she take something to increase her supply, or add 1 or 2 more pumping sessions.

Message edited 6/13/2009 4:19:03 PM.

Re: Is this hunger? Should there be a supplement?

If the baby is draining bottles and is fussy- I'd say that he is still hungry. Just mention to them that you think he needs more milk. I cannot imagine anyone telling you not to give him more. My DH knew to start upping DD's bottles when she started draining them completely. I EBF when I'm home with her.

Do they give the baby bottles or is he EBF when he's home with his mother? It is likely she's not aware that he's needing more because he gets enough from nursing.

I would never, ever give a BF baby formula without asking the parent.

Re: Is this hunger? Should there be a supplement?

I can't believe that your cousin would rather leave his baby hungry so that he could save a bottle! I definitely think he is hungry.

I know that feeling all too well of trying to EBF when you can't seem to pump enough and I am not even back to work yet. I'm having trouble with my milk supply and have been going through my frozen milk reserves.

We are trying to just make it until 4 months when we can start introducing cereal. At least then, we can mix the cereal with formula.

Re: Is this hunger? Should there be a supplement?

Re: Is this hunger? Should there be a supplement?

Sounds like he is not getting enough. My DS was very fussy when he hit 3 months and I was EBFing. I tried everything to increase my supply without success and finally gave in and supplemented with 1 bottle of formula a day. He was a new baby literally overnight. My poor guy was hungry. It killed me to stop EBFing, but made me feel even worse that he was not getting enough and he was so miserable all the time.

I understand you not wanting to get involved but maybe you can gently say something to the mom or dad like can they please leave some extra milk or blame it on a growth spurt.

Sorry you are in this situation!

Re: Is this hunger? Should there be a supplement?

I never breast fed so I cant offer any advice there...

But I used to babysit a little boy whose mother gave me 4 6oz bottles for each feeding...Schedule was similar to his...this kid would CRY all day long and sucked down each bottle in record time....She was a new parent doing everything by the book and doing (to the letter) what the ped told her to do.

Instead of telling her what I thought the issue was I made it like I needed some advice myself with my own DD....put her in the position to give advice I was able to see that she was having the same issues with him at home that I was having with him during the day...we were then able to discuss ways of making things better for me.....(which I didnt have any issues but I pretended too)...I then went back to her and told her how I had amended things and how great things were and maybe she too should try XYZ. The next week he was up to 8oz bottles and everyone was tons happier.

Re: Is this hunger? Should there be a supplement?

As a mom who EBF I can't understand why this is a sensitive issue. My biggest fear while BF was that my daughter wouldn't get enough food which luckily was never a problem. When I went back to work at night p/t, I would leave DH with 2 pumped bottles. A few months into he mentioned that she was sucking the bottles dry so I naturally made the effort to pump more per bottle. If that wasn't possible I would have figured out another way to make sure my child was eating enough. Denying that my child wasn't hungry borders on neglect IMO.

Re: Is this hunger? Should there be a supplement?

Re: Is this hunger? Should there be a supplement?

Re: Is this hunger? Should there be a supplement?

I don't know. Is he gaining weight? What does the ped say? It sounds to me like he probably isn't getting enough.

I have to supplement DS but not DD. He used to cry a lot and was very cranky. At our 4 month well visit, he had lost weight (although he had been gaining at 1, 2, and 3 mnths) so the ped told us to start supplementing. I am a WAHM so I nurse and then supplement with breast milk and let me tell you he has been a totally different baby since getting the extra food. I don't know if it was coincidence with the timing, but I don't suppelement him after every feeding anymore, and he is still very happy and doing great!

Re: Is this hunger? Should there be a supplement?

Re: Is this hunger? Should there be a supplement?