# 4 week old gulping feeds (formula fed baby)



## Yvonne90 (Feb 3, 2008)

Hi,

My little man is just over 4 weeks and was born weighing 5lb 12oz and now weighs 8lb 7oz.  Since then he's done really well, the last couple of weeks putting on 11oz and 13oz in a week.  I put him on hungry baby milk gradually (cow and gate) as he was starting to demand a couple of ounces from a second bottle not even an hour after draining a 5oz bottle and I kept getting told he shouldn't be having that amount of milk as his tummy wouldn't be able to cope with it.  Hungry baby milk seems to have settled his routine a little bit and he mostly now goes 3-4 hours between feeds unless having a growth spurt when he'll take smaller amounts of milk between 3-4oz every couple of hours instead.  

However, the last couple of days I've noticed he's dribbling, well spitting actually, a lot of his milk out.  It looks to me as if he's sucking that hard on the bottle teat (using Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature) that he gets more in his mouth than he can swallow and so spits half of a mouthful out leaving him soaking by the end of the feed.  I've tried moving from newborn teats to variflow and it doesn't make a difference, he still does the same thing and the medium flow teats aren't meant to be used until 3 months old.

Am I right in thinking he's just being greedy and putting more in his mouth than he can actually swallow?  He's still gaining weight really well as you can see above and is generally very contented (unless having a growth spurt when he's a right grump!) and doesn't suffer from bad wind or anything so I'm not worried about him not getting enough milk/putting on weight.  Is there anything I can do to get him out of this habit he seems to have developed over the last few days?  I've tried taking the bottle away from him for a minute when he starts doing this and to wipe his mouth/chin/neck but he just throws a paddy and tries to eat his bib or anything else that goes near his mouth until I give it back - he'll only let you take it when he's had a couple of ounces of milk and ready to burp and as soon as he's burped he wants it back!

Thanks,
Yvonne


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## jeanette (May 3, 2003)

Hiya Yvonne

How is your little man?

Some babies can guzzle their milk. Have you tried sitting him a little more upright to have his ilk?

Have you tried feeding him berfore he gets hungry??

Jxx


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## Yvonne90 (Feb 3, 2008)

Hi Jeanette,

Thanks for your reply, have tried feeding him more upright instead of lay down and waking him up just before he would be due a feed (and he just ignores me and goes back to sleep until he's ready   ) but it makes no difference.  He doesn't guzzle every feed and dribble it everywhere, just occasionally - maybe a couple of feeds a day.  Looks like he's just a greedy guts as he's put on another 14oz this week   so he can't actually be wasting that much - it must just look more than it really is when it's running down his chin and soaking his bib!  The last 3 days he's also taken all of his bottles during the day with the last being between 11pm/midnight then sleeping through until 6/7am - bliss!  I am soooo glad I bought the Amby baby hammock now  

Yvonne xx


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