https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 10 May 2026 02:04:04 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-binge-eating#post-2126598 Mon, 30 Mar 2015 09:53:29 +0000 KatieBklyn 2126598@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pumuckl: Haha, I keep wishing he was my second baby so I could just chill out! :) I hope the confidence comes soon. </p> <p>@Rocker2014: Thanks! That definitely seems like a possibility. My milk does seem to have a lot of velocity when I express a bit. He's been doing it since before my milk came in, but maybe I had warp speed colostrum too? </p> <p>@miramira: Thank you! That was my instinct - he's a baby, not an alarm clock - but it helps to hear other mamas say it. </p> <p>@jedeve: I'm glad to hear it worked out in the end! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-binge-eating#post-2126471 Mon, 30 Mar 2015 08:44:07 +0000 jedeve 2126471@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@KatieBklyn: my LCs said that early boys are just super sleepy! It is so frustrating, I know. I had to pump for about a week to keep my supply up because it dipped a lot initially. But he wouldn't take any from a syringe or the sns, so he was slow to regain his weight. I forget when I stopped having to fight him to stay awake to nurse. Eventually he got the hang of it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-binge-eating#post-2126379 Mon, 30 Mar 2015 07:49:02 +0000 miramira 2126379@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When medical staff tell you that LO needs X amount every X hours, that's a guideline only. Most babies don't conform to such a rigid schedule, at least not so early. When my LO was born I was told to offer him the breast every 3 hours at least. He wanted it much more often! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-binge-eating#post-2126300 Mon, 30 Mar 2015 05:48:05 +0000 Rocker2014 2126300@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@KatieBklyn: First, you're doing awesome and congrats on your baby!<br /> I don't have any advice on the sleep schedule thing (my LO still doesn't do long stretches well!) But I do have a thought about the screaming/arching away thing. When my milk came in, it started flowing very quickly a few days later. LO started doing exactly what you described.After an emergency session with an LC after she hadn't eaten in 8 hours, we realized that my flow was so heavy that it was startling her and she was gagging and choking when she tried to latch on. She started being scared of that happening and was refusing the breast. I started hand expressing a little before she latched on, which decreased the intensity of my flow and she did much better. Within a few weeks or so it stopped being an issue, I think because LO got bigger. Also, it was always worse the longer I went between feeds, which reminded me of your situation.</p> <p>Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-binge-eating#post-2126290 Mon, 30 Mar 2015 04:34:14 +0000 Pumuckl 2126290@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@KatieBklyn: I have a baby too that goes really long stretches between feeds. Thankfully she's my second so I wasn't as worried. She only ever ate 6 times during a 24h period. Now at 11 weeks old she has only been eating 5 times for 4 weeks or so. Babies are all so different and don't worry about it as long as your baby is happy.<br /> I don't know anything about FF or supplementing so I cannot offer advice on that except that a good LC can really be a life saver if you want to make BF work. :goodluck: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-binge-eating#post-2126254 Sun, 29 Mar 2015 23:32:26 +0000 KatieBklyn 2126254@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Miss Ariel: That makes sense! He seems to like long stretches all the time, which is hard not to appreciate at night. :) </p> <p>@jedeve: Leo was three weeks early - he was born at 37 weeks, 3 days. He's nine days old today - he's still more than a week shy of his due date! </p> <p>I offer the breast first - half the time, he latches on happily and the other half, he freaks out. Sometimes he will nurse until he's satisfied, and sometimes he will get really frustrated after a minute or two and we'll switch to a bottle. I usually try to put him back on the breast halfway through or after the bottle, and sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. </p> <p>I don't think I can feel a let down? When he nurses, I feel like a rushing sensation - like there's milk flowing - but it doesn't seem to change during the nursing session. I'm definitely making milk - it leaks all over the place and when I try to express some into his mouth, it squirts the poor little guy in the face most of the time! :)</p> <p>I've tried sneaking up on him with the boob, but he doesn't fall for it. It seems like a good idea though! Thank you. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-binge-eating#post-2126232 Sun, 29 Mar 2015 22:53:16 +0000 jedeve 2126232@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It is all so confusing!</p> <p>My LO2 was a month early and soooo sleepy. I feel like I was constantly trying to wake him up to nurse. We would strip him down, put a cold wash cloth on his back (cruel, I know!) and I would have to rub his feet or palms the whole time. </p> <p>A few questions - are you offering the breast or formula first? It's best to offer the breast first or he might already be full from the bottle.</p> <p>Can you tell when your milk lets down (totally normal if you can't.) It can feel like a burning, or fullness. Does your LO usually nurse until after it lets down? I have a really slow let down and sometimes it can be tough to keep my LO interested at the breast until after it lets down. But usually he nurses a lot better once it does.</p> <p>Can you switch the boob for the pacifier after he has fallen asleep? I've done that sometimes when my LO is just too worked up nurse. I will wait until he is asleep and switch on him. Then it's easier to feed him, although he might not eat as much. </p> <p>How old is your LO? I feel like around day 10 they start waking up a good bit!</p> <p>Don't worry too much about the schedule. Babies should eat every 2-4 hours, but I know with my guy, if he is not hungry, I can't get him interested at all. Even if it's been two hours. Maybe your guy is more on a 4 hour loop? Or maybe he is night cycling? Whatever it is, though, just keep an eye on his diapers and weight. Sounds like he is gaining great! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-binge-eating#post-2126192 Sun, 29 Mar 2015 21:58:09 +0000 Miss Ariel 2126192@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Once our baby got back to her birth weight our ped said there was no need to wake her to feed. She did recommend waking her after 4 hours in the day, but that was more so she'd associate night with longer stretches instead, not because she needed to eat. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-binge-eating#post-2126188 Sun, 29 Mar 2015 21:48:47 +0000 KatieBklyn 2126188@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@loveisstrange: Thanks - I will take you up on that offer because I am definitely having a whoole lot of feelings about this feeding thing. </p> <p>@Peasinapod: I wondered that too, but I'm pretty sure (to the extent that I trust my own instincts here) that he's actually hungry. If he's not, he can usually be soother with the pacifier, bouncing, rocking or swaddling, but when he's hungry it's like, he's shoving his hands in his mouth, bobbing his head and trying to latch onto whatever part of your body is around, and then when he gets the bottle or boob in his mouth, he literally grabs it like he's afraid we are going to take it away. I wouldn't mind nursing whenever he wanted, if he would take the boob every time he was hungry. Somehow it seems like he'd be less likely to actually overdo it with the breast than the bottle? I don't know. It's all so confusing! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-binge-eating#post-2126157 Sun, 29 Mar 2015 20:48:48 +0000 Peasinapod 2126157@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>As a newborn my lo always wanted to nurse. I think it was a comfort rather than hunger thing. Perhaps when he's rooting 30 min after eating he's looking for comfort rather than food? I've been okay with just nursing whenever she wants but I know that isn't for everyone. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-binge-eating#post-2126154 Sun, 29 Mar 2015 20:43:41 +0000 loveisstrange 2126154@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@KatieBklyn: Yeeeeeah. Your ped is.... yeah. I'll just say that overfeeding leads to the Exorcist. You'd know it, if it happened. All babies are different and your ped can suck it for making you paranoid about it.</p> <p>As for BFing, please believe me when I say that breast isn't always best. It took me a long time and a good hard hit to my mental health to learn that. Don't make feeding an all-consuming issue. It's not healthy for anyone involved. I hated the pushy "just keep trying" too. It's not helpful. at. all. You ever want to talk, there are quite a few of us around who've been exactly where you are. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-binge-eating#post-2126147 Sun, 29 Mar 2015 20:30:48 +0000 KatieBklyn 2126147@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Kemma: I saw three lactation consultants in the hospital and I didn't think they were very helpful. Their advice seemed to boil down to "just keep trying" which is not super helpful when your three day old is turning red, arching his back away from your nipple and screaming bloody murder for an hour. But our pediatricians office suggested someone, and I should probably give her a call tomorrow - I'll keep my fingers crossed that she will be more helpful! Ideally, I'd love to just exclusively breastfeed. I'm just not sure that I can make enough for his marathon feeding sessions! (Though maybe pumping in between them could help us replace formula with expressed milk.) Thanks!</p> <p> @loveisstrange: Thanks! That makes me feel better. :) I didn't think a newborn could overeat, and he hasn't spit up more than a tiny bit a couple of times, but our pediatrician said something about being careful not to overfeed him with formula and now I'm scared that I'm doing it wrong. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-binge-eating#post-2126079 Sun, 29 Mar 2015 18:28:04 +0000 loveisstrange 2126079@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My daughter was like that. We did all formula, but she would eat several oz, be fine for a while, and slept in long stretches. She started sleeping 6-8 hours at night at 2 weeks old.</p> <p>It's a huge range of normal. As long as he's growing and healthy, just follow his lead. Newborns don't overeat or "binge". If he was eating too much at a time, he'd just throw it back up in spectacular fashion. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-binge-eating#post-2126074 Sun, 29 Mar 2015 18:23:46 +0000 Kemma 2126074@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@KatieBklyn: a couple of questions for you - have you seen an IBCLC (Lactation Consultant) and what direction do you want to go in with regards to feeding (mixed, breast milk only or just formula)?</p> <p>Nursing / the sucking reflex is really comforting for babies and a really instinctive thing. If your LO is rooting then there's certainly no harm in putting him to the breast - it's very soothing for Baby and is important for helping establish your milk supply!</p> <p>I'm not an expert but if your milk is now in, your LO is gaining back towards birth weight and you want to get baby off formula then it would be really worth having a chat with a lactation consultant so you can sort out any latch issues and make a plan to reduce LO's formula intake and increase your supply.</p> <p>At the end of the day, there's a HUGE range of what's normal for newborns and it may just be that your LO is naturally on more of a three hourly rhythm. Providing you're getting plenty of wet and dirty nappies and he's gaining weight with no additional medical concerns then I would suggest following his lead :-)</p> <p>Good luck, Mama!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/baby-binge-eating#post-2126053 Sun, 29 Mar 2015 17:35:30 +0000 KatieBklyn 2126053@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm a new mom and still really unsure about which of the rules have to be strictly followed and when it's okay to let baby dictate his own schedule. At the hospital, they told me that baby needed to eat about two ounces every two to three hours. Since birth, though, our little guy has preferred to sleep for longer stretches and, when he wakes up, to eat voraciously. It's next to impossible to wake him up to eat - we have tried getting him naked, tickling his feet, putting a cool washcloth on his face - if he's sleeping, he's sleeping. </p> <p>He lost a bit too much weight in the hospital - he went from 9 lbs, 9oz at birth to 8 lbs, 9oz - so they made us supplement the breastfeeding with formula before we left. Baby is still having trouble latching on - though I'm still trying - so we are doing a combination of breast and formula feeding now. He was back up to 9 lbs at six days old, so I don't think he's starving. </p> <p>But I'm still worried that he isn't sleeping and eating on the right schedule. Today he ate 3 oz of formula and nursed for a few minutes at 10:30, then he was basically sound asleep until 4:30. (I was able to wake him up enough for ten minutes of lazy nursing around 2.) Then he woke up, nursed for ten minutes, ate three ounces of formula and was still acting hungry, latched on and nursed for another fifteen minutes. He relaxed for half an hour, then started rooting and trying to nurse on DH and stuffing his hands in his mouth and screaming again, so we gave him another ounce and a half of formula and he calmed down. </p> <p>So, uh... Is this normal? Is it okay? Or do we need to try even harder to get him on an every-two-hours schedule? </p>