https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 17 May 2026 00:45:55 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwydfeeding-a-5-month-old#post-2805381 Wed, 21 Feb 2018 11:11:49 +0000 maddyz 2805381@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I bet it's growth. My first was HUGE and started eating some food at 5 months and that helped a lot. Their intake really should change that much at this point unless it's growth. I would also check the nipples. Breastfed babies expect it to take a while to eat and if they get a lot of milk quickly it can confuse them and they dont realize they should stop eating. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwydfeeding-a-5-month-old#post-2805368 Wed, 21 Feb 2018 09:51:28 +0000 kiddosc 2805368@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My older son took 20oz every day, granted we were apart for closer to 12 hours. I needed to add in pumping sessions to keep up with demand. In the morning while getting ready, three times at work, and after he went to bed. It was exhausting, but important to me, so I trudged through. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwydfeeding-a-5-month-old#post-2805341 Wed, 21 Feb 2018 06:53:48 +0000 Amorini 2805341@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would agree that I bet it’s a growth spurt. I had the same thing happen around 6-7 months so just a little later than you. Even with some solids (wasn’t wild about them yet), he was still crying for more milk at the end of each bottle, according to daycare. I was already sending A LOT of milk in so this was hard to hear and understand! I checked in with my pediatrician about his daily intake to make sure he wasn’t underfed. (Daycare was encouraging me to increase the oz by a ton and I knew it wasn’t right but I needed support as a FTM. All the other babies in his room were FF so the oz would be different.) I checked in with daycare about paced feeding and also about what else could be making him unhappy. I increased bottles some (like one ounce each) even though, like you, it would have not been sustainable had he kept up that pace. My back-up plan was supplementing with formula even though I didn’t like the idea, but better him happy and fed than holding to my ideal. It turned out to be a non-issue and in hindsight, maybe I would have increased the bottles even more had I known it was just a growth spurt. A few weeks after in increasing bottles he backed off and started dropping ounces, especially as solids picked up a bit. I did add a pumping session for about a month just to get the supply back up and, in the end, I had enough supply until the end of bottle-feeding. We still nurse at 16 months at morning and night. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwydfeeding-a-5-month-old#post-2805338 Wed, 21 Feb 2018 06:16:17 +0000 ElbieKay 2805338@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Solids! We introduced solids at 5mos (per our ped's suggestion) and my son LOVED it. He gnawed everything he could get his hands on. He before he turned 6mo he would work his way through an entire piece of multigrain seed bread from our local German bakery. He also loved avocado, sweet potato, banana, cantaloupe. He will be four in two weeks and is still a great eater. (He enthusiastically eats octopus and salmon roe now, though he also does love French fries and ketchup so he is not a snob!)</p> <p>I ran a shoestring milk operation and had trouble keeping up too, and solids were the only reason I did not have to supplement with formula.</p> <p>Btw we never bothered with baby cereal. We just went straight to regular, blended/puréed food (other than the bread). I also did not bother with baby-led weaning because it was way too inefficient. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwydfeeding-a-5-month-old#post-2802620 Wed, 07 Feb 2018 09:18:38 +0000 peachykeen 2802620@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>How far apart are they giving his bottles? If he had been crying for 3 hours at 2:30pm, that seems really early to give his last bottle unless you work really unusual hours! Maybe they're misreading his signals?</p> <p>DD2 is 6 months and had a huge growth spurt around 5 months, so I bet that is it. She does take 13.5 oz (3 4.5 oz bottles) over 8-9 hours at daycare since she turned 4 months, though, and she took 12 oz before that. </p> <p>The only thing that really works for me is adding another pumping session in the evening right before I go to bed (3-4 hours after putting baby to bed in my case). DD2 always wakes up at least once overnight, but she's able to get more milk out fine and doesn't seem to need a whole lot to go back to sleep anyway. </p> <p>One other thing - I often get a 2nd letdown after 18-20 min of pumping, so you could try pumping a little longer if you're only getting 1 letdown per session. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwydfeeding-a-5-month-old#post-2802600 Wed, 07 Feb 2018 06:52:51 +0000 Pumuckl 2802600@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@matador84: ugh, that sounds rough. It very much sounds like a growth spurt though. And I want to share what I learnt with my twins (LO3 &amp; LO4):<br /> I EBF my first two. They never got any formula. Then came along the other two and they had us supplement in the hospital. That caused quite a bit of heartache for me but I eventually agreed. Nowadays I'll still let my twins have an occasional FF bottle. It has safed my sanity so many times that I wouldn't have to stay up another hour (etc) but just make that bottle and all would be well. My twins are probably BF by 97% and those 3% have been totally worth it. It didn't hurt my kids, it didn't hurt my supply and it totally safed my sanity. So if for 2-3 days he needs a FF I would totally go for it and not worry.<br /> Also make sure you drink and eat enough, I have found that to be the most cruical whenever there was a growth spurt happening and if his teachers changed I would make sure they do a paced feed.<br /> All the best mama :heart: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwydfeeding-a-5-month-old#post-2802598 Wed, 07 Feb 2018 06:37:25 +0000 Pollywog 2802598@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@matador84: That sounds like a growth spurt. For what it's worth, I never found adding a third pumping session helped. What did was pumping right after our 5 am feed. I could get 5 ounces in just a few minutes </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwydfeeding-a-5-month-old#post-2802597 Wed, 07 Feb 2018 05:18:39 +0000 matador84 2802597@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MamaBear87: @gotkimchi: @Pollywog: yes already doing paced with a slow flow nipple.<br /> Praying it is a growth spurt! He’s already a big guy-16 lbs at 4 months. Right now I do two pump sessions at work and get 10-12 oz, which I feel like is pretty good and more than I ever pumped with my other kids. I can try and squeeze in a 3rd session but I feel like it might be counterintuitive.<br /> I am sending rice cereal tomorrow to see how that goes. I just never started any solids until 6 months with my others but I never had this problem before either. They said yesterday they couldn’t even believe how fast he finished his 5 oz bottle and was still hungry for more. He was getting 3 bottles at about 4 oz each for a total of 9-12 oz all day. He took 15 oz on Monday and 12 yesterday by 215.<br /> I have been up with him a lot more recently. He nurses and falls back asleep. Currently 4 am and I know I was up with him at 130, twice between 3-4 and a couple other times too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwydfeeding-a-5-month-old#post-2802580 Tue, 06 Feb 2018 21:52:35 +0000 Pollywog 2802580@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Do they discard unused milk? For now I'd send an extra bottle to use if needed. Then I'd take fenugreek and add a pumping session in on the weekends. What I did was nurse right before I dropped him off. That helped a ton.. I also send solids to school. Normally rice cereal and apple sauce at that age. If helped him stay full longer. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwydfeeding-a-5-month-old#post-2802550 Tue, 06 Feb 2018 19:21:58 +0000 gotkimchi 2802550@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Maybe it’s just a growth spurt? What about some solids at daycare to help? I found i always pumped more in the morning so I would pump every 2 hours in the morning then less as the day went on - I got more that way like 2/2/4 then I would doing 3/3/3. Also a pumping power hour. 10 min on 10 off for an hour. Lactation foods and lots of water </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwydfeeding-a-5-month-old#post-2802536 Tue, 06 Feb 2018 17:56:04 +0000 MamaBear87 2802536@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Are they doing paced feedings with him? My friend was having this issue and come to find out they were giving him breastmilk with a high flow nipple and not pacing. Once they switched he started eating way less </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwydfeeding-a-5-month-old#post-2802533 Tue, 06 Feb 2018 17:53:18 +0000 matador84 2802533@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO is almost 5 months old. I work FT and have 2 other kids who I also breastfed. LO usually takes 9-10 oz breastmilk in the 7-8ish hours I’m away at work, which is about the max I pump. He’s never had formula.</p> <p>Yesterday he took 15 oz at daycare!!! Today he took 12 and they called me at 230 to come feed him because he had been crying for nearly 3 hours at that point. </p> <p>None of my other kids ever took so much! I have a small stash, maybe 70 oz but at the rate he’s going he will plow through it. </p> <p>Looking for any advice or suggestions! Not wanting to FF but idk how I’ll keep up!! </p>