How to Increase Amount at Each Feeding

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You cannot do much regarding sleeping with the reflux. I know it's hard, but just go with the flow. You may not sleep much if your baby is in pain :(
Once you have the pain under control, you can then start to address other issues like eating, sleeping, etc.

Some babies, refluxers or not, just don't eat very much & don't sleep very long. It all works itself out! Your baby is still very tiny!

Sleep when he sleeps...easier said then done...

I know it's hard to wake up every 3 hours to feed your baby but I do not recommend to give him more than 4 ounces right now. If you give your baby more than what he actually needs, he will throw a lot more and it's dangerous. I had the same problem when my baby was born, the Dr. first gave her some medicine for the reflux and when she got a little bit better the baby started to ask for more formula...you will know your baby's crying. Also the Dr. recommended Enfamil AR (Anti Reflux) and that helped my baby too.
Continue to keep him up for at least 30 minutes after eating and raise the top of his bed a little bit.
My baby got much better after 3 months...you will see the change!!!!
Just be patient and good luck!!!

Hi T. I know what u going thru I'm a mom also of 6 m/o and 5 year old my litter one has acid reflux she is taking Zantac morning and night try to sit the baby on ur legs on the sitting up position she will burp like that and she still hunger give her more milk 4 or more onzes us fine as long she take it. Good luck and congratulations

too much food could prevent sleep due to overstuffed belly pain and especially reflux. the more you feed the more you stretch the belly muscle and the more food they require, so i don't see the logic. i think less is more in the instance, given the medical condition. feed less but more often and forego sleeping fullnights for now. they are only babies and completely dependant on you for comfort for a short while. enjoy being needed right now and get some help if you need more sleep. my hubby use to take the evening shift with a pumped bottle on hand so i could get 4-6 hours in. if you are getting more than that with a newborn you are blessed. plus frequent waking is a survival reflex. newborns who go long periods without interaction or food are more at risk for SIDS and other ailments. read this:
"Encouraging a baby to sleep too deeply, too soon, may not be in the best survival or developmental interest of the baby. This is why new parents, vulnerable to sleep trainers' claims of getting their baby to sleep through the night, should not feel pressured to get their baby to sleep too long, too deeply, too soon." http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070200.asp

Hi T.,
In my experience as a mother of two (the youngest is 4 weeks old)and a practicing naturopathic doctor, you can not increase the feeding quantity ahead of the growth of the stomach or your child His stomach is about the size of his fist and in general babies will drink 1 ounce more than their age in months per feeding. So, if your son is two months, he will drink an average of 3 ounces per feeding. With this in mind, he is already eating more than I would expect. I'm also curious about the acid reflux diagnosis. It is not uncommon for babies to throw up after feedings, it does not necessarily mean acid reflux. Have you tried having him sleep on one of the wedges that keeps his head up? Generally a 15 degree incline is recommended to ease acid reflux. I hope this is helpful.

Sounds familiar:-) I learned something from a co-worker, whose pediatrician told her that boys' esophagus is not fully developed, not as long, at birth (girls are - don't know the reason) and therefore they tend to throw up more. They catch up by about 9 months old. In the meantime, we get to put up with their throwing up. I, too, breastfed and went through the constant feeding - seemed like I never stopped! We, my husband, mother and I, decided that he needed something a bit heavier than breastmilk (he was a big baby - 9 lbs 7 oz) so we tried one of the samples of formula that we were given at the hospital. Bingo - he slept longer. Breastmilk is not as heavy as formula. That doesn't mean that I stopped breastfeeding. I just supplemented with formula. That also gave my husband the opportunity to feed him, too. Just an idea.

PS - I'd go back and ask your pediatrician about the esophagus thing and see what he/she has to say about that - after you look it up on the internet. Funny what they "forget" to tell you. Some of them just hate an educated patient/parent:-0

our duaghter had acid reflux as well. it took her forever to gain weight...course, now at 2, she's at 95% on height and weight and will eat anything you put in front of her :) keep him at an incline when he sleeps. that helps. we bought one of those wedges for her. also, try different positions for him burping. don't put him on his belly after eating though...even sitting up might be too much pressure. he just shouldn't lay flat, maybe a reclines swing or bouncer would work. sitting up can also put pressure on there bellies. after she ate, we had to be careful about how we even held her and couldn't put any pressure her belly at all, like not even touch it :) or everything would come back up. good luck and keep the faith! this too shall pass!

T.,
My first thought was why do you need to increase his feedings? It seems to me that eating 3.5-4 oz is fine for your son. (Can I tell you my 5 month old JUST started 6 oz bottles last week? Up until then, he drank 4 oz bottles when he was bottle-fed. I returned to work and he takes pumped breastmilk.)
I'm sure you're probably exhausted and would love for him to sleep longer stretches, but he probably isn't ready. My son just started sleeping through the night recently, too. My daughter didn't sleep through the night until she was 9 months old!
Both of my children are what my pediatrician referred to as "happy spitters". My 20 lb (breastfed) 5 month old baby son still spits up quite a bit!!! (The pediatrician joked that I must be lying because he's such a chubby boy.) He told me with my daughter that it's mostly a "laundry issue" as long as they aren't uncomfortable and are in "normal" height/weight ratios. It sounds as if you have worked on some of the strategies for reducing spit up. I've found a handtowel instead of a burpcloth helps protect me better from being a target!
Happy Mother's Day... and even though feeding every 3 hours may be difficult right now, it won't last forever and you'll miss those late night quiet sessions where your little man curls his fingers around yours...
T.

T., you need to let your baby let you know when he full. It's very easy for a doctor to tell a mom to make sure that your son eats so many oz but honestly, sometimes it's just too much. I'm not sure why your ped would suggest that your newborn would sleep longer with more in his belly. Most babies (I have 3) don't sleep through the night until they are at least 6 months old. I exclusivley breastfed my first 2 daughters and they woke up every 2-3 hours to nurse. With my 3rd child, he had a weak suck reflex and because he wasn't gaining weight, I had no choice but to supplement with formula. I had the first hand opportunity to see if formula fed babies really do sleep better than breastfed babies and I can tell you from my experience that formula fed babies still get up during the night just like a breastfed baby. So with that said, let your baby decide when he is full. Like you said, he throws up after his feedings. Wouldn't it make sense to feed him until he decided he is full than to force feed him something that will just come up anyway?

T.
Read Baby Wise. i had my son on a scheudle of sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old and then 3-4 hours during the day. it really works.

Hi T.,

I am also a new mom to a little girl who will be seven weeks old tomorrow. First of all, I think that all babies are different and nothing that works for one will work for all. My daughter does not have reflux although she does spit up sometimes. I just wanted to offer you encouragement because I was beginning to worry that she wouldn't sleep more than 3 hours at night because everyone kept telling me about their babies who did it earlier and because I started back to work last week and really need the sleep. Starting on Saturday night and every night since then she just started sleeping 6 hours, even when she has had a small feeding. I was completely amazed and shocked (and ecstatic!!). I think babies are going to do what they want when they are ready despite all of our best efforts to try to make them do what we want.

My daughter always falls asleep while eating so I try to burp and change her diaper in the middle to keep her up a bit longer. I don't really think it's a good idea to force your son to eat more than he wants to. Just be patient and try to appreciate these times - he will be big before you know it. Good luck!

P.S. Despite what your ped says, I think that is a reasonable amount. From what I've read, babies at that age consume between 20 - 30 oz per day so if you are feeding 8 times (every three hours) that would be about 3 - 3.5 oz per feeding. Seems like he is right on course. If you try to feed more than that, you are essentially putting him in a food coma (if you know what I mean). You are over-filling him so that he is just so stuffed that he has to sleep. This does not seem really healthy to me... Just my opinion.