Is Increased Appetite In Premature Baby Normal?

Posted on Mon, 8 Dec 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 8 Dec 2014 Answered on

Fri, 2 Jan 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi,
My baby was born prematurely at 27 weeks on 5 Aug at 1.05 kg. Currently he is around 3 kg and on formula feed. I have read that according to his weight the average feed quantity is around 480-700 ml per day. But he is not satisfied with this and the average feed goes upto 900 ml per day. Please suggest is this a problem or is fine

Answered by Dr. Diptanshu Das (42 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Demand likely to be more for preterm low birth weight babies

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.

Your child has been born preterm and very low birth weight. Hence his weight needs to catch up with the normal by 1 year of age. Naturally the demand of feeds for such babies is higher. 900 ml is absolutely normal for such a preterm baby of 4 months of age. The weight gain is also normal with respect to the lag.

You may give even more if the child demands and it is absolutely fine to be given. In fact, the more the baby demands, the better.

Please do not worry.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Bhagyalaxmi Nalaparaju