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Thread: Questions, is this normal?0

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
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    Question Questions, is this normal?0

    Hi!👋🏻 We have once again been blessed with a new little man we named Bandit.
    He was 3 days out of the dray when we picked him up. The people who found him had been giving him a little homemade hydration consumed via dropper & licked from a finger. Was kept warm enough to not be cold, but just enough. We've rehydrated & continue to do so along with Esbiliac formula. We guessed he was around 4 weeks old based on his eye slits looking like they would open any day (One eye opened this morning!) & completly furry, including belly. We figured he would be smaller than normal given his situation. On our day 2, we weighed him & it was just under 3oz. Day 4 was 3oz, day 5 maxed out our tiny hand held hanging scale at 3oz. He hasn't lost weight, but our scale only goes to 3oz, so I don't have an exact weight. I wanted to get opinions on how to weigh him & with what? His formula was started at 3:1 ratio & now it's 2:1, plus 2 additional pedialyte feedings a day. He eats like a champ, zero backwash, pees & poops without stimulation. He's active when I wake him for feedings & will crawl to get to a different spot in his basket. He makes small grunt like sounds on occasion. I have a few questions other than the weight question I underlined above. I'll try to post pics with what days they were taken with hope it will help give you some input.
    1. He often climbs & wiggles his way to get as close as possible to the heating blanket. He doesn't feel cool!90
    2. Along the same lines, he likes his food to be very warm. If it cools too much, he won't take any more even if it is at the beginning of his feedings. Is it ok to feed him very warm food?
    3. He "sucks" on his blankets. It sounds like he's smacking his lips. He will paw at a spot just like he's nursing. He will also do this to your finger, but he actually bites down pretty good with sharp top & bottom teeth. Is this normal? Am I worrying too much about this?
    4. The syringes we use are marked with the name EXCEL & are 6 ml/cc per syringe. He is eating one (1) & a half to two (2) syringes (both hydration & 2:1 formula) about every 4 hours & goes 6 hours overnight. Is that a good amount?
    5. When he latches on to eat, he always wants to turn almost on his side. It doesn't seem to bother him & as I said before, no back flow. Should I let him or force him to stay upright?
    6. How does his size, proportions & overall look in general seem to be to you? I've had several people say his head & feet look too big for his body, sorta dwarf like.
    That's all I nan f
    Melissa <---- Monster & Bandit's mommy
    Monster - 8/1/12 - 1/3/14 (pneumonia)
    Mommy LOVES you & misses you SO, SO much! You are ALWAYS in my HEART!

    Bandit - found 3/7/16! Guessing about 4weeks old

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Florida
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    Default Re: Questions, is this normal?0

    I'll only be on a couple minutes but here are a few answers.

    You need to get a kitchen scale that weighs in grams. They are inexpensive. You can get one between $10-20 depending on what you want to spend. He needs to take between 5-7% of his body weight per feeding. Example: a 100g baby would take between 5-7 ml per feeding.

    The baby NEEDS the heat. When they are young they can't regulate their body temperature so they need a heat source. A no-shut off heating pad should be under 1/2 of the bin on LOW.

    They need the formula warm. You are correct that they won't take it if it's too cool.

    You need to get a smaller syringe. There is a large risk for aspiration with a syringe that large. Preferably a one CC syringe but no more than a 3cc.

    You should feed him with his head up and tail down. Do not tilt him back as formula will go in the lungs and cause aspiration pneumonia.

    Others will sound in. Gotta go.

  3. Serious fuzzy thank you's to HRT4SQRLS from:

    Smartsgirl (03-22-2016)

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