Ages and Amounts of Formula

[* Paula *]

How old is your DD?  How many bottles is she having during the day / night?

[huby]

hi
she's 11 weeks on sunday and she drinks at 7am, 11am ish, 3ish, then a bigger fed at 6,30 pm and then wakes once during the night when she'll have another 5 - 6oz

I have no idea if this is enough or not. She seems to be gaining weight steadily and is doing well on the growth charts, but finishes all her milk all of the time, so I wonder if it's filling her up? How can you tell?

[Lolly]

Sounds like she is doing well! If she is gaining weight, has plenty of wet and dirty nappies, settling between feeds then she is getting what she needs! Have you tried dreamfeeding her at all? Most BW babies your LO's age are on 3 hour feeds and move to 4 hours around 4 months. However some do well on 4 hours before. How is she between feeds, what are her naps and activity times like?

The advice I was always given is that if they are draining bottles then you need to increse the size by 1oz so that they can take what they need and a bit spare in the bottle so you know they have finished because they are full not because they can't get any more out of the bottle! Babies are generally pretty good at self regulating and will bring milk back up if they have taken too much.

Laura

[* Paula *]

Sounds like your lo is doing really well with only having 1 night feed  

If she is finishing all of her milk I would up all her bottles to 6 oz and see how she does.  Once she is draining all of those consistently you can then up them again.

You may find that once she starts drining more during the day, that night feed will fall away.

[huby]

thanks ladies. I think I need to up her feed then as she is draining all the bottles. Sometimes she finsihes just before though. I might up the morning and evenings ones.
I'm at my tether's end with her naps.
I have been trying to get her into a routine - even a lose one, but I can't get her to nap past 45 mins cycle at all for love nor money. So it all falls away after her first morning nap 1.5 hours in as she sleeps only for 45 mins and then gets overtired and the rest of the day she's cranky and then cries and cries towards the end of the day.
I'm a bit lost to be honest.

[* Paula *]

I would definitely suggest posting on the naps formum.  45 minute naps can mean that your lo is UT, but it can also be that your lo is not able to transition into the next cycle of sleep on her own, and this is why she is waking up at the 45 minute mark.

You could try W2S, we did this with my lo, we would stay in her room for the first part of her nap, and she would generally start stirring at around the 45 minute mark, we would just put a bit of pressure on her legs and pat / shhh to help her get into the next phase of sleep.

Pop a post on the naps boards, they ladies over there will be able to give you some great advice.

Keep us posted on how you get on with the bigger bottles 

[Pema]

Hi,

Sorry for my english. I am writing from Hungary.
I have a question regarding bottle feeding....or I would say feeding in general.
Our kid is 6 weeks as of today and he takes 4 oz. every 4 hours.....he is like a clockwork.....9am 1pm 5pm 9pm 1am 5am...
he sleeps most of the time, sometimes he has trouble with his winds.

Up until two days ago he gained 0,77 lb a week and now he is 9,52 lb.
I would like to know when and how can we make him sleep more at night ?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Peter the proud father.

[* Paula *]

Hello Peter,

Welcoe to the BW Website.  Congratulations on the birth of your lo.

Sounds like your lo is doing very well with only having 2 feeds through the night.  It is quite common for lo's to take night feeds up around 6-8 months.  Some lo's a bit longer.

Is your lo consistently drinking 4 oz and finishing the bottles?  If so, you could consider upping the amount per bottle to see if your lo will take anymore.

[cath73]

Hi,
I am new to this forum, and wish I had discovered the BW earlier! Feeling very overwhelmed with all the different advice around!! My LO is 11 weeks and weighs nearly 15lbs!! (he was born at 38 weeks weighing 10lb 2 so is a big boy).
I am currently feeding him 6-7oz at 7am, 10,30-11am, 2.30-3pm, 6.30pm then bath and bed (usually unless he is overtired..think I have a 'touchy' baby!) Have always fed him at around 10.30 (but woke him if he was asleep, ) when he would finish between 4-6oz. He then wakes again in the night at around 4am where he then takes another full bottle. So he is having between 36-42 oz in 24hrs.
I have tried to DF but he will only take 2-3oz, whereas if awake would take 7oz, and then will always wake in the night anyway regardless.
The problem I have is that his awake time is quite short,(although naps in his cot are tricky.....a whole other story!!) and he has a tendency to fall asleep on the bottle.......I would also like him to go longer at night, but is that unreasonable to expect at this age? Am just worried that maybe I should be feeding him more frequently as he does not seem to stay awake for very long, but then will I be overfeeding him...............aaargghhh!!
BTW his 'schedule' is a guide and whilst the feeding times don't change, the A and S parts vary considerably!!
Any thoughts would be great,
C xx

[Lolly]

Hi there!

It look like you are feeding him 4 hourly - is that right? Most babies at this age are on a 3 hourly routine because the activity time is too long on a 4hour routine which is probably why you are having trouble with naps and keeping him awake. If he is used to the 4 hours you could stick to it but your cycles would probably be more like EASAES which isn't a problem for now but try not to feed to sleep when his E is close to a S time. Watch his cues and let him lead you for now until his activity time can be stretched over the next few months.

My 2 never took to the dreamfeed so we stopped doing it and just let them wake when they were ready for a feed. They always (DD still does ) woke again anyway so by letting them wake it tends to be just one feed rather than the DF and another. It may be worth a try for your LO if he isn't taking the DF.

HTH!

Laura

[bakershaker]

I was going to say the same thing, I looked back at my DS baby book and he was on a 3 hour easy at 10 weeks. Your LO is probably having to long of a A time..which is making him OT. As far as the amount of formula you are feeding him, that's right on! My son was doing about 40-50 oz of formula a day at that age. He was also a very big boy and grew very fast, so they need as much calories as they can get:)  And as far as the night wakings..at 10 weeks that's good that he is waking 2 times a night! DS woke up 2 times a night till he was 7 months old.If your worried as he gets older, you could try and see if it's habitual waking ( which in our case it was). Good luck~

[cath73]

thank you for your replies. The DF did not go well as he woke halfway through and took ages to settle. Then was up at 12.30, 2.30 and 5am!! The worst night ever! He has been really grumpy today and I have naturally graduated back to 3 hourly feeds which he is finishing every time. Naps have not happened at all though. Think he is OT as did not sleep well last night. Am going to try him on a 3 hr routine and maybe try cluster feeding in the evening. Have just been so worried that I will over feed him............a comment made by a midwife wehen I stopped breastfeeding was that you need to be careful with formula otherwise they will get fat!!! So my poor little lad has been on a diet!!! Wish me luck!!

[bakershaker]

Hugs on the badnight. Don't listen to others! My DS was 22 lbs at 6 months old, and alot of people made comments that he was overfed. He was eating what he needed and eventually slowed down and at age 2 he is a normal 30 lb toddler:0) I wouldn't worry.
Also..dream feeding never worked for us either, cluster feeding did for a little while, but then he got used to it and formed a habit of getting bottles so often. I hope the 3 hour routine will work out much better for you. Good luck~

[Lolly]

Don't worry about overfeeding - people say the silliest things to mums who then take it to heart . My DD is also a big girl - weighed in today at just under 20lbs - if she takes over 25oz a day we celebrate! In fact both mine have thrived on way less formula than they apparently need for their size and I have friends with skinny little babies who can out eat my two! My friends daughter was huge compared to my DS (they are 12 days apart) and she was exclusively breastfed until 6 months.

Also I wouldn't worry too much about cluster feeding try to stick to the 3 hours, they don't really need to cluster after about 8 weeks unless they are going through a growth spurt - although you probably have one coming soon!

Laura

[teilvnav]

Hiya Ladies, I am new to this section of the forum because I stopped BFing this week due to biting. I am feeling rather uncertain with this new way of feeding, as he doesn't seem as consistent as I thought he would be. The first day he took 30 oz, the second day he took 25 oz, and so far today he has taken 15 oz (in three bottles... one to go plus the DF). His dinner bottle is always 8 oz: even when I was BFing, he got an 8 oz bottle at dinner from DH.

Can you give me a general idea of how much an average almost 8 month old will drink in one feeding, as well as how much he should be getting a day? I have heard at least 20 oz, but that doesn't seem like much; if this right? We are, of course (because it never rains, it pours) also teething and getting over a cold. I would just like some average figures so I can feel more confident about what I am doing! I am sure things will start to balance out soon, but for now I am just unsure.