Ages and Amounts of Formula

[Oakley's Mom]

Ds is now 4 months old, 16.5 pounds and 26.5 inches long!  he is now taking full 8 oz bottles at every feed, plus 2 oz snacks before bed!  the daily totals are now over 40 oz's!!

[kymbil]

My DD is 5 1/2mths and has around 18-20 ounces/day.  Up until about 3 weeks ago her weight was going great, born 3.2kg and now 7.5kg.  She didnt gain any for 3 weeks but the paed says she is perfectly healthy and hydrated so who knows.  She used to take about 24 ounces and then dropped to 16.  Now we only give her 3 feeds a day to make sure she is really hungry and we can get in the 18-20 most times.  Hopefully her gain will improve when she starts solids, which she still isnt interested in yet.  I guess some babies just arent big eaters.  She is on losec for reflux also.

Kylie

[MyTwoBoys]

Hello,
my DS is 2.5 months and has been drinking about 6 oz. every 3 hours for the past 3 weeks. He currently sleeps for 6-7 hours at night. During the day while I am at work, he takes 1 bottle of breastmilk and 1 or 2 of formula, depending on when I get home. I am not sure how much he is getting when he breastfeeds at night/on the weekends, but I can't pump 6 oz at a time, only maybe 4 oz. total. Of course, he is much more efficient than the pump, so he may be getting about 6 oz.

He was 6lbs 13 oz at birth and at his last appt was 9# 10oz. I don't know where he fits all that milk! He is only in the 10th percentile for height and weight!

Glad to here there are other babies who like to eat!

Valerie and George

[Julians_mum]

well, im glad to hear that my little one isnt the only one who goes through more formula that seems natural... he eats 6-8 oz every 2 hours.... the health nurse tried to tell me that his belly is only the size of a walnut, but there is just no way that you can fit that much formula inside of a walnut. For a while there he was eating 12 oz right before bed. So i put him on solids. That did wonders, but he still eats every two hours, and peas are gross. Just ask him  :lol: hes a big boy too, but arent babys supposed to be chubby. he was born at 6.12 and now he is almost 17lbs.... he better learn how to walk by the time he is six months old, because he is going to be far too heavy to carry 

[happychick2003]

Hi

I had a review with my HV yesterday and she said a baby should take in no less than x2.5 of it's body weight - now whether she meant no more than that as well I'm not sure but if a baby is hungry you should feed it and if it doesn't want it it won't take it - well seemingly

[kellyhushhh]

My Ds takes 5-6 ounces of Formula every three hours and is 6 weeks on Saturday and weighs approx a little over 11lbs .When do they move to 4 hours? xx

[Lilachawk]

My daughter is 7 weeks old and only takes 3.5 oz feeds every thre to three and a half hours, I cant help but feel this isnt enough even though she is growing she hasnt been weighed since she was 2 and a half weeks old (she had put on nearly a pound from her birth weight of 6ils) so I dont know howmuch weight she has actually put on.
I feed her when she is hungrey and she lets me know when she is done so I dont see how I could get her to take more! She has been 'sleeping through' for the past 10 days or so, she goes to bed at about 8.30, has a dream feed around midnight and then wakes at about 6 to 6.30am so we havent got any problems, she just seems to be taking such little food in comparacen to most of your babys of a similar age, I know that I shouldnt compare but because I have had thison my mind beforeI read what other babys were taking I just cant seem to help myself!
she was three and a half weeks prem and had afewmedical problems at birth including very bad jaundice, even though she is completly over all her problemsnow do you think this could be effecting her feeding still?

jen

[Oakley's Mom]

kelly - at around 4 months is when the switch is made to a 4 hour EASY routine.  but for bigger babies like mine, we had to make the switch earlier.  We slowly started increasing the naps first,  then started adding 5 minutes here and there to the awake time.  it took 2 or 3 weeks in all to get to a full 4 hours with 2 hours awake and 2 hours sleeping.  It also improved his night sleeping.  It was heaven!  and then he hit a major growth spurt - jumped him to 42oz+ per day!  then we started solids and started teething with a major diaper rash at the same time!  2 weeks of misery!  but we are out of that now and back to the heaven routine!

jen - if your baby is sleeping through the night at such a young age - count your blesssings and know that she is getting enough to eat.  if she wasn't, there's no way she would sleep through.  It's interesting that you chose midnight for the dreamfeed, though... any reason for that?  I'm trying to remember for sure - maybe someone else can help out and jog our memory?  but i THINK i remember reading that tracy says dream feeds done after 11pm will disturb their best night-time sleep and prevent them from sleeping even longer?  is that right?

[Lilachawk]

Thanks for your reply Alana, your right, Tracy does recomend not doing the dream feed after about 11 in her books, the reason we do it a little later (11.30 - 12.30 never later) is that it fits her routine beter and also we did do the DF at 11 for a week or so but found that Heather Mae woke at about 5am where as if we do it that little bit later she will sleep untill 6.30 minimum, yesterday she slept untill 8am! I guess things are diferent with every baby.
Over the feeding I am feeling beter with the amounts she is taking, I think she has just started a growth spurt and is more often then not taking a full 4oz a feed now (so six feeds a day adds up to 24oz). I guess I always knew she was getting enough but you cant help but worry! She is going to well baby clinic late next week for her first set of jabs so I will get her current weight then and I am sure that will completly put my mind at rest. Thanks again for your help,

jen

[Abi and Bona's mom]

I'm new to the whole forum thing so please excuse me!  My 6m old DD started solids about 2 weeks ago and only takes about half a small jar at a feeding followed by 4oz of formula 4 times a day!  She used to take 6oz bottles but had decreased since I introduced solids which I'm told is normal.  her naps are now all over the place and very short (30-45 min) and she is quite fussy!  She absolutely refuses to eat more but I can't help but to think she has to be starving! To top it off she's now waking all thru the night and waking my 2 1/2 year old DD I might add.  She was 7lbs 11oz and 19in at birth and is now 16lbs 8oz and 25in so she growing great. Help, I feel like there's a newborn in the house again.

[Oakley's Mom]

abi and bona's mom:  you are actually feeding the right amount!  half a jar is approximately 2.25 oz - and 2 + 4 oz bottle equals the regular 6 oz she used to eat.  also, approx 2 oz per feeding is the proper amount of solids for this age... although will start to increase soon.  we found out the hard way that eating MORE solids at each feeding (which ds was more than happy to do) cut out too much of the bottle - and we are not supposed to cut out quite that much until he has introduced enough foods to actually make a balanced nutritional diet - right now cereal and a coupla veggies doesn't cut it.  his main source of nutrition still has to come from the formula.  so we cut back to 2 oz solids feedings, the bottle amounts went back up a bit more, and things are much better.

as for the wakings, they also go with age due to the constant new milestones they are going through!  i am also getting annoyed with this.  when are they NOT learning something new?  but honestly... be really observant, and you will notice that the days baby is learning something new, that new action keeps getting practiced in their sleep - until it wakes them up!  rolling was the worst! often getting his hands and feet stuck in the crib bars!  and sleep creeping means he is hitting his head too... it goes on and on... now he is doing push ups - getting ready to crawl, but not there yet... and falls over - pushing/hurting his shoulder cuz his arm is up by his head, etc, etc, etc.  then a day or two later he gets comfortable with that movement and can sleep at least one half decent night before learning something ELSE!  *sigh*

[Holly n Harvie]

OMG  Hey Alana!! Its Holly ! ! ! Just joined the other day!!! I got the book and WOW. Thank goodness I have already been doing most of the things suggested so any transitions to Harvies routine have been minimal. i have him on the 3 hourly one at the moment. BUT ! ! Lately he hasn't been finishing his bottles during the day....  :?  I give him 5 / 5oz (140 mls) bottles during the day and a 4oz dream feed around 10pm. He downs his first bottle of the day and his dream feed too!!! But he leaves about 1oz all his other bottles.  :x  I try waiting a bit and letting him play, then try again, I try heating it nice and warm.... any suggestions. ANYONE!!!

[Lizzie's mom]

A few weeks ago, our 3 month old was a pretty good eater...she'd take between 6 and 7 oz. every four hours and then sleep from 8 pm until sometime b/w 5 and 7 am.  But for the past 2 weeks, she's been eating only 3-4 oz. every 4 hours and then waking up several times in the night.  (Even every hour.)  Sometimes she's interested in eating, sometimes she just wants her pacifier (we think).  I'm worried that she's not sleeping as well because she's not eating enough during the day.  Has anyone else had this problem?  Is there any way to solve it?  Dream feed?  I'm scared to try it because I don't want to wake her up and then not be able to get her back down again.

[kellyhushhh]

Ds is taking between 9-11 ounces at 7am, 11am, 3pm and 6.30pm with no dream feed, i stopped the dream feed about 2 weeks ago as i think it was interfering with his sleep.  xx

[Cassiesmom]

Hi!  My dd is 7 weeks ols and has been taking 4-6 ozs every 2.5-3.5 hours since hse was two weeks. Sometimes more and sometimes less. SHe weighrd 8.5 at birth and is now 10.10. My ped said she is fine. He starts cereal at 4 months or 40ozs, whichever comes first. I am seriiosly tempted to put give her cereal now, because she still wakes up in the night and takes 5-6 ozs. He also said the more they eat during the day, the less thy'll eat at night. Our babies are growing, let them eat