Eating Less with Transition from 3hr Easy to 4hr Easy?

[pondofstillwater]

Just wondering if anyone had the same problem with 17 week old baby seems to eat less during the transition from 3hr Easy to 4hr easy.

My DD has always done well with 3hr Easy since she was 6 weeks old. Her routine was so much like the book.

Couple weeks ago she showed sign of not interested in food at 3hr so I started transition. It has been 2 weeks now and we are doing quite alright. She is still able to STTN which she had done since 10 week old.

WHat I don't understand is that she seems eating less now. She usually takes 5-6oz per feed on a 3hrly. Her total per day would be 24-26oz. But since the transition, she totally 22oz sometimes less.... and Today at 11am feeding she only took 4.5oz. Her 7am feed was at 6.5oz.

This is our current routine in transition:
E 7am
A 7 - 8:45
S 8:45 - 10:45 (solid nap, sometimes need to wake her)
E 11am
A 10:45 - 12:30
S 12:30 - 2:30 (solid nap, sometimes need to wake her)
E 2:30
A 2:30 - 4:00/4:15 ( depend on if she can handle 1hr 45min A)
S 4:00/4:15 - 5:15 (I don't let it go pass 1hr 15min so to protect her night sleep)
E 5:30
A 5:30 - 6:45
E 6:45
S by 7pm

My questions:
1) Will her tummy get bigger when she is well into 18 or 19 or even 20 weeks so she can take in more at per feed. I calculated that she needs at least 6oz per feed to make a 24oz daily intake on 4hr routine. But at the moment She is doing less than that...

2) She does seem to try to eat more at bed time regardless the small feed(2-3oz) at 5:30. Is this a good sign? Would it continue? Would her feeds even out eventually once she is on full 4hr easy? I am so worried about her intake that I am reluctant to let go of the 5:30 feed.

3) How long should I keep on this routine before trying to push for 2hr A? My baby is angel/textbook kind so she does not really give much cues for either food or tiredness.

4) She just started rolling, would this be why she is not eating too well?

Thank you for your time....

[*Liz*]

I think her feed amounts and total feeds per day are OK, a little on the low side maybe but nothing nasty. How is her weight gain? Any concerns there?

My DS used to drink the most at bedtime, or first thing for always. He was too busy and instructed a lot of the time during the day  . He didn't move to 7+ oz bottles until he was about 10 mths old, I can't tell you what he was like at your LOs age though as I was still BFing then.

I suspect her feeds will even out a bit when she is on a 4 hrly routine.

I'm going to move this post to bottle feeding since it is about feeding. Hope that is OK.

[pondofstillwater]

Thank you Liz,

Now regarding our routine, do you think it is alright? SHould I leave at this and wait for her to jump to 2hrA or force it so we can get on with 4hrly?

She woke at around 5am this morning and only took 2oz bottle. I knew she would do this because she only had 4oz before bed last night. Is it common for LOs to do EW during the transition? Is there anything I can do to help it? Or I should just ride it out? If I knew she took less at bed time should I go in 1-2hr later just to top up like an occasional DF? I never did DF.

She is gaining weight steadily so I guess I should not worry about the intake.

Sorry about all the questions.

[RachelC]

How has she been with transition so far?  Given her angel/textbook personality, I would be tempted to just jump to the 4 hr EASY and see what happens, you aren't that far from it as it is.  The EW could be caused by not quite enough A time during the day.

[pondofstillwater]

Hi Rachel,

Thanks for your reply...

She is doing ok. Her early waking is not consistent so I am not certain they are totally due to the transition. She woke at 4am this morning took a 4oz bottle, drained it and wanted more but I did not want to go upstairs and leave her crying so I shush pat her back to sleep till 7am. This is after her STTN the night before. See what I mean.... There is no pattern of her waking in the early morning.

I am thinking this could be GS? She just turned 4 month yesterday. But she did not take any more this morning than the usual 5oz.

I am just so worried about going to full 4hr and she miss a feed (5 bottles to 4) then it will be eating in the early morning everyday trying to catch up her calories. SHe never take into DF and I don't see the point to start....

Maybe I am just too concerned about her being able to STTN? It is just that she has been doing that so well on 3hrly EASY. The random waking just started when we began the transition. Really confused about it if I also take the 4 month GS into account... someday she can STTN with only 23oz total during the day, but she will wake for a bottle (like lst night) when she had 25oz yesterday...

Any ideas?

[*Liz*]

If she isn't taking a DF them wake for a bottle on and off will be totally normal, certainly through a GS, and despite what the books say I think babies just do them one and off whenever really!

I would continue with the transition - if you try and stay on a 3hrly too long you will end up in a total mess in a few weeks time.

The 16 week GS does cause a lot of feeding and routine trouble really 

[pondofstillwater]

Thank you Liz,

Much appreciated for your reply and the reply from Rachel. I am a first time mom so am nervous as to what to do when things start to change from what has been.

I will try to bring the last 2 feeds closer to about 30min apart for few days and see how she does. Hopefully that will lead to a easier transition to drop one feed completely...

I sort of agree with you, liz, we can't really control baby's tummy, when they are hungry, they need to be fed....

I believe what you said that baby generally start transition around 16weeks and will generally settles in a 4hrly routine nicely around 18 weeks. Well DD will be 18 weeks in 3-4 days.. so lets see if she takes to 4hrly easy then.

Thank you a lot for advice and sharing your experience.

[*Liz*]

Try the transition and let us know how you get on  .

And you are right that we can't control everything to do with a babies appetite - you will soon see that on solids when they spit it at you and fling the spoon across the room  .

More than happy to help where we can. Being a Mum is a tough job  .