Recently transitioned from breast to bottle - help??

[EmmyGsMummy]

Hi there,

I have recently made the transition from breast to bottle as of last Saturday for my almost 7 month old DD. She is fully weaned on pureed food and is a very good eater. She has taken to the bottle well (mainly formula with occasional expressed milk) but I am worried about how much to give her. On the day of the transition I expressed when my DD normally would have fed but my yeild was only 2oz and this continued throughout the day. I am aware that she needs significantly more than what she has probably been getting therefore I have increased the bottled amount. Here is what I have been doing -

6am - bottle 6oz
7.30 - breakfast (porridge & fruit)
10am - bottle 3-4oz
12-1pm - lunch (veg & fruit)
3pm - bottle 3-4oz
4.30-5pm - Dinner (veg & fruit)
6-6.30pm - bottle 6oz

She drains every bottle, but the one time that I gave her more than 6oz in the morning she was sick (yuck, formula puke is not nice!). I am doing it right? And do the amounts sound okay?

I must admit that I am a late comer to BW and my DD has only been on the E.A.S.Y routine for 3-4 weeks so we are both still trying to get our heads around the changes.

Any comments/advice would be gratefully recieved x

[Lolly]

Welcome!

From 6 months babies need a minimum of 20oz of formula with their solids and the dairy in their food counts towards the 20oz. She is gettiing the minimum she needs but a few oz more would give you a bit of a "cushion" for bad eating days. Milk is more important than solids until she is 1 so you don't want her intake dropping for a while yet.

Really if she is draining bottles then you should increase them, there should be a bit left in the bottle at the end of a feed so you know they have stopped because they are full and not just because the bottle is empty. If the bottle she puked back up as when you first transitioned I would try increasing her bottles by 1oz and see how she does - it could have been a coincidence she was sick or her tummy getting used to formula feeds!

What do you think?

Laura

[EmmyGsMummy]

Thank you for the advice, it makes complete sense.

I have increased her morning and night bottles to 8oz and she has left 1oz in the bottle. I think I am worrying a little too much about the little amount that I was producing, to the visable amount that I can now see she is drinking. She has not been sick since, so like you say it must have been a coincidence.

For such a little girl, she has the biggest of appetites. I think ill have to change her name to little miss piggy!

Thank you again