My ds is going to be 4 months old next week. He is breastfed and given bottles of ebm. We do not have a routine as to when he gets bottles or breast, it's more to with what's convenient at the time. At 3 mos I tried switching from nursing to exclusively doing ebm bottles, however my supply took a nose dive. After talking with a lactation consultant she said that the 6oz I was giving him was too much. She said at that age babies do not regulate and will eat whatever amount you give them because of their need to suck. Going with that I cut back to 5oz. My ds started to get irritable and was polishing off bottles even quicker. At that point due to my decreasing supply I switched back to nursing and shortly after felt it was back to where it should be. I now feel like I've got a good supply again and have increased bottles back to 6oz. When I do give him bottles he finishes the 6oz in around 5 mins. I've started to notice whether I bf or bottle feed he's not even making 3 hrs between feeds and I've slowly been trying to get him to 4 hrs (he's totally going backwards). He's also waking at night and not falling asleep like he used to during eating. Should I increase his bottles to 7 or even 8oz? He was 9lbs as a newborn and now is around 16 1/4 lbs. I am also thinking of starting rice cereal after his first morning feed. He's showing all the signs he's ready. What would be best to do? Increase the amount of milk at his feedings or start him on cereal, or both?
