3 month old eating only 10 oz during the day

[lshmmsy]

My LO is 13 weeks and I returned to work for about two weeks now. He would only have 3 feedings between 9am to 5pm, at most taking in 10.5 oz pumped milk during the day. I typically nurse him 3 to 5 times from 7 pm to 8 am. Sometimes he even refuses to nurse at 8am.
At the beginning I was worried that he didn't not eat enough during the day so I nursed him as much as he like during the night. But after two weeks I realized that he did not need 5 feedings during the night so I tried to cut one feeding out. He seems to be OK with that.
But I am still worried that he does not have enough to eat during the day so he would never drop his frequent night wakings.

What are your suggestions? How can I get the baby to eat more during the day from bottles?
Thanks!

[*Ali*]

Hi. Sounds like he is reverse cycling. See here for more info. http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/reverse-cycling/
Is he offered more in each bottle than he drinks? If not I'd offer more? What about doing it in 4 bottles instead of 3? At 13wks we'd expect him to be eating at least every 3hrs.

2 weeks is still quite a short time for him to adjust to being away from you and only having a bottle. It should get better in time.

Paced feeding may also help http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/feeding-tools/bottle-feeding/

[lshmmsy]

Thanks for the reply!
He can definitely stay for 4 hours or sometimes even 5 hours without needing to feed again. We typically try multiple times during the day to feed him but he is just no interested. Now typically we have to feed him when he is drowsy. We are doing the paced bottle feeding.
I forgot to mention he started bottle feeding without any problems since week 2 but gradually he liked the breast more than bottles when he got pass week 9-10.

[*Ali*]

He can definitely stay for 4 hours or sometimes even 5 hours without needing to feed again. We typically try multiple times during the day to feed him but he is just no interested. Now typically we have to feed him when he is drowsy.

Yes, that will be the reverse cycling. He is not feeding enough in the day so he is making up for it at night. He is eating so much at night that he isn't hungry in the day. His feedings intervals are the opposite of what we would expect. He is basically holding out for the breast at night so he is just taking the minimum he needs in the day.
It's hard when you have to work and he prefers feeding from you. You can either carry on as you are or you can try to limit what he gets at night so he will take more in the day. Typically we would expect at least 5 feedings 7am-7pm (every 3hrs) and then 1-2 BFs at night (DF 10-11pm plus maybe another NF 2-5am).

What happens on days you don't work? Do you BF him all day or still use bottles? If you BF him I would perhaps try to get as many BFs in in the day as you can and then resettle him without feeding for some of the NWs that night.

How does he fall asleep? Can he self-settle at all or does he feed or get held to sleep for example? Just wondering if some of the NFs are just a need to get back to sleep.

[lshmmsy]

Thanks Ali for the reply!
When I don't go to work I BF all day and he sometimes eat more and sometimes eat less. There was one time he preferred a bottle over the breasts. We were travelling that my breast got too full and perhaps it was difficult for him to suck on. But he generally still eat 2-3 times during the day even if I breast feed. He would cluster feed before his bed time 9 pm. I now need to feed him twice during the night, one time around 1:30 to 3am, the other time around 5:30 to 6:30am. This is very doable but I do need to breastfeed him to sleep each time. I tried dreamfeed a few times but it seems that it wouldn't reduce the nightfeeds. Plus because he cluster feed between 7 to 9pm. I usually do not have too much milk left for the DF.

[*Ali*]

Glad to hear the NFS have dropped from 5 to 2 feeds. As you say that is much more reasonable.most babies will feed to sleep for NFs at this age. I wouldn't worry about that.

He's nearly 4mo now isn't he? So I'd work on feeding at least every 4hrs in the day, plus the cluster feed at BT and if he wakes within 4hrs of a feed at night I'd see if he will resettle without a feed. If he won't and seems hungry though then he probably is.

It might help to work on independent sleep in the day if he isn't going down alone then. Feel free to start a post on the sleep boards (probably general sleep) if you want specific help with that

[lshmmsy]

Thanks again! Yes he is 4 month minus 5 days old. He still takes only 8-10 oz during the day. Last night we started unswaddling him since he has broken out of his swaddle for many nights. He woke up a few more times than usual, and pacifier seems to do the trick if it is less than 4 hours since last feed.

[*Ali*]

Which feeds are you including in the 10ozs?

[lshmmsy]

The day time feeds typically between 9am to 5pm. I usually would feed him around 8am but he doesn't always take it.

[*Ali*]

Ok so if he has an average of 3.5oz across those 3 feeds and takes the same at the other 3-5 bfs he gets morning and night then he would be having 21-28oz a day which is well within the normal range of 19-32oz (average 25) for a  bevy aged 1-6mo.