Can eat 11oz at once... time for cereal?

[cookie cookie]

Just wondering... my DD seems to want to eat more after her 8oz bottle at her bedtime feed. She cries for more when she reaches the end of the bottle and if we offer her more she will take another 2-3 oz. She is 4 months 1 week old and weighs 16 pounds 12 ounces and is 25 inches long. My DH and I are wondering if she is just using the bottle as a soother before bed... we are putting her to bed awake once she is done... or is she really still hungry? We just started using the PU/PD method to train her to fall asleep and we are noticing on the nights we only give her 8 oz at bedtime she will cry and fuss for about 40 minutes while we do the PU/PD and then she falls asleep out of exhaustion. On the nights we offer her more milk if she is fussing she will take more and then go right to sleep when we put her in the crib without a peep. It's only been five days that we've been doing the PU/PD with her so could this just be a coincidence??? She eats 7-8 oz at her other three mealtimes. She doesn't seem to want more at these mealtimes. In total for the day she'll have 30-36 oz and has occassionally had 40 oz. Does anyone think we should be introducing cereal now? Or wait a bit longer? Is it okay to give her 11 oz at one feed? Thanks for any advice. Sydnee's Mom.

[LindseysMom]

I think that it is ok to have that much if she needs/wants it.  I would not start cereal yet unless she is showing signs of readiness.  I will post a site to look at that has some info about readiness signs. 

http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babyfeeding/1400680.html#3

Hope that helps.

[cookie cookie]

Thanks Lynne for the info. I had a look and I don't think my DD is ready yet according to the list you provided. I will wait on the cereal but am glad that you think it is fine to feed 11 oz at one feed. I will continue to give her as much as she wants if that helps her fall asleep with ease once we lay her down in her crib! Too bad the bottles only come in 8 ounces though as I have to prepare two bottles now... one 8 and one 4 oz!

[Deb_in_oz]

hi - is she sleeping through the night after the 11oz or does she have a DF as well??

just curious because she seems to know to stock up at the last feed only so maybe she is just a smart kid  :wink:

i think this larger feed is fine and i would say preparing 2 bottles is better anyway because you might find some nights she only wants the 8oz and you don't need the extra.  also kids go through growth spurts on their own timetable so she might just need the extra calories every now and then - as long as she is not sucking asleep for comfort and she is not uncomfortable / spitting it back up i think it is fine.

funnily enough - after posting this my lo ate 12 oz for her last feed!!! she took 8oz before her bath and Dh said she was still hungry and she took another 4 oz after bath !! he was sure she would have taken more if offered but i said leave her - she can have more at DF if she is hungry still. this is a first for us - the only difference was that for a change she had to wait 3 1/2 hrs for feed b/c did not have bottle ready...  :lol:  who knows!

[cookie cookie]

Hi Debra,

Yes, she sleeps through the night. She has since 9 1/2 weeks. No dreamfeed. I used to give her the dreamfeed until she started sleeping through the night but she didn't seem to need it anymore at that point. I always made sure she cluster fed before bed when she was at that age. She sleeps from about 8:30-9:30pm until about 7-8am. We are very fortunate. My friends all say its luck but I tell them its my whispering skills... lol.  Of course they all think I'm crazy.

I'm going to go with your guess about the stocking up at last bottle... she must just be a smart kid. My DH likes that idea! 

I guess I will just prepare the two bottles for bedtime and just feel it out each night. I'm afraid that she is sucking a bit for comfort but she doesn't spit it back up and I do put her in the crib awake so I guess I'll just keep an eye on her and see where it all goes. Maybe she is having a bit of a growth spurt? I thought that wasn't until 6 months? Oh well... lots to learn about the lo. Glad to hear your lo also had a stocking up before bed too. Maybe it is a natural thing for some babies!

[opp2]

If you don't want to waste formula, mix one bottle, and put your boiled water in another. Then if she is still hungry, mix up the other. I don't know where you feed her. For my lo we take two bottles of boiled water and enough formula to mix to bottles to bed with us. Then when he wakes up I mix up one on the spot and if I need it I use the other.

[cookie cookie]

Good tip, thanks!