how do LO become snackers?

[arial]

My LO has not been consistently finishing his breastmilk in bottle for at least the past month or so.  According to the pediatrician, he should be drinking 28-32 oz per day (because of his age).  There are days he only drinks 24 oz.  I do not find a pattern for him not finishing his bottles.  He is supposed to be drinking 4 bottles of 6 oz of breastmilk and 1 bottle of 8oz of formula at night (dreamfeed).  What I have been doing is giving him the rest of the bottle. that is if he does not finish it, soon after his nap (he usually naps after his A).  Would this cause him to be a snacker?    I initially thought that he would eat poorly for his next bottle if I offered him the rest of the bottle so close to his next E, but I have not seen this happen consistently.  I notice that regardless of whether I do that or not, sometime he finishes the next bottle and sometime he does not.

[Samuel's mum]

Congratulations on keeping up with the pumping.

'Snacking' is very much a matter of perception. The senior midwife who ran my birth centre and took my breastfeeding class said you should always offer both sides to prevent snacking and of course this doesn't fit with Tracy's experience and lots of experiences of people on this site! A newborn might go through a spurt and feed every 1.5 hours or even more frequently and that wouldn't be necessarily snacking as long as his mother was responding to hungry cues. Some people would say a baby still feeding every 2.5 hours at 4 months is definitely snacking - others would be perfectly content with that.

What I have been doing is giving him the rest of the bottle. that is if he does not finish it, soon after his nap (he usually naps after his A).  Would this cause him to be a snacker?    I initially thought that he would eat poorly for his next bottle if I offered him the rest of the bottle so close to his next E, but I have not seen this happen consistently.

To be perfectly honest I'm not sure I completely understand your description. Are you doing EASY? If so, wouldn't he be having his feed after his nap anyway? Are you doing a form of EAEASY? Perhaps if you give a rough outline of his schedule it might be clearer?

I don't think there's anything wrong with doing EAEASY if it works for you and means he sleeps better and is more content.

If you are pumping you may find that his amount varies because your milk varies in consistency through the day e.g. morning milk might be richer and higher in fat content so he might take less.

[arial]

Thanks for your help.  Yes... I am doing some form of EAEASY and sometimes we do EASYEA.  It really depends on him.  I really do not have a set time for his naps because he has never quite conform to any routine 100% since he is a spirited LO.  His naps tend to be short, 45 minutes or so, that is why when he wakes up and is still two hours before his next meal, I give him the bottle and see if he wants to finish it.

[Samuel's mum]

I think if it works for you doing EAEA then I wouldn't worry too much. Just keep offering the bottle and try to get him to take as much as you can with the 'main feed'. Give him the minimum at the mini-feed.

One other thought is that you might want to change the 'speed' of the teat. I would suggest you ask on the bottle-feeding board but just remember your LO will take less milk than formula feeders as they need less quantities of ebm than formula.

[LyndaManus]

The ounces are just a guideline.  Formula is going to fill your lo up more than breastmilk, so if you are doing the df as formula he is going to take less than if he was bf for all feedings.  Do you also bf directly?  If so, there is no way to know for sure how much he is getting through the entire day.  My ds eats way more at night when he is with me and less in the day while at daycare.

As long as he is where he should be weight wise, you have no worries (especially with him being so close to the range that the dr gave you for ounces)