Formula Feed amounts, calling all mums of 4 month old ff babies

[Natzer]

Hi

I have been feeding my 4 month old DD in accordance with the feeding amount guidelines on the side of the SMA tin. However, she is huge and people keep commenting on how big she is and how well fed she is, to the point where its making me a bit paranoid (i'm big myself size 18/20, think people look at me and look at her and think blimey shes fat, and she overfeeds her baby too, which makes me cross and a bit upset).

I know babies are chubby and that as soon as she starts crawling, walking etc and that its when shes a little older that food choices will outline her future size.

For example, she has 5 feeds a day of 7 ounces which is what is outlined on the tin.
Annabel Karmel says that babies only need about 20oz of milk up to age 6 months. I read a comment on something else that babies should have no more than 32 oz per day.

She drains each and every bottle and i'm sure she would have more if given.

Sorry for mammoth post, i'm just interested in how much others feed their four month olds.

[springboksaplenty]

I'm not sure I'm the best to answer this as it was at this time I realised that I had misread the tin and was overfeeding by two bottles (seven bottles of seven ounces and dear god I worked hard at getting those last two bottles in) .

My son is a big lad but proportionally so - at that time though he was getting far heavier than his length iyswim. If you are worried look and see how he is doing along his percentiles. If he is crossing percentiles then perhaps you need to change what you are doing. My cousin had this problem too (what is it with my family?) but what she did was water down her dd bottle to that she was still getting enough water but just less formula.

Not sure if all that waffle helps...

[theborrower]

Firstly - have a word with your health visitor, they can help you and advise about how much to give, and tell you if your baby is overweight or not. Chances are she's probably fine!

For babies up to 6 months, I was advised by the HV and a BF clinic to go by weight - to work out how much they need in a day, multiply their weight in lbs by 2.5. So, a 10lb baby will need 25 ounces. Then divide this by the number of feeds (e.g. if 5 feeds, that's 5 ounces). This is, of course, just a rough guide as some babies may want a bit more, some a bit less. It's also a good idea to make an extra ounce or two per feed, as sometimes they may be hungrier at a particular feed. Once your baby is regularly draining a bottle, make them bigger by an ounce and so on. I found this worked well for us.

Oh, and the guidelines on the SMA tin also go by weight - ignore the age guideline unless your baby actually is around the weight they say a baby is at a particular age. Look at the weight bit instead.

Give your baby milk when she's hungry and let her have what she wants - don't try and force her to finish a bottle, for example. Some babies like to suck for comfort, so if you suspect that she't not hungry (she's just had a big feed, but is still whining) try a dummy?

Never water down formula for a young baby. They need the nutrition from their milk.

Oh, and there's a growth spurt around 4 months I'm sure, so she will want extra milk anyway!

Hope that helps :)

[RitaMorgan]

I think Annabel Karmel means 20oz a day from 6 months - eg a baby aged 6-12 months on solids.

[starynight]

Hi my dd was taking 5 7oz bottles a day at 4months shes now 5months and takes between 7 and 8oz 5 times a day. My other two were exactly the same my two year old is off the chart on the weight graph in there red book but the health visitors looked and can see there both following the pattern of there seven year old brother who was of the chart at two years 5hen as soon as he started nursery he lost it all and had been in the correct weight range ever since. There all diffrent mine are all born small then go of the chart ive never had a health visitor be concernd about there weight.

[wigglesrock]

Natzer Is that 5 feeds in 24 hours, do you know how much she weighs now? Give your HV a ring and ask her to weigh and measure your babys length. My dd3 is now 6 months old and all of a sudden looks huge, but I had her weighed and measured a few weeks ago and she's dead on - a little bit light for her height but she's really long

I also upped my feeds by an ounce if they drained the bottle, but I never made them finish a bottle, I was just led by them and how hungry they were at a particular time, my dds could happily go ages in the morning/early afternoon without a bottle but as soon as it hit 3pm it was feed me more time!

[Natzer]

Thanks ladies, I havent had her weighed for a while because I think at the time it made me a bit more paranoid and I also have to travel quite far to the clinic to get her weighed. However, I will call the HV tomorrow and get her booked in.

The only time she doesnt drain a bottle is when she is so tired she falls asleep at the end and can't be bothered.

Because she feeds every 3 hours during the day she rarely cries for hunger, unless maybe we are out and her feed is a bit late.

She does however sometimes cry at the end of a bottle, but I thought this was because of wind because as soon as I get her upright and start winding her she stops. (only ever cries for about 10 seconds). Maybe she is still hungry....

wigglesrock yes 5 feeds in 24 hours, 7am, 11am, 1pm, 4pm and then 6pm.

[RitaMorgan]

If she was hungry she wouldn't be going through the night without a feed.

[wigglesrock]

Natzer she sounds like a dream, am very