How much formula? 2oz yesterday, guzzled 4oz today

[ldyke]

My little boy was 3 weeks yesterday, and had been bottle fed for the past week. He was having 2oz every 3 hours, waking up himself for it like clockwork, looking milk'drunk' after 2oz. He woke up 1 hour late last night,and then in turn shifted his times and missed the equivalent of 1 feed.But since 9am today he has drained the full 4oz every 3 hours. (We have a perfect prep machine so it has always made 4 oz ) is 4 oz too much? Should I just stop him at 2 oz or 3oz?

Any advice appreciated, I feel clueless about bottles- I intended on breastfeeding but my little man couldn't do it :s

[dementedpixie]

Could be a growth spurt so I'd keep feeding him what he wants

[Fitzsimmons]

On average, a baby needs 2.5 ounces for every pound they weigh in 24 hours, so a 10lb baby would need around 25 ounces in a day if you see what I mean. However every baby is different and some need more, others less. If he is draining a bottle I would up the amount to 5 Oz, he is probably having a growth spurt and needs the extra temporarily. Hope that helps x

[Want2bSupermum]

At 3 weeks my second was drinking about that. Watch for signs of fullness. You don't want to over feed with formula because they gain weight more easily. The goal is to fill the stomach and let it empty so aiming to feed every 3 hours is a good goal. Generally at 8 weeks mine have been able to move to 4 hour feeds with the last at 10/11pm and sleep through until 5/6am. On this schedule they take a 6oz bottle but only consume about 5-5.5oz at each feed. You don't want to empty the whole bottle otherwise the gas is much worse.

[ldyke]

Thank you, that seems so logical. I'm just still extremely nervous about his feeding after spending the 1st 2 weeks in and out the hospital because of his poor feeding.

[Snowflake16]

My dd is a day older and has been taking 4oz (120ml) for over a week now every 3-4 hours so it seems about right. I do worry about over feeding her but I try to stick to 150-200ml per kg of body weigh per day. So at 3.7 kg she gets a max of 740mls per day.