How much formula for mixed feeding newborn?

[sem2018]

After a difficult recovery and to give myself a little break, I have decided to introduce one formula bottle in the evening for my breast fed DS. The midwife advised me to give no more than 60ml as it would stretch his stomach, however he wasn't satisfied after this and I had to top up with breast milk! It defeated the object of DP giving the formula, does anyone have any experience with mixed feeding and how much I can give? He is a big 9lb baby!

[AssassinatedBeauty]

I'd give him whatever amount he wanted to take, I think. Which might be different each time. I would look into doing paced bottle feeding and not use free flow teats as well.

[Bryonie2017]

I mix fed from birth but bear in mind DD is small (7lbs at term) she had a 60ml for her first few weeks, went up to 90 for what felt like ages and then was at 120 for a bit before I went exclusively ff.

Advice I got from the hospital (nicu baby) was that there should always be some milk left over, if they are finishing bottles then make bigger bottles! Provided you have a slow flow teat you should be fine, and if they have too much they tend to chuck it up ime.

Limiting bottles seems like very strange advice to me!

[susiegrapevine]

Just make a bigger bottle like others have suggested sorry i don't know ml but maybe 3oz. Use the slowest flow teat as otherwise they get lazy and may not be as effective at the breast. Also i am guessing you are doing evening so your dp can help but you should really try and avoid that. Babies tummies work harder to digest formula so it can make them unsettled at night. If you can't avoid evening then just as early in the evening as possible and certainly not the last feed before bed. Good luck op and remember you are doing an amazing job!

[Bishi44]

Try making up a larger bottle, but I'd really recommend this link about paced feeding
kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/feeding-tools/bottle-feeding/

[seafooodplatter]

My newborn (just short of 9lb) was formula fed from birth and was taking 90ml (3oz) every 2-3 hours by a week old.

This quickly went up to 120-150ml (4-5oz).

Limiting the amount seems quite odd advice at that age as they can't really be over fed. They either drink it if they are hungry or they don't if they're not. Or they will throw it back up if they have taken too much in their sleep.

They are satisfied with what they are given when they are just leaving a tiny amount in the bottom of the bottle. If they drain the bottle dry, or they are leaving a large amount of milk, the amount needs to be adjusted accordingly.

[Marcine]

Of course they can be overfed! That's one of the risks of bottle feeding.

[seafooodplatter]

Over feeding at that age is very rare. They take what they need.

[tumtitum]

When I was giving expressed milk my lactation consultant said to give 30mls for every kg of body weight. With breastfeeding they do a lot of comfort sucking, so we would give the bottle then a dummy

[InDubiousBattle]

How old is he? When did you introduce f?

[Gierg]

I understand limiting if you don't want to end up with bottle preference and want to continue breastfeeding.

I would give 60ml and if they are still hungry breastfeed them. If you're having good nappy output and weight no need to put more In the bottles.

We combifeed and at 5 months I give 120ml twice a day and breast feed on demand around that. We have good weight gain and good wet and dirty nappies so I have never felt like him emptying bottles means he needs more bottle, I just breastfeed him more!

[Gierg]

Oh ffs just properly read this! Try an extra 30ml on top of what you have given and see if that's enough. If not try another 30ml the next day.

I think you do have to be a little careful of creating a bottle preference though if you want to continue breastfeeding.

[coffeeforone]

We mix fed for the first 6 weeks, 60ml of formula/EBM twice a day for the first two weeks, then 90ml 3 times a day for weeks 3-6. We did prefer FF in the end, so swapped over entirely at 6 weeks.

Is your aim to mix feed indefinitely then I’d minimise the bottle to maybe 60ml twice a day max, as IME baby seemed to develop a preference very quickly.