Surely bottle feeding can't be THIS hard ?!

[dontfollowmeimlosttoo]

Hi Everyone

Wanting to love 5 month old from breast to formula ... not sure how often and at what points during the day 🤦‍♀️
Nct feeding line said that they are not sure as usually with breastfeeding it's on demand but she was sure I would work it out when baby was hungry and we would get our own routine ...

Health visitor said he has to have 40-54 ounces in 24 hours

Cow and gate helpline said responsive feed

I am making up bottles constantly baby has 2 ounces .. break comes back to it .. this can go on a while. The most in one feed would be 4 ounces.

I think I'm not giving him the opportunity to be hungry to take a bigger feed but I just don't know how often I Should feed so am just feeding on demand like breastfeeding ( while giving him around 3 breastfeeds a day)

I am so confused please could you share with me how often you bottle feed and in what order you so things . So is it before or after naps or both.

Currently I would feed before a nap and even if that nap was only 30 minutes I would offer breast after .. maybe Iv been feeding too much but surely I can't do this same thing with formula .

@homemadegin thank you yes I think that's the problem I am breastfeeding then topping up with formula an hour later and he isn't hungry but I don't feel I can go any longer because he seems hungry

My dd (who is now 17 so my caveat is it was a long time ago) would never move onto bottle feeding. We used a cup with a soft lip when we had to because it was the only thing that worked.

I also meant to say he will be crying and I will put him to breast but he will back away.. so I will get a bottle then he will happily have 2 ounces it's all very confusing

Presume you tried MAM bottles?

Maybe she just likes little and often, my DS used to love to just hang iut in the boob for ages and it got frustrating at about that age for me too. He did gradually drop feeds once he was on solids so except when he's unwell in the daytime he just has morning and pre-nap feed in the daytime now plus an occasional brief afternoon top-up (still goes bonkers on the boob at bedtime / in the evening due to teething, but anyway). He also got much much much faster at taking in (45 mins one boob at his worst down to 7 mins for 2 boobs, 15 min even if he's sleep feeding). So it really does improve anyway, even if you don't get the bottles to work how you want. Good luck!

If you give up on bottles try a doidy cup, DS liked that at about that age. He then worked out how to use the miracle 360 cup by 7 months, which was even easier as he could just hold it himself. It needs careful washing (always take the rubber bit off to clean), but it's invaluable for water once you're weaning anyway

@homemadegin It's frustrating isn't it I am spending so much money on formula 😂 but then am also breastfeeding too it's all very hard work at the moment. I am desperate to try and get into a 3 or 4 hourly routine but it's so hard with him only having 2 ounces but yes it's a vicious cycle as he always keeps taking such small amounts so it's just a never ending day of feeding lol. I will try and stretch it out see if he will take more when actually hungry . Thank you. Currently using fast flow dr brown for high palate but not sure whether to try something else . We have tried lots ! He is terrible with wide neck ones that are meant to be like the breast which is strange as he is breast fed

MAM bottles great.

I found it really had to get a routine and push for set feed times, it is worth it though. I kept BF morning and bed time, but by the end it was probably comfort only.

If you can get out for a walk or something and try and push to that initial three hours then do a bottle and go from there. I wouldn't worry to much as in a couple of weeks your gonna be adding food in and that will send it all haywire again!!

@MRex can you give formula feeds through that cup then it isn't just water ? Yes considering it as I am so fed up of the test swirling . I would stick to breastfeeding if I could but he is super fussy on it and it was making me isolated as I was worrying about leaving the house due to the constant feeding so using bottles has gave me some sanity back

I should also add that despite me not being keen, I did introduce a dummy for naps and that also helped establish a routine. That sucking was definitely for comfort.

@homemadegin thank you I have tried MAM no luck unfortunately . Thank you I currently do a lot of pram walking but usually when baby is asleep otherwise he seems to cry in there 🤦‍♀️. I wanted to ask when you introduce food do you tend to offer milk feeds at the same time or are they before or after?

@homemadegin I have tried so many times to introduce dummy even again yesterday but he spits it out

Oh I'm still trying to find my food rhythm OP. Others will be way way better than me.

Just now we do
7 am breakfast, 8 ish bottle.
12. Lunch, 1 bottle
4 bottle
530 tea
7 ISH depending on her mood bottle. Bed.

She's dropped the night feed this week, but sometimes still looks for it which takes her milk far to high, up to 30. Been seven days since she needed that so hoping we are settling into a routine. I probably need to drop the four bottle as well and increase food but I'm just finding my way.

I don't see why not, we've never done formula but DS has had whole milk in it since age 1 if I'm at work. Just make up the formula in a different bottle if you need to shake it and sterilise as normal.

He's also just at a fussy age, as far as breastfeeding is concerned you'll be surprised how quickly it becomes optional apart from naps and comfort once you move onto food. You just need to get through this stage.

Yeah we had that with dummy. I found the irony in me not wanting her to have one yet me persevering until she took one!!

It's unusual not to enjoy the pushchair. Do you have DS sitting up in the pushchair? Most of the babies we knew went bonkers if they couldn't sit up past 4 or 5 months, so we all gave up on the guidelines and put them into the seats, then just reclined for naps. About half want to face mummy and look out, half want to face out from the beginning. DS only started facing out from 15 months, the little limpet, but DN screamed if she couldn't face outwards from 5 months old!

I have a bottlefed 6.5 month old, so this is fresh in my mind!
At five months: bottles at 7am, 11am, 3pm, 6-6.30 (bed at 7), 10 pm.
Amount: 8 scoops of aptamil in 8 of water.
At six months we've upped amount to 9scoops in 9 of water but we've dropped the 10pm feed.
This could also work with combined feeding: breastfeed first perhaps, then offer the amounts above and baby will have what they need.
Hope this helps.

With my first, she used to eat little and often until she was about 6 months old. My second is 4 months old and she is on a more solid routine of 5 bottles of 6-7oz around the following sort of times

6-7.30 (wake up)
9.30-10.30 (early morning)
12-2 (lunch)
4-5 (late afternoon)
7.15 bed time bottle

I try not to feed her unless she’s gone 21/2 hours as it tends to mess with her appetite and she doesn’t feed as well for the rest of the day. Within those rough windows I’m demand led but if she hasn’t seemed to ask for a feed, I’ll prepare one by the end of that timeframe.

They obviously take more when really hungry so the best time to take a big bottle feed might be first thing in the morning before a bf. That can help to set up the day with 3 hour gaps. You'll feel better knowing exactly how much he's had and can distract him until the next feed when hopefully he'll take more again.

It all depends on your plans for bf. Morning bf feed is good for you if you want to keep going. If you cut it out, your supply might drop a lot quite quickly, unless you express. Some people manage to just keep just the bedtime feed but others find it harder and once babies do start guzzling bottles they sometimes are less interested so be prepared for that.

My son was a nightmare bf at that age. Really fussy but he did improve especially after weaning and it became very easy after that so I kept it up longer than planned.

I’m well past the baby stage but I just wanted to say my son was like this - it was incredibly annoying! I started mix feeding at 4 months because I thought it would improve things but it didn’t! As it happens until he was about 5 or 6 years old he grazed rather than had big meals and apparently that’s normal! My only advice would be try not to worry about it and if you can afford it use ready made formula when out and about.

I agree with @AbbyHammond 's post. It's pretty much what I did with both children.

40-50 ounces sounds a lot.

My HV said no more than 32 in 24hr period.

I am not sure if it's how I'm feeding as I am doing the paced bottle feeding technique but using a narrow neck dr brown bottle so the actually bottle isn't like a boob at all.

We have a lot of cat naps too which tie in with the snacking . It's frustrating as yesterday we had 30 min nap then a 2 hour one then another 30. But today we have had 3 30 minute naps hate cat napping

OP I fed on demand. So she would have 2-3 oz only when she wanted it. Is a while ago now, but i think she had a feed maybe every 4 hours in the day, and only 2 feeds during the night.

@Dandelion1993 I know I thought it seemed a lot too! I was shocked.