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 .

They won't be hungry if they've had a feed an hour or two before. I always feed when they wake up rather than feed to sleep though.

@Nat6999 I was thinking this too. If your baby is 5 months, they aren’t to far away from weaning. The six month guideline is only one way of doing things and weaning a couple of weeks earlier than this, (although I will probably get flamed for saying it) isn’t an evil thing to do. Have you thought about introducing a small amount of solids to your baby to see how that goes?

Ok so feed after nap ... say he manages to take a big feed and that should tide over until next nap.. ok I will give this a go fingers crossed I feel I am spending every minute he is awake feeding

@Maryann1975 I tried baby rice and also porridge but it just comes out of babies mouth so don't think he is ready.. he did have some fruit pureee yesterday though which stayed in

7am bottle between 6oz - 8oz
8am porridge
12pm 6oz-8oz
1pm lunch
4pm 6oz-8oz
5pm dinner
7.30pm 6oz-8oz

He is 6 months and only got in to this routine last few days due to weaning. Before that he was feeding the same amount ever 4 hours on the dot.

Routine is feed, play, sleep repeat lol

Mine is 5 months next week and I do 5x 7oz bottles a day:

6am
9am
1pm
4.30pm
7.30pm

All rough timings. She’s 95th centile, so pretty big, but this is enough for her.

How long have you been giving the formula for? He could still be getting used to it. When I was swapping DD from bf to ff she only had a couple of oz at a time but gradually took more and spaced out her feeds.

Personally I wouldn't worry about the dummy. It just gives you something you have to wean them off and they can rely on it too much. You are in a tricky stage and I think you will fall into more of a routine when they exhaust themselves by moving more and weaning might help too. They'll soon be too interested in moving and everything to continue to graze all day.

Sorry, I keep posting and then leaving for ages and then coming back and I've missed loads more posts

I totally agree about specifically looking for an extremely boring, quiet, plain location for feeds at this age. Really annoying but it absolutely doesn't last. Don't worry. My friend with the same aged baby went and sat in the children's playhouse today to feed her :o

Oh I am glad it was helpful :) I think we can get a bit carried away into that newborn mindset sometimes but he is 5 months old now, not a newborn, it's definitely OK to start letting him know that Mummy has needs too - I don't mean in a "show him who's boss" sense or making him wait for no reason etc. But definitely there does come a point where having their needs/wants be the top priority 100% of the time is simply not practical or sane. For example, if you had another baby in the future, that would be a terrible time to have to learn it. Or just simply any situation where the child's needs don't have priority over other people. Being a good mum is not always about putting your child first. It's about working out how to balance their needs with your own and anybody else you need to consider (like a partner, your friends, other children, strangers, etc) it won't always be in their favour and that's OK. Your job is more to communicate to them that things are still happening, just not perhaps in the exact way or order that they would like :o

For example - sometimes I know DS2 wants a feed, but I want to catch a bus to go out, and really I know - because breastfeeding is such a useful multi-tool, he wants to feed out of tiredness much more than hunger at this moment. Tiredness is a need I can meet in other ways, and the method of movement (in the pushchair) fits much better with what I want to do, so I make the choice not to feed but to put him in the pushchair instead, knowing that while he will be upset to go in there, once we start walking he will almost definitely drop off. So I talk soothingly to him instead and say things like I know you want milk, I'm sorry, but we're going out now instead. It's OK, don't worry. Oh you're so tired, oh there's a tired boy (etc). I get things together as quickly as possible (if you can, it's handy to have your changing bag always ready stocked with nappies, wipes, clothes and so on, so there is no last minute scrabbling - easier before food I find, but even after that, an emergency pouch, pot of dry snacks, spoon and bib works well) and I put him in the pushchair and if he protests a bit - I push him back and forth or give him a really interesting (usually lights and music, or something like my keys) toy to hold for a minute, or just open the door and put him outside already - that always seems to hold his attention for a moment. Then once I start moving, he is usually OK. He forgets his want to feed and lets the movement soothe him instead and he's soon asleep or at least interested by the new environment, and I can get on and catch my bus or whatever I planned to do. It takes a bit of thinking ahead, but this kind of thing is totally possible and completely fair to them, as it benefits them as well as you by meaning you can get to your groups or whatever it is you wanted.

This might help, good luck 😊

A bit off topic... I read your reply saying there's no reflux issue but are you certain there's no silent reflux? Small frequent feeds, not being able to lie down in a pram and fussing constantly at the breast even when showing signs of hunger seems pretty typical of reflux.

A bit off topic... I read your reply saying there's no reflux issue but are you certain there's no silent reflux? Small frequent feeds, not being able to lie down in a pram and fussing constantly at the breast even when showing signs of hunger seems pretty typical of reflux.

Yes to this^^ both my babies have had silent reflux and it was exactly like this

I’ve BF them both though, I just let them feed little and often and try and work around it....all these suggested feeding schedules make my head spin!

Just make a supply of 4oz bottles and put them in the fridge. Once he starts a bottle he can keep going back to it over 2 hours. Then bin what's left.

Milk can be stored, made up, in the fridge for 24 hours.

I've just skim read this and only at the end seen suggestion of silent reflux. I 100% agree with this. You have stated about 4 different signs of it:

•Short frequent feeding (the milk soothes initially but then too much exacerbates so baby constantly looking for little and often)
•won't lie flat particularly after feeding
•fussing at bottle or breast (how many years have you tried?! (A reflux baby hates them all, a non reflux baby doesn't care as long as there is milk at the end!)
•needs picking up straight after waking

Please see your GP and ask your HV to query this. It's so easy to treat and there are some great non-medication options you should try first and foremost (some PP have mentioned lots already, osteopathy for babies is amazing if you find a person specialised in it).

Sorry, I meant to mention the naps.

He naps between 7 am and 9 am (I use this time to shower) but if he doesn't have this nap the whole day is a write off. Then he has a nap in each 3 hour cycle, usually towards the end, but there's flex in this if we're doing something exciting. So the cycle should go eat, play, sleep. Sometimes it's more eat, do activity, sleep, sit in pram, eat. But I try not to link the food to sleeping other than last thing at night.

In an ideal world it would go Nap 8-9am, 11-12, 2-3pm awake to bed. But honestly he can rarely make it to bed without a top up nap between 4-5.

Just be aware he's not sleeping for the full hour, usually 20-45 minutes.

@Si1ver this sounds fab and what times do you fit naps in around this ? Thank you 😊

So many helpful messages thank you everyone . Baby was checked over for silent reflux but doctor does not think it's this , I should say he wakes up mostly after naps with a smile it's just sometimes he will cry .. he was tried on ranitidine but made no difference and doctor didn't think it was silent reflux so said to stop it . I do just think he is fussy feeder as sometimes he is absolutely fine and will take 5 oz or a full 20 minute breast feed others it's 1 oz and 2 minutes

Dd has been doing 7oz bottles from around 5 months and will take 4 bottles a day, she sleeps through now. Always puts on weight and has maintained the curve. She doesn't necessarily finish all of her bottles sometimes there is an ounce or two left.

How about going by the every four hour rule for bottles and if baby seems hu gry I between letting him have the breast for a while?

@Si1ver sorry I have just seen your post regarding naps thank you

@BertieBotts thank you you have really helped me as I think I have been panicking too much ... oh baby is waking up must find somewhere to sit and feed immediately . Oh dear I have been abit OTT but yes it's all about balance :) thank you