How many formula feeds?!

[NoTeaForMe]

Hi all,

My baby is 12 weeks old and after a terrible start to breastfeeding I am still going with just 2 bottles of formula a day. I am breastfeeding on demand but feel she is now getting frustrated at the breast and it's still not a lovely experience. She's also started waking up more in the night which makes me wonder if she's hungrier as she's not getting enough milk from me. The last 2 nights she's been fussy and frustrated at the bottle so we have bought the vari-flow teats (tommee tippee) to see if this is why.

When I first introduced formula my baby experienced constipation so I'd like to ease over onto full formula, bringing in one more bottle at a time. Anyway my real question is will moving to formula get her more into a routine too? She has 6fl oz per bottle at the mo but doesn't always drink it all, prob really had just over 5 most times. Should she be having this every 3 hours? So 5 bottles a day? But then if she wakes in the night and has another bottle is that too many bottles for her? What do others do?

Thanks

Hello NoTea, breastfeeding is horrible for the first 6 months, kudos to you for getting so far. No-one tells you how horrible it really is. Mine went through a period of being frustrated at the breast, when she was several months old, punching my titties (ow!) and yowling like a wildcat. Luckily she got over it (dunno what it was all about). They do funny things, don't worry too much about it. I no nothing about bottle feeding (except lambs) but I'm sure someone will be along soon to help out xx

I know nothing of course

Hi, my little girl is 11 weeks old and has been on formula entirely for the last 6 weeks, she wouldn't breast feed properly so I expressed for the first few weeks.

Have you tried the doctor brown bottles, my DD has been fliting between level one and two teats depending upon her mood (it seems) which is frustrating. Sometimes she likes it fast other times, usually on a night, slower. She is currently on 6 feeds a day usually every three hours during day but will go between 5-6 hours on a night. Have you tried formula as her last feed about 10-11pm then again in middle of night. its heavier and she should go longer. I don't think you'll get more of a routine at this age, also she could be just excited and not hungry hence fussiness. I dont engage with my DD in middle of night and lights are very low...sounds like you're doing ok good luck!

My DS is 7 weeks and weighs 13lb. Feeding is done on weight rather than age isn't it? Anyway, he has about 6 bottles a day totalling between 800-1000 litres of feed. I feed him on demand but it works out that he feeds every 3ish hours in the day and then has a long stretch of 5 hours at night. Have been told they can't over feed as long as you don't try to force them - just feed when your LO is hungry.

I am also trying to BF a bit but have struggled and had to give formula as not producing enough milk.

I am using Medela Calma bottles to allow movement between breast and bottle.

Moz, I think you may be overdoing it a bit

Overdoing what Sossiges?

I think she means the amount of milk....you've put between 800 - 1000 litres instead of millilitres!

Haha! No, he's a super baby!

Was worried then, thought I'd got it all wrong!

Thanks, NoTea, for filling in for me while I was building block towers and colouring in, that's exactly what I meant! I'm sorry I had to laugh - first the 800-1000 litres of milk, then the bit that you weren't producing enough milk, hell, I'd struggle to produce 1000 litres a day too

Hi, to answer your questions about how much and how often, you can work out how much your baby needs by multiplying their weight in lbs by 2.5 then dividing by the number of feeds in a day. So, for example, a 10lb baby needs 25 ounces a day, so if they were getting 5 feeds a day it would be 5 ounces per feed. This is also a rough guide - your baby may want slightly more or less. It's a good idea to put an extra ounce or two in each feed so if they're hungrier at a particular feed they still drink what they want - it's better for them to drink what they want and leave a little in the bottle rather than drain it and you don't know if they would have wanted more, if you see what I mean.

Formula babies still need fed on demand but you may find that they are a bit more predictable about when they want fed. My baby has always been fairly predictable about wanting fed approx every 3 hours during the day, for example, which makes things easier for me I have to say, but every baby is different. You'll soon get to realise how often they want fed and what they'll happily take.

Hope this helps a bit, but do speak to your health visitor if you're not sure.