Bottle feeding - How many oz's???

[Holymoly321]

Hi, I'm bottle feeding my 6 week DS and I'm getting mighty confused about how much to give him. He's a big baby, around 11lbs 10oz at the moment. I'm feeding him on Aptamil but reading Gina Ford who says that a baby his size should be having around 22-26 ozs of formula a day. At the moment, he's having approx 5 at 7am, 4 at 10.30am, 4 at 2pm, 4 at 7pm and 5 at 11pm, then waking up around 4am for 3oz. So that's 25oz in total. But he seems hungrier for more. I've been giving him tiny 'top up's on my breast but need to stop this as the milk is def on it#s way out! Should we give him more formula and if so at which feeds. Also, should we aim to get him to sleep right through the night and not have a feed at 4am? Should we do this by giving him more during the day and gradually giving less and less at the 4am feed? I don't want to deprive my child but I don't want him growing up to be a big bloater either! Help!!

As far as I am aware you should give them as much as they ask for. If your DS was totally breastfed, you wouldn't have the meter running and when it got to 6 oz whip him off quick going "thats enought for you fatty!"

Forget what Gina Ford says - its just guidelines.

So, in answer to your question, give him as much formula as he will take at feeds - he'll let you know when he's full! Make up additional ounces in each feed and see what he takes - if he drinks the lot, give him more next time.

HTH

Hi Serahscarer, - do I sound that bad?! . It's not that I want to deprive my DS, it's just that I don't want to lead him down a dangerous path, esp in this day and age of childhood obesity - and yes, I know I'm probably being completely ridiculous as DS is only a few weeks old, but hey, I'm a new first time mum and this is just one of the things in a long long list of things that I worry about! . I'll take your advice though and give him a bit more to see if he takes it. ANy tips on the 4am in the night feed?

Thanks LynnC, I'll def give it a bash. Think I'll just add an extra oz to each feed first and see which ones he finishes and which ones he leaves and go from there. He's been putting on 8oz+ each week though. SHould I worry about this? ALso, the HV suggested I give him water which I have tried - but DS is not stupid and after a couple of gulps of water just pushes the bottle away!

sitting her laughing....not being mean you just sound exact same as me with dd. I'm also first time mum who worried about what to give etc. And dd also refused water infact only got her onto juice few months ago and water still no go with her who is now 9m.

Cant remember exactly but think dd put on about 1oz or slightly less each week then levelled out around 3m. How does he rate on the weight graph?

Honestly try not worry about his weight just now put each of his feeds up an oz and see how he goes and you dont sound bad at all just normal worries I'm sure everyone has. Let us know how you get on.

Hi, my ds was a big baby and put on alot of weight in first few weeks. I was told this would slow down- and it did. So dont worry too much about this.
ds had lots of feeds a day, as you can see! He was born at 9lb 12 though, and he would always feed every 3 hours. This was a typical day for us-

6am 5oz
9am 5oz
12pm 5oz
3pm 5oz
6pm 5oz
9pm 5oz
2am 5oz

When he was about 2.5 months the 2 am feed moved to 4.30am. I tried water too, this didnt work for us either, I tried a dummy on advice from HV - 'He may be a sucky baby!', this didnt work either, he didnt like a dummy - might work for you? The 4.30am feed was dropped by increasing his ozs in the day over a period of a week or so.
I would try and feed him 5 or 6 oz at each feed.

Can I add - ds ia now 9.5 months and now only has 2 9oz bottles a day and 3 meals a day, so it does even out!

By the way - my ds has such a little waist he still fits into his 3-6 month jeans! Pity they are 3 miles too short in the leg! lol

my dd was a guzzler when she was little then really went off formula, but i do know that aptamil do a hungrier babies range, which is no. 2 so if you think he's starting to drink too much (like 8 oz at each feed and still having all feeds) then try moving him onto that, it helped with dd as she refused much milk so she got more nutrients and filling stuff (god my words escape me) in less milk.

hope this helps as for the sleeping he's still very little, the feed will gradually get later as he gets older, and if he drinks more in the day it will probably help that too as he wont be as hungery!

oooh.. sorry Smiling - posted and ran off for a long dog walk!

No, you don't sound bad at all!! First time motherhood is a minefield isn't it? (My DS is 10 months old btw)

I originally planned to breastfeed, and it wasn't happening, so I had tonnes of EBM in the hospital fridge - fed him with a syringe and cup for a while and couldn't believe how much he drank - I remember having to go back for "seconds" for him and asking one of the Midwives if I should give him more - she said to me "don't put baby on a diet" meaning give him as much as he asks for.

As for the 4am feed, just keep going with it - as long as he asks for it, give it. Its not greed at this age - its need!

You'll just get everything sorted, and feeding will be going swimmingly, and then he'll start his 12 week growth spurt. Then you'll wonder if Apatamil can possibly make enough milk!

PS.. my HV recommended skipping a couple of feeds. I ended up 2 weeks later with a baby that was crying even more than normal - screaming in fact. DP came home one day and said "do you think he's hungry?" "Yes, of course he's hungry" says me "but I can't feed him". "Why not?" asks DP. At this moment, my eyes were re-opened and I fed DS exactly what he wanted, when he wanted. If I were you, offer water, but not as a milk substitute. Its a bleeding nightmare sometimes - especially when being peppered with "official advice" from HV and Gina Ford!

Thanks everyone. It's 9.30 now and I've been giving DS 5oz's at each feed since these posts and he drank them all up hungrily! So I'll continue with this and see how we go. I'll also try giving him more if he wants it - I feel a lot more confident now. I know GF suggests sugar water, but I don't think it's a good idea to set up a tiny baby with a sweet tooth! I am using a dummy at times though as my MW too suggested that DS is a sucky baby and this does help at times. Will keep you posted!
Mumfor1sttime, how old was your ds when he was having the amount you stated (30oz a day)?

glad you feel happier now, at that age just give them what they want, tehy will only eat until they aint hungry any more! hehe, hope all goes ok, and enjoy your little baby, they dont stay like that for long!!

Sorry to scare the new mums, but some babies are still feeding at night at a year old.

Mine slept throught (without a night time feed) at four and a half months. After that he woke some nights to feed, and gradually tapered off his night time feed and was completely off night time feeds only at about 6 months!

I am surprised that you are advised to give your babies water. Here in NZ we are advised that if they want to feed they are HUNGRY, and that it is not necessary (or even desirable) to give them water at such a young age (that is until you are weaning them).

Its a weird thing the water KiwiKate. Now I am confident about my baby and his needs, the more I think about it the weirder it seems. Great as a thirst quencher and constipation stopper but not as a milk substitute!

I know all about older babies and nightime feeds - I have fed my 10 month old 3 times in the night for the last 3 nights - usually I get away with just 2!

Glad you're feeling happier Smiling Try him on 6oz now. Keep on upping his ounces until he stops - and you might actually have one of those babies that sleeps

serahscarer, DS slept from his 10.30pm feed last night right through to 5am this morning!!! And he wasn't all 'tetchy' last night either - so a huge thankyou for your advice (and thanks to everyone else too!) He also seemed a lot calmer today too - which is an added bonus! So I'm going to keep going with upping the feed - I noticed yesterday that he did in fact stop when he wanted to and didn't nec eat all 5oz at every feed - so I guess he knows what he wants and what he doesn't !! With the water,he only ever took around an oz (and usually less) before he decided he didn't want anymore - but this did really help with constipation!

Excellent news Smiling

Long may it continue!!

DS is 5 weeks and he feeds for england. The HV told me i was over feeding him. he wouldn't latch onto the breast si i express and i can't keep up with demand so i give formula.

he was 8lb 12 oz at birth and now weighs in at 11lb 9oz. our typical pattern is

4.30 6oz ebm
8.00 6oz ebm
12 6 oz formula
4 6oz formula
8 6oz formula
12 6oz ebm

some days he slips an extra bottle in at 6ish in the evening.he likes his dummy and will take about 2oz water a day but he won't take anything other than a feed if he is hungry.

Well, it's all gone to pot! After fooling us into thinking that he would sleep through until 5am, our DS has spent the weekend driving us nuts and waking up at one thirty or two am and not going back to sleep properly at all!!! This has been a nightmare for both of us and DH and I have been tetchy with each other all weekend (a first!). I'm going to persevere with the GF routine for a bit longer and pray that he goes back to sleeping later. Fingers crossed

Stick with the Gina Ford routine if thats what helps Smiling, but I would personally give your DS what he asks for at each feed.

There are a myriad of reasons why he will have had a nightmare weekend. The fact he can't tell you what they are is the problem!