4.5mo having 5 8oz bottles a day plus a breast feed in the morning? Too much?

[cockle84]

Hi. New to formula feeding having breast fed for 4 months. My 4.5mo is about 14lb8oz and since starting on formula has been taking 5 8oz bottles a day plus breast milk when she first wakes up. She tends to feed as follows :
6ish-breast milk no idea how much she's getting.
9ish-8oz formula
12ish-8oz formula
3ish-8oz formula
6ish sometimes earlier-8oz formula
8ish-between 6 and 8oz formula.
This seems like a lot of milk to me but she seems happy-do I just go with the flow?

That doesn't seem too bad at all when you look at the timings, she's going about 3 hours between most feeds and she is nearly 5 months, so very nearly ready for solids and bound to be getting a bit hungrier. With breast feeding you never know how much she would take and I bet she was taking just as much as that, if not more when she breast fed. When I used to express I could have gotten 8/9 oz without too much effort, which surely meant when my boys fed they were taking about that during a feed?

Hi - my paediatrician said just yesterday that babies shouldn't have more than 36oz of formula in 24 hours and if you can't cut back (which we certainly can't!) then it needs to be supplemented with solids so you can reduce the amount of formula they drink. I'm in the US though so advice may be different as here they recommend solids between 4 and 6 months and I know it's 6 in the UK. May be worth speaking to your health visitor if you have one?

That sounds like a lot- are you sure the baby is taking in much breast milk? Is dc actually finihing all of the milk in the bottles?

My DD was about 18 pounds and was drinking 36oz a day, before she started food (I had seen that 32oz is the most they should normally drink) Speak to yoru doc or homevisitor and make sure you are stuffing the little one

if she is happy and sleeping through the night (as it looks like she is) I wouldnt worry too much.

its not like she is drinking 50oz a day.....

Yes it sounds like a lot but some babies really like their milk and drink more than others / average (and some drink less)

also maybe she is having a growth spurt and next week might not be actually drinking quite so much

last week she wasn't finishing the bottles but the last few days she has been. Maybe a growth spurt like you say. Will speak to the Health visitor and see what they say.