Dd2 is nearly 5 months and now bottle fed. She used to feed pretty much every three hours from waking time (which could vary daily from 3.30am to 7am) but in the last couple of weeks, I can never tell when she's next likely to be hungry. It's not a massive deal really but a PITA when I'm out and about with both ds1 and dd2 - ds1 is a handful and I always need to be somewhere to feed dd where he isn't going to disappear off into the ether. Anyway, I digress...
DD wakes, will often wait a short while before needing a bottle, and will generally have 2-3 ounces of a 7 ounce bottle then not want any more. If she does this then I know that twenty mins or so later she will want the bottle again, and this cycle repeats until the bottle's shelf life runs out or she finishes it. Other days she will neck the whole lot and cry for more only a short while later - this morning she had an extra 3 ounces on top of the 7 she had initially.
She will then often sleep for a large chunk of the morning and go 4-5 hours before wanting more milk. She will often repeat the same 'snacking' cycle. She will rarely finish her last bottle before bed so we give her a dream feed (which she will often drain) to ensure she gets enough milk so she doesn't wake up hungry during the night.
Could the change be down to teething? She seems in discomfort sometimes when feeding - I thought it was wind but I'm not so sure (she has red and bumpy gums, drooling and looser dirty nappies than usual - her bro got his first teeth at around the same age too) She is also very nosey and finds it hard to 'concentrate' on the milk when her big brother is dashing about or when we're out and about.
Anyone got any advice/recommendations/similar experiences? Might she just need some extra cooled boiled water in the morning, rather than milk, because she might just be thirsty? I don't want to compromise the amount of milk she gets in her, but I also don't want to overfeed her either.
Aargh! Ds1 was so regular in his feeding that I could set my watch by him!