Bottle feeding - how much and how often

[Nursee007]

DS1 (now 6 and a half weeks) had a tongue tie at birth, which made breastfeeding horrifcally painful for me and very difficult for him. I persisted full time till 2 weeks, then started to give SMA gold overnight and boob during the day which was initially no problem. He then got incredibly smelly wind and very constipated so we started to use infacol prior to each feed and switched to aptamil first which helped. Breastfeeding was really not for me, even expressing it, so have just moved to full formula. He was having 120mls every 3 hrs (approx 7, 10, 1, 4, 7 and 10pm) and then would go from 10pm-4am, have 150mls, then go back down till 7am and we'd start again. He seemed to still be hungry sometimes and ALWAYS drained the bottle, but didn't want to overfeed, so started doing 150mls 4 hrly....at which pointed he stopped doing the 6 hr block of sleep from 10-4 and we're bang on 4 hrs day and night at 6, 10, 2, 6, 10 and 2. He's possetting more than he used to and seems to be uncomfortable in the tum....an has spent the last few days crying a LOT and nothing will soothe him. (though I am aware that this is apparently a time when crying 'peaks')

Should I go back to 120mls every 3 hrs? Any other suggestions or advice?

Nursee have you asked your HV about this? It would be good to get her input.

I am not sure why you would not simply return to 3 hourly feeding, perhaps increasing the volume....if this is what keeps him happy.

Hi Nursee,

The best bits of advice I have had on bottle feeding is the baby should have 2.5 ounces of milk for every pound they weigh, so for example an 8lb baby should be having 20oz of milk in every 24 hours. If it was me I would divide it by 6 feeds = 3.33oz, and make up feeds of 4oz. Hope that makes sense!

Despite what people say, I don't think you can over feed a ff baby as they make it pretty obvious when they've had enough milk by pushing the teat out with their tongue or turning their heads away. My midwife also said they will just throw up if they've drunk too much.

Hope this helps.

she was already giving 4oz (120mls). I would go back to 3 hourly feeds and if he drains the bottle then add an extra ounce to each one. Maybe he is crying for a bottle but you are holding him off until the 4 hours have elapsed whereas if you fed him when he first starts crying he will have a feed and be happier. I wouldnt worry overmuch about overfeeding at this stage.

It's been a while, but I pretty much formula fed DS1 on demand at that age, rather than worrying about routines. He clusterfed at certain times, and then had a longer sleep at other times.

have you thought about putting him on to hungry milk? my dd was the same at about 7 weeks, she was on 5oz bottles and went from 4hourly feeds to 3 hourly feeds (although she was sleeping from about 7pm-5am) but was getting a really upset tummy, i switched her on to aptamil hungry milk and she took 4oz every 4 hours but started sleeping 12 hours 7pm-7am. shes 12 weeks now and is on 6oz every 4hours, back to sleeping 7pm-5am. but no sore tummy at all.

He doesn't sound like he needs hungry milk if he is only having 4 or 5 oz per feed. It is also not recommended for young babies as it can be constipating. I would stick to first milk and if he drains the bottles add an extra ounce to each of them.

yes but he wants it more often, im just offering my 10pence, sounded exactly same as what my daughter was like, she was only taking 4 or 5 oz, but wanted it more often resulting in her having a sore tummy and trapped wind. yes it can be constipating in some babies but not in every baby. surely its worth a try? the op could be dealing with this situation for weeks to come and may not need to.