Too much formula at 5 months?

[Jess785]

After weeks of awful reflux, we finally have my 5+ month (6.5 kg) formula-fed DS's eating under control with ranitidine, and he is HUNGRY. He now puts away anywhere between 1200-1350mls of stay down formula in 24 hours, usually in 6-7 feeds. he tends to get grumpy if any less. Is this too much? i have read that the max should really be 1100-1200 mls in 24 hours, otherwise there is strain on the kidneys. I've tried weaning with purees and he hated it- have decided to wait til 6 months and try baby led weaning. Any thoughts? Any advice appreciated!!

Jess I'm not trained but 2 things spring to mind. Is Lo very tall? My dn drank above the recommended amount of formula and was on the 98th centile for weight but is also on the same centile for height. She is only 8 now and is as tall as me!

The other thing that might be worth getting checked is tongue tie. It can cause reflux type symptoms and a need to suck.

My DS was the same, in fact some days he took 1500ml!!! I think it sounds fine as long as he can keep it down.

He was greedy but also very very hungry for the first 7 months. Even now at 13 months on cow's milk he has 600ml. Plus 3 big meals and 2 snacks. He is tall and broad like his dad.

He's actually pretty small- at around 15th percentile for weight, but i think he is tall-ish. He ate well below the recommended amount when his reflux was bad, so maybe he is making up for it? btw, we had tongue tie snipped when he was very small.
thanks for the replies- i am going to HV this week to check about formula just in case, but don't fancy a weaning lecture...

Es its worth getting the amount checked but I would also get the tt checked again, particularly if it was posterior as they can reattach.

Mine ds dropped low in weight (off the chart) in the first couple of weeks while getting longer, once we started formula he ate like crazy over 1.2 liters a day at 6 week's now his weight has caught up to his height it has slowed down. I'd expect yours will do the same, if he needs the calories could you try rice or similar?

Maybe he needs to catch up with weight gain?

I've never heard of a maximum amount of formula a day. As a general guide babies need 75ml formula for every lb of body weight per day - so a 16lb baby would have 1200mls a day, and there are plenty of babies under 6 months who weigh more than 16lbs.

I remember being told by a HV when DS was newborn to take something like 150-200ml (milk) per kg of baby's weight as a rough guide to how much they need. I did a lot of Googling after that and found it to be more or less along the lines of what a lot of other resources said.

Following this rule would put your DS at having around 975-1300ml per day. I am by no means a medical expert, but it all sounds alright to me. At the same age, DS was also on Ranitidine and drinking a similar amount of milk - I think we averaged around 1200ml/day at that age. I demand-fed with formula and just kept track of how much he ate (mainly so I could gauge how much to make). He is also very tall (98th %). Happily weaned BLW at 6mo and reflux finally properly diminished around 7-8mo, with just very occasional spitting up now (11.5mo).