Help! Need to get mixed feeding 12 wk old into routine!

[NumNumMum]

can anyone suggest a good mixed feeding routine for a 12 week old? I'm trying to do alternating bf and bottle with a bf breakfast when he wakes at 7.00 and finishing with a bf before bed. He then sleeps all night, hurrah!! trouble is, he sleeps varying amounts of time in the day_ and only stays awake and happy for about 2 hrs at a time. When he wakes, he expects a feed. Currently 2 8oz bottles per day. we're all over the place- please- any advice welcomed!!

Is he having a breastfeed for breakfast and bed and two bottles all day, or are there more breastfeeds?

Four feeds in 24 hours isn't enough for a 12wo (it's not enough for any baby till they're well onto solid food, IMO).

I agree with hunker. Needs more than 4 feeds. 2 hours at a time seems pretty normal for 12 weeks too. Would say he needs at least one or 2 more feeds than you are giving....

Also if he sleeps all night and you are only bfeeding twice a day, you risk it impacting on your supply - that's if you are only bfeeding twice a day and depending on when you started doing so - need more info!

well, my mixed fed dd at this age, would sleep for about 6 hours in the night. She'd have breastmilkin the morning, then bottle milk during the day at nursery (4 x 8 oz feeds iirc, but she didnt finish them all).
Then, at about 5.30, she'd be bursting for more breastmilk (used to have to stop and feed her on the way home), and she'd have another 2 feeds before bed. Usually one at about 7-8pm and another one about 10 pm.
So she was having 3-4 breast feeds a day, plus 4 bottle feeds. You may notice, that our routine was determined by necessity. But it did work.

Thank you for your replys- that was quick! I'm doing breakfast 7.00 bf, 11.00ish ff, 8oz, then 2-3.00ish bf 5.00ish another 8oz ff and bf at about 7.00 but sometimes he's too full/windy to have much. occasionally if sleep is very erratic in the day i'll give him another bf to settle in the afternoon. worried that i'm starving him now! he is gaining 6-8oz per week. if he was hungry would he sleep through? been doing this 3wks now.

A lot depends on how long it takes me to get him to sleep (10 to 30 mins) and how long he'll sleep for (30 mins to 2 hrs). I've read he needs about 4 hrs in total in the day, he sleeps 1.5 to 3.5 depending. how can I fit it all in? I know we're in a muddle, I'm probably doing it all wrong. Had dd 10 years ago and it all went so smoothly with her, but was all ff by this age, bf disasterous. Want to keep going in part with ds. Off to bed now.

I did mixed feeding with ds1, have fully b/fed dd and ds2. I had a different sort of routine, which I'll try and remember for you - I think at 12 wks it was...
7ish - wake up, b/feed
12ish - b/feed followed by formula topup - usually about 5oz
5ish - b/feed followed by formula topup, same sort of amount
10ish - b/feed followed by formula, same as before.

Any snacks in between were all breast feeds. My reasoning was he would take as much breastmilk as he could, then would top up on formula - he lost loads of weight then didn't put any back on, which is why I did that. Tbh, I regret doing that, as ds2 has been more stubborn about putting weight on, but I've been more stubborn about b/feeding!

Well done for persevering with the b/feeding this time - you're giving him a really good start!

I'm mix feeding my dd aged 17 wks but 10 wks corrected for her prematurity iyswim.

bf when she wakes in the morning, anytime between 5.30-8am
bf snack about 9ish, esp if she first woke early
bf 11ish then formula top-up of which she takes varying amount, usually 60-90mls but if she gets no bf then she will take up to 150mls!
bf 2pm then formula as above
bf 5pm then formula as above
bf 7.30pm then formula and more breastfeeds, generally takes up to 120mls formula at this time and lots of little bf until falls asleep around 8.30pm
dream feed at about midnight of 120-150mls of formula (usually too sleepy for a bf)

She may well have many more bf snacks during the day, depending on how she feels. If I'm not there, eg if she's with grandparents or dp then she takes larger amounts of formula. Her feeding routine just sort of evolved and sometimes she misses out a ff and just has more bf.

She tends to have a little snooze mid-late morning, again after 2pm feed and again after 5pm feed. She doesn't sleep for very long, never more than an hour and I don't try to put her down to sleep, just sit and cuddle her in my arms all lovely and snuggly or she sleeps in her buggy if we are out and about.

The sleeping isn't a deliberate attempt at a routine at all. It's just what I've noticed that she likes to do over the past couple of weeks. If she didn't want to sleepthen there's no way I could persuade her to .

Thank you! After worrying that ds hasn't been getting enough to eat, have topped up another bf and added bfs before ffs. Today went like this -
7.00 bf,
9.30 bf topped up (took 7oz),
1.30 bf topped up (8oz),
4.30 ff 6oz - no time on this occasion for bf,
7.00 bf, dozed then
8.00 bf,
8.30 bed.
LaDiDaDi thank you for the sleeping info, this is pretty much my approach at the mo, if he's tired and grouchy I will walk and rock him to sleep then he cuddles up with me or he catches naps in the buggy or car.
feel a bit more on track now!!!!!