Am I giving DD enough formula?

[mrsnec]

My dd is 3 months old.

She weighs 6.4 kilos and is about 60cm.

We're feeding her 6oz every time we feed her. She has one feed per day of frisolac comfort and the rest aptamil 1.

I breastfed at first but formula is best for both of us and I've already discussed why I'm ff so please don't have a go at me for that, anyway, going by the indicators on the pack dd should have 5 feeds a day but just lately she's been taking less and her sleeping pattern means she's only been getting 4 occasionally.

So yesterday for example she had the first feed at 7 then 11 and then 4 with the last feed at 10 and her then sleeping till 7 again! She's been loads more active and is rolling around all over the place so I thought she'd be more hungry. Also the info on the pack puts her at 5 months plus so we're wondering if she's big?

They don't use centiles here so we have no idea and whilst our pediatrician says she's fine my dh just thinks she'd go along with anything. He's also wondering if she's near the top end of the info on the pack should we move her on to the next stage milk first?

The other option is to drop the comfort milk because she might be over the colic now and we wouldn't know so maybe the comfort milk is filling her up too much. What would you do?

She has already more than doubled her birth weight. She doesn't look chubby and is wearing both 3-6 and 0-3 clothes but she is long. DH is over 6ft and all of the women in his family are big.

a better question might have been is it ok for her to only have 4 when the pack says 5?

You can find the centile charts on line and track your dd on them. Copies are at the RCPCH website. If your baby is thriving and happy then you should be reassured, though yes, her intake is unusual but not wildly different really. Comfort milks are generally about the same in calories as other milks but you can check this by reading the details on the pack.

I didn't really understand that chart and I looked at online percentile calculations and they just said height is similar but weight and cranial circumference are slightly above so I'm none the wiser. She does sleep a lot and I understand that could be from too much formula too so I'm not really sure what I should be feeding her and how often.

She does seem happy and is thriving

I've just started ff my 4.5 month old after a long nursing strike forced the situation and I'm just getting to grips with it. DS1 doesn't do what the pack says either. He'll just take really small feeds during the day (2-4oz) then he'll take about 6oz before bed and in his dream feed at 11pm. He's on about 6 feeds a day and I'm also a bit worried but he's happy, gaining weight and doing lots of wet nappies so I'm guessing he's taking enough for him. Every baby is different I guess..

She's been a bit all or nothing since birth. When I was bf I had to top up every single feed I was never able to satisfy her. I think I would be more relaxed with the grazing thing because that's what I hear most other babies are like it seems odd that she can go a long time between feeds and then take a lot.

The nappies seem ok too.

The best tip I was given is you know they have had enough if they don't drain the bottle and their is an oz or so left in the bottom and to aim for this. Is there any left would she drink more at each feeding etc

i think i went by the general rule that if they finish the whole bottle offer another oz
so for example if my ds had a 6oz bottle at 8am and drunk 6oz the next feed i would offer 7oz .
a midwife once told me you know to up the oz if they finish the whole bottle

That's confusing then! Sometimes she leaves an oz and actually pushes the bottle away and other times she drains it. She's done both today!

Drained the 7am and 10am 6oz but took 5 at 2pm.

then you should always offer her 7oz incase she wants more one day its there

I have never gone by the pack and simply feed on demand as I was BF. I make 6oz bottles and he sometimes drinks it all, sometimes he drinks half, some days he has 20 something oz, some days nearly 40! He feeds at different times each day. He's always gaining well and is on high centiles for length and height. If we were BF I'd be trusting he took enough so I do the same for FF, I don't think FF babies are as routine as everyone seems to think!

Agree to offering more if they drain a bottle, then you can't go wrong.

If she seems happy and has good alertness, wees and poohs I think you're fine. As a rough rule of thumb they tend to need 150-200ml per kg of body weight. But of she's happy on less then take her lead. (Think that converts to 30-45 oz/day for 6kg baby)

When you say "should we move her onto the next stage milk", do you mean follow on milk? If so, no, you absolutely shouldn't at three months' old.

Follow on milk isn't about being hungrier (in fact, it's actually a totally unnecessary product designed to get around advertising rules). It has more iron and a slightly different composition and babies' tummies aren't developmentally ready for it until they are around 6 months. Equally, first milk is totally fine to carry on with right until they finish on formula. It isn't about appetite.

So keep going with the normal first stage formula (and comfort if you feel you really need it). I'd agree with the poster who says to feed on demand. There is no harm at all in her taking more in some bottles and less in others. If she does a good long stretch overnight, it also intuitively makes sense that she might be hungrier at the morning bottles.