Bottle feeding timing help

[Lwat86]

Hi all

My son is nearly 7 weeks and exclusively bottle fed. I go by the side of the aptamil container regarding feeding times, so 5oz feeds 5 times a day. He's usually ok with this but he screams constantly every night between around 7 until I feed him at 10 and I'm wondering if it's actually hunger?? Should I try to give him a 4oz bottle at maybe 5pm, followed by a 2oz at 7.30ish then another 4oz at about 10pm instead or do you think that may mess up his routine a bit? I don't want him getting confused and thinking I'm not feeding him when he gets a measly 2oz bottle haha!

What makes you think he is over weight? What percentile is he on?

I would be feeding on demand, when he shows feeding cues and as much as he wants. This means he should always choose when to stop. If he finishes the bottle then offer more.

Tiptopj and dementedpixie - thank you both, a bit of advice was all I needed really, hunger was just one option, it could just be that he's a screamy baby and yes, you can almost set a watch by it too! I'm surprised some others feel the need to comment if it's not constructive, please I don't need anyone making me feel like I'm doing a crappy job and not feeding my son, he's definitely being fed and is happy and healthy, unfortunately we just have a 2hr window of crying that I thought may be caused by hunger and all I was essentially asking was should I give him smaller feeds more often.

They dont even need to be smaller feeds. Just offer more often especially if he is crying

If it is caused by hunger, the solution is to give him an extra bottle.
I don’t know why you think people aren’t being constructive. The answer to a potentially hungry baby is to try offering them more milk. If it works, keep doing it. If it doesn’t, then stop.

You’re definitely not doing a crappy job, lots of people feed to a timetable rather than to demand and that’s fine if your baby is happy and gaining weight well. I would, however, offer him a bottle if he cries and I wouldn’t worry too much about it being a smaller bottle or anything like that. Try it and see how you get on.

He is a big baby so he will need more food than average.

Please feed your baby when it cries! Poor little thing!