Formula feeders: help please!

[MrsTittleMouse]

I'm new to FF (weaning DD for reasons of biting and needing to get my hormones back on track). It seems that I never get the amount of milk right in her bottle. Today is the first day of formula only, and we have a load of unfinished bottles stacked up by the sink! Some where she's only taken 1oz. On the other hand, twice today she's been given 3oz and has screamed when the bottle was finished. So I made up another 3oz, and she took HALF an oz and then didn't want any more.
DD is 9.5 months and has been used to BF on demand, so I don't know if that makes a difference, but is there any way of knowing in advance how hungry a baby is, so that you can make up the right amount of milk? This is going to cost us a fortune otherwise!
Thank you!

I'm sure your DD will get into a pattern.

The idea is that there should always be a little bit left over, so you know your baby is satisfied. To begin with, I would make up 25% more than you think she will need at every feed. You can then adjust things accordingly.

But in the end this is one of the problems of ff - you can be sure that the one time she will want more is the time when you don't have another bottle ready! You could try to make sure you always have two or three cartons of ready-mixed formula and a sterile bottle to hand for such times.

there is no way of knowing we consistently always made too much which was fine as it meant DS had had as much as he wanted. When he started finishing a certain amount then we made his bottles with an ounce more until he finished that and so forth. I think really you have to accept the waste for now it'll get better. It's probably pretty bad today because its the first day and its a change in routine and it's hot, she'll soon settle into a new routine. My 9.5 month old has a 7oz bottle at breakfast most of which goes on his cereal and then he drinks most of the leftovers. He has a 7oz bottle at 5pm and then a 7oz bottle at 10.30pm. the rest of the time he has water.

she's used to having just exactly how much she wants when she wants. it's a pretty big leap to go from that to getting a set amount then waiting for more or not wanting so much but finding it keeps going in your mouth iyswim. bottles drip unless you have those feeder ones. you will have a lot of faffing til you both get used to it.

I'm sure she'll settle into a more predictable routine, esp. if you try to be fairly consistent with the times you offer food /milk.

In the meantime, Barry's advice is spot on - the cartons of ready mixed formula are really useful in an emergency.

I don't know if you're using a follow on formula - if so, I've never been able to find cartons of that, so I just use normal formula on odd occasions.

HTH

We do what barry said, always put more in that we think DS will want. Sometimes he drains it, but usually only just and doesn't need more.
Having said that we always keep a spare little carton handy for emergency pig-outs where he drains it and decides he is still starving.
We have found though, that on the occasions where he drains it and screams for more, unless you are ready with it sharpish, he will only take a tiny bit before giving up, as you have found.

She will soon get into a pattern of what she has for each feed though, you just do end up wasting loads until then unfortunately.

Oh good, so I'm not just being useless!
I have to admit that making up more isn't too much of a hassle, as I don't sterilise any more. When DD started dropping everything on the floor and then picking it up and eating it, it all seemed a bit unnecessary. When we go out, I take measured water, and measured powder in a tub, for easy mixing. DD doesn't seem to mind that it's at room temp.
I've been erring on the side of feeding her more often today anyway, as it's been so warm, which might have made things worse. The other thing is that DD's special "milk" cry (a pathetic little cough as though her throat is parched, she's a drama queen already!), seems only to be for BM. She hasn't done it at all today, but there were a couple of times when she was crying and I fed her just as a bit of a guess, and she wolfed down the milk, so was obviously thirsty. There's a whole new set of skills to learn here!