Switching to on demand formula feeding

[Nambar]

Our DD was 8 weeks prem and her due date in April 22nd. She came out of the NICU on a three hourly feed schedule which she has stuck to. She is currently 3.5kg and takes 85ml per feed. 8 times a day. this morning I gave her 120ml and she drained the bottle, then again three hours later same again. I thought they were meant to self regulate and stop when full!! I am reluctant to continue because if she continues taking the full 120ml we will be giving her a massive amount per day and overfeeding her based on the 150-200ml/kg guidelines. She does seem to be tolerating it, small amounts of vom and spit up but does suck her dummy madly after a feed. Any advice welcome!

If she's draining them add an extra oz. Maybe she's just trying to catch up on weight she should have gained in utero. She could be having a growth spurt and is extra hungry

Some babies do sort of catch up after a while. I really wouldn't deny her the milk if she wants it.

Thank you !!

How's she getting on today?

The 150mls/kg guideline is more relevant for older babies. Newborns are often unpredictable and their feeding patterns tend to change very frequently.

My DD used to take much more formula than the recommended amount (especially during growth spurts). I paced fed but it made zero difference. She was just a hungry baby who really loved her milk. Her intake plateaued at around 12-14 weeks.

We do on demand bottle feeding.
She’s 10 weeks now and has been bottle fed breast milk or formula since birth.
She takes anything between 2-5oz depending on how long ago her last feed was.
Sometimes she wants another feed 1.5hrs after her previous but will take a smaller amount, if she goes 6+ hours overnight without a feed she might take 5oz.
She was about 7weeks when she figured out how to tell when she was full. And will push the bottle out if he mouth, I usually give her 5minutes or so of winding and then try her again.
In total for a 24hr period she takes anything from 19-27oz depending on what she wants. I still get plenty of wet and dirty nappies so it doesn’t bother me too much when she has a lower volume day.

Thank everyone! she finally left some milk in the bottle this afternoon. She fell asleep whilst feeding so I didn't do the final burping and just let her sleep. Its really reassuring to know that I am not overfeeding her!

we are now getting a lot of dirty nappies with the increase in feed. we have also just switched her from a prem formula to standard.

im guessing this is nothing to worry about?

Well, she'll probably poop more because there's more going in the other end