Amount of milk per feed

[mrscotton]

Hi, my LO is 4 months old tomorrow and has been formula fed since birth.

He has been on 6oz of milk now for 6 weeks but seems to have got to the point where its not fully satisfying him anymore. We often have to put dummy in afterwards and goes 5 hours max between feeds even overnight. He literally drains the bottles and would suck air if we let him and is hardly sick. He has 5 bottles a day and got into quite a good routine timewise.

I have just changed his teats to medium flow but everywhere i check (SMA tins & online) it states that babies should have 6oz per feed between 4-6months old. I know this is only a guide but just wanting some reassurance that im doing the right thing as a FTM.

He was last weighed just over two weeks ago, was 14lb 1oz and is just below the 50th centile line (been following that line since birth).

I am thinking of increasing his feeds to 7oz and seeing whether he drinks it all or whether he starts to be more sicky. Do you think thats the right thing to do?

So we have tried 7oz & 8oz bottles today.

7oz he drains the bottle and then starts chewing on his hands (hes doing it alot at the moment and dribbing/blowing bubbles all day).

8oz he drunk it all apart from 15ml so had approx 7.5oz, he pushed the bottle away & started to lick the teat instead of sucking so I guess the 8oz bottles will be the way forward.

We have also stopped burping after every ounce, i burp him after every 2/3 ounces as I tried half the bottle last night and he was sick all down me. He is sick after burping but not major amounts. He does seem to winge after the bottle though which he hasn’t been doing before so wondering if he is now getting trapped wind.

Burping after every ounce definitely does not seem necessary. I only burp mine at the end of the bottle or sometimes partway if he stop drinking or starts squirming.

Also 30mn to finish a bottle seems really slow.
You might want to increase the nipple flow.
Mine is on level 4 (the max) and guzzles down his bottles in less than 5 mn without issues.
If I accidentally put the wrong nipples he screams because it's not coming out fast enough!

If you think he's uncomfortable with wind, try adding Dentinox to the bottle and the Tiger in the Tree hold for burping

The burping is better, gets burped 3 times on an 8oz bottle and doesnt seem to get trapped wind (think he was having a grumpy day earlier this week which is probably down to the heat).

He now has 8oz bottles every feed but still draining them. He doesnt look for more after and always very chatty so they must be filling him up. Ive messaged the health visitor to see about hungry baby but read online that its harder for them to digest.

Could he be wanting extra milk due to the weather? Our house is stupidly hot, our bedroom has been around 25-26 degrees all week dispite having the window open all day and a fan on for at least 3 hours before going to bed. Hes just been sleeping in a bodysuit and seems happy with that. He hates being cold (our room has to be 21/22 degrees or he wakes up chilly) but could be a tad to warm for him at the moment.

Going to continue doing 8oz bottles and will call the health visitor as not scheduled to see her until hes 10 months now.

Only problem now is its chucking his routine out the window as hes having feeds at different times. He woke up at 4.15am for a bottle then spent the next hour and half wanting to play with his toys. Thankfully its Friday tomorrow so i get a night where i dont have to do the night feeds.

Is there a reason that you're considering Hungry Baby Milk @mrscotton? Your baby isn't over feeding at all and going onto Hungry Baby Milk may keep him filler but he may start to stretch us feeds out and end up taking less milk than he is already, so it's a bit like sticking a 4 month old on a diet

Its just because someone has suggested it so i was going to speak to the health visitor. He seems so happy now so will see how he goes.