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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

10 feeds!

26 replies

FeedMeBrunch · 30/01/2025 06:15

2 weeks ago we switched our EBF 8 week old to EFF - he has approximately 10 x 90ml feeds spread about every 2 hours through the day/night. He currently won’t have more than 90ml in one sitting (and sometimes doesn’t have all of it)

Is this normal?

Can anyone suggest how we could consolidate the feeds a little more?

OP posts:
Mumtobabyhavoc · 30/01/2025 07:45

Breast milk is less filling.
Baby's appetite will change with growth spurts and as stomach grows.
As long as your baby seems satisfied you're fine.
☺️

eta
I misread/misunderstood your query @FeedMeBrunch sorry!

Why do you want to consolidate feeds?

modgepodge · 30/01/2025 07:50

My mostly BF 10 month old doesn’t take more than 90ml formula/expressed milk at once 😂 he never has. It did make me chuckle when I looked at the portion he is suppose to have for his age (210ml!)

I think the amount across the whole day would be more important than how big each feed is. For your own ease it might be easier to try to move to fewer, bigger, feeds though.

FeedMeBrunch · 30/01/2025 08:15

@Mumtobabyhavoc no worries - easily done!

A few reasons, but mostly to reduce the amount of washing/sterilising/faff with so many bottles each day. It would make life significant easier - and also all the information out there suggests baby’s of his age “should ” be on 5-6 feeds per day. Maybe this is clouding my thinking.

If baby is happiest on smaller feeds more often of course we will stick with that, but would like to at least try and consolidate for reasons above.

OP posts:
Completelyjo · 30/01/2025 08:17

Every 2 hours can be completely normal for a 2 week old baby.
You can’t consolidate feeds if your baby is hungry.

FeedMeBrunch · 30/01/2025 08:18

@modgepodge thank you for your post - funnily enough one of the main reasons we switched to formula was because I was finding it so hard that baby would feed every hour - it felt like I couldn’t even wash my hair or pop to the shop without coming home to him screaming for a feed. Maybe he is just naturally a snacker like yours!

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FeedMeBrunch · 30/01/2025 08:21

@Completelyjo Thank you for replying

He is 10 weeks old.

My query is really - Is there something I can do to help him eat more in one go and therefore be hungry less often. Don’t worry, I’m not about to starve him. I’d feed him every 10 minutes with a smile on my face if that’s what he needed.

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Greeneyegirl · 30/01/2025 08:24

Is it that he just won't take more or is he falling asleep on the bottle? If it's the latter, change nappy part way through, tickle his feet, take a layer off between feeds to rouse him.

Completelyjo · 30/01/2025 08:26

FeedMeBrunch · 30/01/2025 08:21

@Completelyjo Thank you for replying

He is 10 weeks old.

My query is really - Is there something I can do to help him eat more in one go and therefore be hungry less often. Don’t worry, I’m not about to starve him. I’d feed him every 10 minutes with a smile on my face if that’s what he needed.

Sorry I read 2 weeks ago as the age!
Either way it’s still in the realm of normal, particularly for breastmilk.
I rarely went longer with feeds when mine weee that age. It’s just part of it unfortunately!
There is nothing you can specifically do to make him drink more than he wants. The only thing to check is the teat size. It’s worth trying one up, if they flow into slow they get tired of sucking and that can limit their amount. Go up a size but watch for pooling around baby’s lips, in that case the new one could be too fast for them.

FeedMeBrunch · 30/01/2025 08:28

@Greeneyegirl It's occasionally that he falls asleep but mostly he just… stops. And then won’t have more. Sort of releases the teat and stops sucking no matter what I do. Or if I make the mistake of taking the teat out of his mouth he clamps his little gums shut. Sometimes I think it is that he likes the milk very warm and it cools down too much during the feed. Not sure how to fix this whilst following all the “guidance”

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FeedMeBrunch · 30/01/2025 08:30

@Completelyjo thank you. He is only having formula, no breast milk.

We have gone up to a medium flow teat (I had fast let down so think he got used to this and didn’t like the slow flow tests when we switched) - he definitely prefers medium flow so this has helped. When we initially switched and used a slow flow he wouldn’t have more than 60ml at a time!

OP posts:
Butterflysunshine01 · 30/01/2025 08:35

At ten weeks mine was still feeding every couple of hours, breastfed so literally felt like I had my boob out all day. So much easier after a few more weeks when he naturally spaced out the feeds more , now I can pop out and about etc , he’s nine months but I felt more free from about four/five months. Give it time

FeedMeBrunch · 30/01/2025 08:38

@Butterflysunshine01 hats off to you! You’re stronger than me, that’s why I had to stop BF’ing. Would have liked to carry on but it was really taking a toll mentally. I do feel so much better now!

Thank you for the reply - that is great news

OP posts:
RabbitsEatPancakes · 30/01/2025 08:44

Maybe his stomach hasn't stretched yet like formula from birth babies. Bf babies tend to eat little and often compared to bottle babies just because they chose when to stop vs adults wanting the bottle finished.
Every 2hrs is healthy for a 2month old. If it's just the faff of cleaning bottles you could go to combi feeding and bf every other feed so there's less to wash? Otherwise I'm sure he'll go longer in a few weeks, once he's grown a bit. Everything changes very quickly at this age.

FeedMeBrunch · 30/01/2025 09:51

@RabbitsEatPancakes thank you, that is very reassuring!

Combi feeding would have been my preference- we tried it for a while but baby wouldn’t take a bottle and after trying many things we put it down to him being confused between breast and bottle. Switching over completely is the only thing that worked unfortunately.

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Superscientist · 30/01/2025 10:04

He might be still in breastfeeding routine. We switched to formula at 10-11 months and she followed the same feeding schedule that she had when breastfed rather than the guidelines for formula fed. She had 5oz when she would normally have had a normal breastfeed before bed she would have a longer breastfeed and she accepted an 8oz bottle then.

Give him time to adjust and you'll probably find with growth spurts and time he will start taking more and going longer.
At 10 weeks my daughter breastfed every 90 minutes by 20 weeks she could go 3h some times. We had a tricky time with feeding between 10 and 17 weeks due to under treated reflux and undiagnosed allergies which probably made this process slower.
10 weeks is a hard time because in many ways they aren't newborn like any more but in other ways still very much newborn. In a few weeks I would expect you to see changes in feeding patterns

FeedMeBrunch · 30/01/2025 11:54

@Superscientist thank you for replying - I think you’re right, I just need to go with the flow and he’ll do it in his own time.

Your post has also highlighted that we are lucky he doesn’t have any additional difficulties like allergies and reflux, so I should be more grateful for that - as things could be much harder than they are!

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Superscientist · 30/01/2025 13:37

@FeedMeBrunch I would wish reflux and allergies on my worst enemy it was truly awful but we all have different awful things in life. Be grateful but also make sure you are kind to yourself - others going through "worse" situation doesn't mean that you have to find your situation a walk in the park. All 10 weeks old have their challenges! Take care of yourself x

FeedMeBrunch · 30/01/2025 13:54

@Superscientist that’s a really kind message - thank you! ❤️

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WhoPutTheBomp · 30/01/2025 14:24

I don't have any advice, the women here and you OP have got it all sorted, I just wanted to say congratulations.

fashionqueen0123 · 30/01/2025 14:29

That’s definitely normal so just keep going! If you think about how often we as adults have something to eat or drink it’s probably that often too. 5/6 feeds would not be enough! It’s good to mimick the pattern of a Bf baby when using formula. So paced feeding, and baby may not want all of a feed and some feeds will be more than others. Also alternate holding them with your right and left arms.
You can however over feed a formula fed baby unlike a BF baby, so using smaller amounts like you are doing now is a better idea to prevent that, when they want to feed frequently.

Mumtobabyhavoc · 30/01/2025 14:50

@FeedMeBrunch sorry for the delay in replying. I've read your other posts, too. You do have to feed on demand and not try to schedule feeds. They are very good at knowing when full. What you can try to do is to burp baby and offer bottle after that again to see if it was just gas. It usually isn't much more complicated.

I combi fed my first (now 3) and pretty much ebf my second (now 12 mos). It def is a pain dealing with bottles, sterilizing, flash cooling, etc.
For each day: You can make several servings of formula in a sterilized mason jar and keep in the fridge. Then sterilize several bottles/nipples and seal in a ziplock bag to use as needed. I would then boil the kettle and pour boiling water into a bowl then put bottle of formula into that for a minute, test, put back in if needed, test again.

Feeding is hard for the first while. It's frequent. We're tired. Hormones. Anxiety. Worry if we're doing things/right or wrong. We read about nipple confusion, breast is best, do this/not that, reflux, tongue tie, baby is allergic to bm/formula etc and often nothing is wrong but we get convinced something is wrong. Babies feed on a schedule, then they don't, then it's cluster feeding, then they change again. The main things are nappy, tired, discomfort (gas/hot/cold) and sleep. And I found with mine that holding them a lot meant they rarely fuss/fussed.

FeedMeBrunch · 30/01/2025 17:47

@WhoPutTheBomp thank you!

@fashionqueen0123 I hadn’t thought of it like that - sounds obvious now 😂

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FeedMeBrunch · 30/01/2025 17:52

@Mumtobabyhavoc thank you, we are using the Nuby Rapid cool which helps - but as I understand it, it would be a bad idea to try and reheat a feed part way through, do you know if that is the case?

you’re so right - I’m worrying too much about what he “should” be doing. I think being a parent is a lesson in learning to go with the flow (which is a lesson I definitely need😂)

OP posts:
Mumtobabyhavoc · 30/01/2025 18:00

@FeedMeBrunch
Properly prepared formula can sit out for two hours, but only one hour if baby drinks from the bottle. Just don't take out/put back in /take out as temp changes encourage bacteria and baby's immune system is still developing.
If bottles aren't getting finished give less at a time. You can always top it up if baby wants more.

An89 · 04/02/2025 01:12

FeedMeBrunch · 30/01/2025 09:51

@RabbitsEatPancakes thank you, that is very reassuring!

Combi feeding would have been my preference- we tried it for a while but baby wouldn’t take a bottle and after trying many things we put it down to him being confused between breast and bottle. Switching over completely is the only thing that worked unfortunately.

Hello, I am currently bf baby, we were doing combi feeding but baby stopped taking bottle. How do tiu get baby to take bottle again?

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