6 week old FF…how many oz?

[StarSB1712]

My LO is 5.5wks old. We have combi fed up until last week, offering me first then giving her what she wants from the bottle mainly in line with the recommended amount.
My milk is slowly starting to dry up so we have been BF less and have done bottle more.

We’ve been offering 5oz per feed, she goes anywhere between 3-4hrs between feeds, mainly 4hrs.
The problem is she screams after we’ve fed her, and I can’t work out if this is pain (she’s on anti reflux milk but think it’s causing her some constipation as stools have been hard and then we’ve had bouts of explosive diahrrea) or if she’s still hungry. She seems to search still after it’s finished and sucks on my finger. She drains the bottle (calmly) so I have been temped to up to 6oz but that seems like a lot for a 6wk old…or does it? Anyone have experience of this?

she is my second baby and my first was also a hungry baby, but can’t remember what I was doing with my first at this stage to give myself any reassurance. Not seeing the GP for another 2-3 weeks for our check and don’t really want to get the HV involved as feel they offer conflicting advice.

For background as mentioned she goes almost 4 hrs between feeds and can sleep a 5-6 hour stretch at night.

Was your plan to fully breast feed or to wean early onto formula?

Offering bottle top ups regularly will dry up the breast milk.

If your plan is to wean, then follow the directions on the packet, seek confirmation with your Infant Welfare Nurse and the Pharmacist.

If your plan was to fully breast feed, seek the help of a breast feeding counsellor who will probably advise offering the breast much more often rather than topping up on formula.
The breast makes milk to demand. The more suckling, the more milk produced.

Feeding as often as hourly and two hourly sometimes is normal.

I think its more about the total amount of ozs per day, rather than per feed. There are charts you can get online telling you what the daily average is for age. Generally as a rule of thumb I was told if they are finishing their bottle it's not enough, and the aim is to leave a small amount in the bottle so you know they are getting enough. Try increasing one bottle per day by 1oz.

If she's going 4 hours between bottles then I'd say she's still hungry. Try either more frequent feeds or increasing the Oz.

If she’s draining a bottle you need to add an extra Floz.