How to hold off weaning?

[CherryChoc]

Asking this for a friend so if you need more info please bear with me!

Her DD is almost 4 months and is on 4 8oz bottles a day of hungry baby formula. She was a nanny quite a few years ago and remembers being taught very clearly never to give a 9oz bottle, so her dilemma is whether this is a bad thing to do or if it is old advice (she trained in the days weaning was advised at 3m).

She says she knows the obvious solution is to add an extra feed, but she is very reluctant to do this as her DD is in a really good routine which works for her - and her DD suffers very badly with colic and reflux if not managed well, one thing which helped was giving her bigger feeds less often, so she is worried that introducing another feed might set off the reflux again.

What is the reason for feeling the need to wean or add a feed - is her DD suddenly waking more, or demanding more food?

I don't have any experience about reflux, but obviously if that wasn't the issue then introducing another milk feed would be best.

It is hard though - I weaned both mine at 5 months because I just ran out of ways to hold them out further - they were both 10lbs plus babes at birth though and stayed in the hhigh 90's on the centile until around 15-18 months.

Only four feeds a day?

She should introduce at least one more IMO.

Take your point about the reflux but a baby under four months needs more than four milk feeds a day, not weaning.

Four feeds doesn't sound alot at all. I think the solution is just more milk.

I don't know about advice on bottle feeding, but breastfed babies just take larger feeds when they're hungrier, don't they? Not sure why this should be different for formula-fed babies. My dd was 10lb 11oz at birth, and very hungry - she managed on milk for 6 months, but did have just mammoth feeds for several days at a time.

I also have never heard about the 9 oz "rule". DD was formula fed and would regularly drain a 9 oz bottle, especially in the morning. DS was breastfed though, so I'm not sure. Part of me weaning him, I'm sure, was to do with going back to work...

I think at 4 months DD was on 5 feeds at least. DS was feeding more often - morning, mid-morning, early afternoon, tea time, bedtime, 11pm....

Definitely old advice. DS didn't wean until 8 months and was on 11 oz bottles by then every 2 hours by then. He was on 9-10 oz bottles at 5 months. You can get the avent 11 oz bottles from mothercare.

Maybe she is misremembering her training.

It is decades ago that weaning was advised at 3 mths, so unless she is 50 plus, her training could not (should not?) have said this. So she might have got it wrong about the 'no to a 9 oz bottle' too - something I have never heard of.

only 4 bottles a day DS1 was taking that by lunchtime when he was 5months old i've never heard of the "No 9oz bottles" rule either. almost 4 months is very early to wean. i thought it could cause problems weaning under 17 weeks as the gut was immature.

Only 4 feeds a day sounds very little.

DS, 4 months, is ff and 3 oz once and 8 oz 5 times a day.