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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

4 month old FF baby, does not finish bottle

16 replies

workingmom2000 · 16/02/2009 17:29

Instead of having 5 feeds a day, he wants to have 8-9 smaller feeds. He's gotten into the habit of snacking and will take a maximum of 3-4oz in one go.

Any advice on getting him to finish his whole bottle of say 6oz?

OP posts:
ilikeshoes · 16/02/2009 18:51

hi, how heavy is he, hes still quite young, may only have a small stomach, have you tried making him wait a bit longer for his feed to see if he will take more and build up a bigger appetite.x

nannyL · 16/02/2009 19:19

i would give him a much smaller bottle (2oz say) when he wants a feed and make him wait a bit longer for the next one...

he should then be hungrier / take more / wait for longer next time

also you could give him some hungry baby milk for a little while to make the ozs he has fill him up a bit longer

i would do a gina start at 7am and take it from there

doing your best to make him feed 7 10 1 4 7 + dream feed at 11ish

if all is going pear shaped then give him less at a 4 (which might be 2.30 / 3 ish feed) and do your best to make him take a good feed at 6.30 / 7 ish!

distract by going for a walk / nice bath / anything

you could also do a 'gina' give a couple of onzes before bath (so hes not screaming during the bath) and the rest nearer 7pm

Original poster
workingmom2000 · 16/02/2009 19:58

Thanks nannyL for this advice. I'm going to try this tomorrow and see how it goes.
I've tried before to make him wait a bit longer for his feed, but i've only lasted 15-20 minutes ! so need to try harder I guess

OP posts:
thisisyesterday · 16/02/2009 20:05

maybe that's all he needs. babies have little tummies. he knows when he is hungry better than the side of a tin of formula

Deanna1977 · 16/02/2009 20:57

My little one used to be like this. He is a diddy little man & could only take small amounts. He gradually improved with his weight gain. It will get better when he gets bigger. How heavy is he?

One more thing - are you using the right size teat? Might be worth getting the next size up & see how he gets on with it. I changed to the next size teats up with my LO a few weeks ago & he is eating so much better now. Worth a try?

Dx

Original poster
workingmom2000 · 17/02/2009 14:38

Yes we moved up a teat size, but no improvement.

I've tried following the 10 1 4 feeds but he's still only taking 4 oz at each 3 hour interval and few times that i've tried to stretch the time, he's just gone to sleep.

I met the health visitor today as well and she suggested putting him on hungry baby formula. I was a little surprised, as I thought hungry formula was for babies who were chugging down too much milk (whilst ds is not even finishing his bottles). Also i've heard they can cause digestive problems e.g. constipation, so i'm a little unsure of whether I should try it out.

OP posts:
thisisyesterday · 17/02/2009 14:45

bear in mind that babies are built to breastfeed. and when they breastfeed they tend to take little and often, their tummies are tiny.

so what your baby is doing is normal! the only difference is that you're bottle feeding. but your child is doing what he is supposed to do, which is a good thing imo. he is regulating his own intake and eating small and often.

go with it, he'll be fine

karen38 · 17/02/2009 16:16

Hi guys have a 3 month old who has just started crying and struggling a few mins after i start bottle feeding he is on 7 oz as he was finishing 6.I thought it was wind so tried all the remedies but still the same ts just taking ages as he will start feeding again anythjing up to an hour late any advice will be grateful

Deanna1977 · 18/02/2009 19:20

Hi Karen

Is he tired/teething at all when you are feeding him? I know that my LO got himself into a state sometimes when feeding. I had to calm him down by rocking him - then he fed quite well. A dummy worked pretty well to calm him too.

ThePregnantHedgeWitch · 18/02/2009 21:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

AnarchyAunt · 18/02/2009 21:14

Is there a reason he can't have 8/9 smaller feeds a day? Agree with thisisyesterday - he is doing what is natural for him, and if possible then I'd just go with it and feed him what he needs when he needs it.

Supercherry · 18/02/2009 21:15

I think 8/9 feeds a day at 4mths is pretty normal. He's not snacking- he's most likely full! As he grows so will the amount he can hold- just takes time. Come 6mths you might be starting him on solids and he will definitely start to go longer between feeds then.

Original poster
workingmom2000 · 19/02/2009 09:50

I thought it wasn't normal because the formula boxes say 5 feeds a day of 7 oz: and he's taking 8-9 feeds a day of 3-4oz each.

hmm so i guess i'll go with the flow and see if things change in the next few months.

thanks for all the advice !

OP posts:
ilikeshoes · 19/02/2009 09:58

Yes i would definately go with the flow your baby is individual there is no strict rule for how much they should have and at what times, the instructions on the formula box is just a guideline, and babies are very good at knowing when they are full, i'm sure as he gets older his appetite will increase as he grows and his stomach grows, my little boy was just the same.x

Supercherry · 19/02/2009 11:21

Workingmom, I remember when switching from breast to formula at 4mths thinking the same thing! I remember thinking if ONLY he was only having 5 feeds, I swear with breast feeding some days he was having 16 feeds and it cut down to about 10ish at 4mths then about 8ish on bottles. When he was established on solids he had 3 milk feeds a day and still does at 1.

You are definitely doing the right thing by following your baby's cues- they are definitely programmed to know when they are hungry and when they are full at this age.

karen38 · 19/02/2009 14:34

Thanks all for your help..i took G to health visitor yesterday she said he has a little bit of thrush so that couldve been the cause.She gave me a perscription andvi also got some Dr Browns bottles he fed better on those straight away.Fingers crossed now

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