How many ounces for 18wk old?

[Ready]

I am sure this question gets asked all the time... for all different ages, but hoping for some advice...
DD (18weeks) has been on formula for a couple of weeks now, still breastfed in the early hours when she wakes... drains 7oz bottles during the day - do I offer 8oz? I am reluctant to do so, but can't work out why I feel that way.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

i was told if a baby finishes a whole bottle you should offer a little more if she doesnt drink it its no big deal. how often are her feeds? i would go up to 8oz. My ds was on 8oz from 12weeks and kept to that amount until we changed him to cows milk last week.

Are you giving up breastfeeding?

i would offer another ounce,

how are you finding your supply? if she is feeding more from the bottle and you are not expressing, you might find the supply and demand get a little out of kilter.

Sadly I have had to give up breastfeeding... went through weeks of distress (me and dd), in a nutshell she would not feed from me without screaming and punching and scratching me. It started out as the last feed of the day, then after some questionable advice from HV it became EVERY feed except the middle of the night

Very sad about it, and clinging onto that wee hours feed for as long as breasts will keep going, but that is another matter.

I have expressed gallons and all in the freezer for when the boobs give up and then dd will still be getting some breastmilk for a bit longer.

Sigh, sorry, rambled there.

Thank you for the replies... will offer another ounce, and hope she doesn't drain that

ready If you are finishing bfing then the advice now is to give as much as is demanded. Try another ounce, but don't ever force more in to try to get more sleep iygwim.

However, if you want to continue to bf, it should be fairly easy to re-establish, since you obviously have milk. The scenario you describe should not have happened and it need not. It will probably be hard work at first though so you need to consider this in the balance, but I would advise calling a helpline anyway to talk through what happened to enable you to know that you have made an informed decision rather than one forced upon you through crap support and something that you might regret later.

I would never try to force more on dd to get her to sleep through. I am constantly annoyed when people ask if she is sleeping through - why do people expect that of such a young baby? Beats me.

Thanks, will try her with another ounce and see how she goes.

I am not going to try to reestablish the feeding, because I am petrified that it will be like before, and dd is SO much happier during feeds now and I am not prepared to mess with that just for my own selfish 'must breastfeed because everything else is crap' mindset. Although I still think that (sorry), the proof of the pudding is in the eating... and dd is eating, and gaining weight.

Thanks everyone.

Sorry Ready I wasn't implying that you would force feed, only that plenty of mothers do because it is much easier to ccntrol what your baby eats when you bottle feed, because you give the food. With bf, you baby takes.

None of these mothers would think they were doing anything wrong, or probably even realise they were doing it. If you baby consistently had 7 oz with each feed, and then one day only had 4oz and appeared to be finished, you'd probably still try to get the rest in do you see what I mean? Because you think the baby 'ought' to have the rest based on past experience.

as far as i am aware there is no set amount of milk a baby should be drinking. each baby is an idividual therefore having individual appetites.

Oh no, sorry 2ChildrenPlusLA, I hope I didn't sound sniffy... and if dd has less than the amount in the bottle, then that's what we go with - it has only happened 3 times since we have been feeding her this way... and each time I have just assumed she felt full, so followed her lead.