trying to mix feed a 4 month old

[forevermore]

i have been offering my 4 month old a bottle of formula every morning for a few weeks now. initially she refused point blank then would only take 1oz. now she will accept bottle but stop drinking at 3oz. its taken about 6 weeks to get to this point and i am at the end of my teather. the idea is eventually bottle feed during the day and breast feed when i want (at night). the difficulty is also when to offer a bottle. she normally BF 2 hourly so is hungry when i offer but now thinking maybe she only drinks 3oz of breast milk at a time anyway and in order for her to drink more i have to spread out the time, but how do i do that without distressing her?

any tips on how i can get her to take a 'full feed' (5-7oz i believe at this age??)

BTW she is on the 50th centile for weight and 91st for height so not that big really

I feel for you, it is so frustrating and emotionally upsetting.

But it is good that she will take a bottle.

If she is feeding every 2 hours she may only be taking 3oz at a time. You could stretch to 2.5 and then 3hrly feeds.

I bf my 4 month old very 3 hrs and he seemed happy with this. I have just introduced a bottle and formula as he is now 6months and has teeth which were hurting me as he has never opened his mouth very wide (I am switching fully to formula now).To get him to take a bottle I cut down on the bf'ds and eventually cut them out for 3 days. He now takes the bottle and drinks the lot. It has taken about 1.5 weeks. If you express the times you wish to keep feeding this time should not effect your supply too much i don't think. I am still very full for bedtime feed.

With my daughter I mix fed from 6 to 8 months. With 3 meals and three feeds in between. Before that I was bfeeding on demand and she never stopped feeding!

I found the Baby Whisperer flexible routine helpful.

Mother and Baby Mag has an article on switching to bottle feeding this month- may help.

Hope this helps.

When it gets close to feeds, try distracting her - I found that DS would feed a lot less frequently when there were things he wanted to look at going on around him (he's very nosey).

When working out how much formula a baby needs, go on her weight rather than her age (assuming she is gaining weight well).

Also, it is the total amount she has over a day that is important, rather than how much she has in one go.

Good luck

Thanks very helpful. How do you estimate formula intake compared to weight. She is nearly 7kg.

I am happy to BF till 6 months just don't want to reach this milestone then start bottle battle so hoping to win that one now by getting her to take a full one daily from now. Then at 6 months I can start introducing additional bottles.

marybobs how did exactly cut down on BF. Did you stop one a day or go cold turkey?

I stopped one for a few days, then another. After about a week I stopped althogether for about 2 days and nights. Don't forget he was having three solid feeds a day too. I think he was holding out for the bedtime and night feeds-so I cut these out and only offered formula. I did let him sleep with me for comfort as it is emotionally hard for them too. But they do get there. He is now no longer hungry and settles in his cot again.

How warm is the formula? Mine has to have it just above room temp or he refuses. Also what is the teat like? It may be too slow and she can't be bothered. The breast flow bottles have worked for others, but I think too slow for mine he gulped down B'feeds. I would go by the number of feeds suggested on the formula tub plus an extra night one if she wants it.

At 4 months He was having a bf every 3 hours from 7am until 7pm (bedtime feed) Then 1 night feed. By 4.5 months he was also having a further night feed, but he is a big boy. I followed baby whisperer except at 4 months she recommends 4 hourly feeds.

Well she s two uourjy and not a big girl so still a bit aprehensive about how much is an ok feed when having BFs as well. Not sure it will be possible to mix feed like this as might be trying to do too much. I think I will muddle on till five months the go cold turkey!?