FFing - how many can a baby have in a day

[BirdFromDaNorf]

My dearest friend is having her baby shortly and won't be able to BF as she has leukemia and will be going straight back onto her meds once little person is safely here.

I have BF my boys, so I know v little about FF. I have heard other people mention that they've not stuck to 3hrly feeds and fed on demand, using formula. Is this ok? Is there any issue with giving formula on demand, more frequently than every 3 hours? I might be talking out of my bum here but I worried that there was something about feeds per day??

I've also watched friends with crying babies clock watching for the 3hr mark, to then give the next feed, so I'm confused!

I don't know anything about this, so would be grateful for someone to tell me more and point me in direction of more info.

Thank you!

Little and often will be fine and just what babies need, rather than being stuffed to the brim with more milk than their tiny tummies can handle every 3-4 hours and then being forced to wait until the clock says they can be fed again. Letting them take what they need and when they need it is a lot more natural and I imagine healthy for the baby. Hope your friend makes a speedy recovery

My (very amateur) understanding is that the reason formula feeds are more limited is because its much easier for ff babies to over-feed than bf ones.

I always fed my (ff) dcs when they seemed hungry regardless of the time though, fairly quickly they established a pattern that was around 3 hours apart. Just like bf babies they go through growth spurts when they will want to feed more often. Also, the info on the sides of the boxes of formula are just guidelines - a friend of mine would wait until her dd was (for eg) 3 months exactly before allowing her to have an extra oz of formula at each feed. She would say 'Oh she's been desperate for a bit more all week'

I hope your friend is ok - I can't imagine how much she has going on.

i fed both mine with formula , and feeding responsively was teh best way.. especially for the new born period. a couple of ounces every couple of hours or so was the norm..i don't think there is really an argument for only feeding breast or bottle every 3 hours..

a hungry baby who is fed responsively will be more settled and feed better and with less wind than one who is hysterical and crying with hunger

she can also feed with her top half bare and the baby just in a nappy and covered with a blanket so he/s warm but still gettin lots of skin to skin contact which is lovely

hope she is better soon x

IME if you overfeed a formula fed baby , it all comes straight back up

using an appropriate teat will help too