FF novice - how do you space out the feeds?

[Quiltingmama]

I Bf my Ds1 but have to move to formula for DS2 who is 6w because I have to start medication for parkinson's. I have no idea what a good routine wld be - how do you space out feeds? Also what if they don't drink a whole serving? Do you add in another top up feed? Am feeling a tad lost ESP as I am upset about having to make the change in the first place. Help!!

at 6 weeks I would feed sort of 2.5-3hourly unless they seemed really starving before that. They will spread feeds out by themselves as they get bigger and can take more at each feed.

This is definitely worth a second opinion, Quilting.

Meds for Parkinsons do not automatically rule out breastfeeding.

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/drugs-in-breastmilk-information-and-factsheets.html is a good place to start getting general info for when you talk with the doctors again.

The pack says 5 feeds per 24 hrs - wld you make more feeds up and reduce volume so you are giving the right total overall?

Thanks tik tok I'll have a look now

At 6 weeks I'd say every 2 hours at first and then increase time if your DS2 is going loner between feeds. Mine used to have a few hours where they'd feed every hour, so I used to really feed on demand as you would BF.

Good luck with it and starting your medication.

The two main problems are that no research has been done on pd drugs and breastfeeding because it's so rare and the drugs actually suppress milk production. I am not hopeful tbh

I still think it's worth while discussing again - here's a good place to start:

toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT

It is not necessarily important that there is no research on these drugs and bf. Pharmacologists know how drugs behave and can assess how much will cross into the milk, and then work out how significant this might be to an infant. The general info at the other link I gave you will help you with this.

For a drug to suppress milk production is not a reason to stop....reason to monitor the baby, yes.

Hope you can find out enough info to make a informed choice, Quilting.

Ask the doctors to check out Hale as well - he runs the best website on medications and breastfeeding.

Re: amount of feeds - ds had around 8 feeds in 24 hours so dont worry too much about what the pack says - I gave as much as he wanted rather than limit to what the guide said. (if you do decide to bottle feed)

so they self regulate in the same way as BFing? Sorry to be so thick but I never really looked into this before. I like the idea of demand feeding much better than evenly spaced out sessions

Yes, your DS2 will self regulate himself Start off making 4oz bottles and see how he gets on with that. MY Dc self regulated, and I prefered demand feeding to regimentally feedin them every x horus.

You're not sounding thick at all, if you've never done something before, you're bound to have questions.

i'm sure i read somewhere that they should have 2oz for every pound in weight that they are! i know i'm outdated using ounces but i've no idea about ml! does that sound right?

its up to you then how you spread that out thro the day but i always liked my babies to have most of their requirements in the day so that they werent so hungry in the night! but i understand you want to demand feed if you would have done that with BF! i didnt find that so easy with FF as i never knew how many bottles to make!

the rule of thumb is 2.5-2.7oz per lb of body weight but of course some babies will take more/less than that and it is just a general guide.

how much formula does my baby need?

that works out at about 25oz which is what the packet suggested!! Thanks everyone I think I'll go with demand feeding with a daytime bias.