Am I doing this wrong?!

[Angeliki159]

My 16 week old currently has 5oz, 4 times a day.
Today for example:
8am, 1.30pm, 5.30pm, 9.30pm
He will prob go through from 9.30pm to around 6am but if he wakes up we will give him a bottle.

He weighs around 11lbs - tried to get him weighed today but the session was cancelled

Am I failing at the feeding thing?? I feel like I'm doing it wrong.

He's probably taking a little less than he should for his weight (approx 2.5oz per lb of weight). Does he seem happy and is putting on weight?

I still he contentcand happy on that amount OP? You’re definitely not failing but could you manage to get in an extra bottle into him during the day?

How about waking him a bottkexwhen he wakes at 6 am and fitting in another one at about 10am, then keeping your other feed times the same? It’s juat a suggestion though.

Most ff babies need roughly 2.5floz per pound in weight in 24 hours, so if he’s 11 pound that’s 27.5 floz. Would you say he’s getting about that if you count all the feeds?

On 5oz, he is content. At the end of each feed he is happy, milk drunk.
If I give him an extra bottle he spits up a lot. So I dropped back to 4oz 6 times and he sobbed when the bottle ran out.
Also on the 4oz he screamed for 4 hours solid every evening.
Going back to 5oz he seems ok. Had a bit of a scream session today bit yesterday was fine.
Think he is happy with 4x 5oz and one in the night if he wakes up but I don't know if it's enough.
I'm going based on his cues or 4.5 hrs, whichever is first.

That doesn't sound quite enough to me OP. Has the HV said anything about his weight? DD is 13 weeks and was 11lb 7ozs at last week's weigh in. She was born at 5lb 1oz and struggled with feeding so was only 4lb 10oz when we went home 8 days later. She'll have between 150-180ml per feed, sometimes as two half feeds with a little break in the middle. That's usually 3-4hourly ish from a 6am wake. She'll typically do, 6am, 9am (post nap), 11:30am, 2pm, 4:30/5pm (half), 6:00pm (other half and feed to sleep). I'll then wake her for a feed between 10-11pm where she'll have half a bottle. Could you try waking baby for a late feed? I just get her up and change her which wakes her enough. 6 feeds per day is usually recommended.

What’s he doing between the 8am feed and the 1.30 pm feed? If he’s just sleeping?

Have you tried the 6am bottle when he woke this morning?

I gave him a bottle at 4am last night and another one at 8am.
He has been spitting up a lot since the 9am one.
Gonna give him another bottle at 12.
His poo has gone really watery too.
Last time this happened we were told we were "massively overfeeding him"

Between his 8am and 1.30pm bottles we were playing and he would have a nap for between 1hr and 1.5hr

Currently playing and doing tummy time. Nap at about 10.30 for about an hour then a bit more play time and a bottle at 12.

If he’s 11 lb and you’re only giving 5 floz 4 times a day, I’m not sure how this is “massively overfeeding him”. Who told you that OP?

I’d keep a note of how many floz he’s having in 24 hours for the next few days. Coukd yiu go to the next baby weigh in clinic and see if he’s following his weight centile. Does he appear to be growing longer too?

He is getting longer and following his centile line perfectly.

When he was 2 months we were giving him 5oz 5 times a day because that's what it said on the formula box for his age. (He was not that weight yet.)
Doctor said I was overfeeding him massively and to take him down to 90ml instead of 150ml. (He wasn't too happy about that so we went to 120ml every 4 hrs

Do you know what he weighed at 2 months?

I'm not sure that gp gave good information tbh. 25oz a day is not overfeeding a baby. Why were you seeing the gp?

11bs at 16 weeks sounds very low. My LO was 11lbs at 13 weeks and is only 2nd centile. I'm sure at 16 weeks, 11lbs wouldn't even be on the chart. It doesn't sound like he's getting enough milk either.

Have you spoke to your HV? Maybe you'll get better advice than you have done from your doctor.

11bs at 16 weeks sounds very low. My LO was 11lbs at 13 weeks and is only 2nd centile. I'm sure at 16 weeks, 11lbs wouldn't even be on the chart.

I’ve just had a look for you and he appears to be on the 0,4 centile, is this the one he was born on? If not, I’d go to the next baby weigh in clinic and get them to measure his length and weight and ask for some advice. If you can’t get to the baby weigh in, I’d go back to the GP, get them to weigh him, record it in the Red Book and refer you to a Paeditrician.

I really would try to get at least 27.5 floz into him though in a day.

Instead of going “4.5 hours or on hunger cue, whichever is first” I’d try going every 3 to 3.5 hours or on hunger cue.

It’s fine if he was born in the 0.4 centile and he’s tracking it, some babies are smaller but every other baby I’ve known to be this tiny has been closely monitored by the HCPs.

Sorry, I forgot to link to the charts, they’re here

My 10week olds routine is roughly this .
He was born 8.1 and unlike most downed 3oz on his first ever bottle and is a chunky lad . Also not a sickly or unhappy chap x
Depending on wake up times .
But today
9am -7oz ( only bedtime and morning bottle 7oz )
12-6oz
3:30-6oz
6:15/30 -6oz
9:30-6oz
And will possibly wake up around 11:30 for a final bottle before he stays down for the night xx
So between 30-37 ounces each day on average . Any less and he is miserable !!
Was advices by hv and doc not to use hungry baby formula and he's just a big hungry kid . 🤷🏻‍♀️

If he is small by charts I'd wake him overnight 🤷🏻‍♀️
My sons following his centile x

Just to repeat, you’re not getting things wrong it just seems from what you’ve posted that you’ve had some very poor advice on feeding from your GP

Advice now is to feed on demand. So that means to feed when they show feeding cues. Google feeding cues but crying is a very late cue. For my DD that was normally on waking. You should also allow the baby to take as much as they want so they should stop feeding when they have had enough. If they drink all the milk in the bottle then you need to offer more.

How are you getting on today @Angeliki159?

In regards to him spitting up vs not being content on reduced portions, have you tried sneaking an extra ounce in a little while after a feed? E.g. you could give him a 5oz bottle then wait 15-20mins and give another ounce. That way he has chance to digest the 5oz and have another ounce without being too hungry I.a. happy to have that extra ounce and not want morea.

It would be useful to know how much he currently weighs though as it does seem his weight could be quite low for his age. However, try to remember the centile charts aren't a competition. It's not a case of 'the bigger the better'. If he seems alert and is meeting most of his development milestones, then im sure he is fine. Just a little baby with a small appetite.

I'd always make up a bottle with more than he's currently having. So if he drinks the whole 5oz now, make all bottles 6oz. If he drinks 5oz, fine, but if he can fit in 6oz then he should have it.

FWIW, I was told I was overfeeding when my baby ended up having around 40oz a day (can't remember how many months) but just turned out to be a hungry baby, never overweight, still eats like a horse. It got to the stage where we needed to make up more than one bottle as the bottles just weren't made big enough! (Needed 10-12oz but they only went up to 9). They're just all different so ignore what you "should" be doing according to the average guides on the tin and so on.

I would try feeding every 3 hours

I’m not sure Angeliki is coming back.

Sorry, forgot my mumsnet password lol

Right so:

I went to the docs at 2 months because he was projectile vomiting and had really wet poo. Doctor seemed horrified that LO was draining a 5oz bottle.

LO was 5.3lb when born but is putting on weight steadily. He is on the 2nd centile line.

Havnt been able to get him weighed for a while as the centre has been closed. According to his chart, he should be 11.9lbs and I will try getting him weighed on thursday.

Bottles, we have been doing 5oz at 8am, 12pm, 4pm, 8pm, 11.30pm and if he wakes in the night we will give him a bottle.
He seems happy in that but he is massively spitting up again. Normally it's just a bit but now it's loads (amount and frequency)

Thank you to those that said I'm not doing it wrong. Being a new mum and having OCD and anxiety is taxing but I'm getting there.

He is very alert. People always comment when we are out because he's a nosey lil monkey lol
He laughed for the first time yesterday and seems to be hitting milestones.

If he’s vomiting and has watery poo, have you tried swapping him to Comfort formula?

I honestly can’t see why the GP was horrified about your LO having 5floz at 2 months. Sadly GPs receive no training on feeding babies and formula should be fed on demand anyway. I’m sorry you’ve had such ooor advice.