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3 week old taking too much formula

29 replies

sarah13xx · 29/08/2021 14:56

My little one is now formula fed and after a bit of a rocky start now absolutely loves it.. a bit too much! We’re using the tommee tippee perfect prep machine so the smallest bottle we can make is 4oz (120ml). We’re using hipp organic milk and he should only be having 2oz (60ml) per feed and 7-8 feeds per day. That would add to max 480ml per day. My little one is taking 700ml at least every day and is taking more frequent feeds than 7-8 per day. He’s nearer 11 most days. Some nights he’ll wake up during the night and take a full bottle and cry after he’s put down until he gets another bottle (will only take 20ml or something of the next bottle before he falls asleep). He’s a really good baby, sleeps well (only up once or twice per night) and literally only cries if he wants fed. When he cries during the day wanting another bottle only an hour after having one what am I meant to do? He’s taking too much according to the hipp organic box and he gained 9oz last week at his HV check up. I don’t want to over feed him but if he wants fed he wants fed 🙈 I really would rather not give him a dummy if I can avoid it

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BaconAvocado · 29/08/2021 15:21

Ask the HV if it's a problem?

Wagglerock · 29/08/2021 15:24

I don't think 3wo can read the guidelines on the box. If he's hungry then feed him. DC1 used to have a bottle every 90 minutes at one stage.

If he's just having the bottle for comfort than a dummy might be a good idea, great for sucky babies and a risk reducer for SIDS.

BaringasMare · 29/08/2021 15:56

Surely at 3 weeks he should just be fed on demand? Unless he’s vomiting it back up, he’s not having too much. Babies are good at regulating their own appetites.

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dementedpixie · 29/08/2021 16:00

If he's finishing a full bottle then you should be making the bottles larger e.g. rather than 4oz each feed give 5oz.

If you're feeding to appetite and not trying to get him to take more when he's had enough then its unlikely that you are overfeeding.

SukonthaM · 29/08/2021 16:04

If he’s hungry you should feed him. I’m sure he’s got a better idea of what he needs than the guidelines of the hipp organic box.

Thesearmsofmine · 29/08/2021 16:11

If he is draining the full 4oz bottle then you need to up the bottles to 5oz. You do that each time he starts to regularly finish a full feed. You might find at 5oz he has a longer gap between feeds because he will be full,

JaffaRaf · 29/08/2021 16:18

If he’s hungry feed him, if he’s draining the bottles make them an oz bigger. Ignore the box, it’s just a guideline, same as if you were breast feeding, there is no box, you feed on demand, so just feed him on demand. Ask your health visitor if you are worried, but you can’t really go wrong if you just feed the baby when hungry.

Toddlerteaplease · 29/08/2021 16:37

He should be on 150ml/KG at that age. That will tell you how much he needs for his weight. Then divide by the number of feeds he has for the correct amount.

hauntedvagina · 29/08/2021 17:17

It's been a while, but I'm sure I gave 4oz six times a day, increased by an ounce each time once the bottle started to be drained.

Skyla2005 · 29/08/2021 20:02

Mine had four oz bottles every four hours on the dot 2 oz is not very much for 3 weeks

Maray1967 · 29/08/2021 20:41

At 3 weeks both of mine were on 6 bottles of about 4 oz, so you are not over feeding at all. Make up 5 oz bottles and see how you go.

sarah13xx · 29/08/2021 20:51

Okay you have all made me feel better he is not some sort of milk monster 🙈 I was just worrying he was going to be gaining too much weight if that’s possible! The health visitor is coming tomorrow so I will say to her and move to 5oz bottles!

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Letsallscreamatthesistene · 29/08/2021 21:24

Ignore the box and just feed him how much he wants. Mentally you'll feel a lot better!

popcorndiva · 29/08/2021 21:47

You just feed on demand at that age. My 4 week old dd has 5oz bottles near enough to the fot every 2 hours in the day and 3 hours at night at the moment. On the contrary my DS at a similar age was on 3 - 4oz , every baby is different so as long as they are not being sick you are not over feeding them

Ohsoquiiieeetttttt454333 · 29/08/2021 21:50

We formula fed and used a prep, we ignored the guidance on the side with both…. It would have indicated both were drastically under fed!! As long as they are gaining and following their centile then no concerns. We fed on demand with both

lukiebebe · 29/08/2021 22:18

Heyyy lovely to see a post from you!! I hope you're doing okay??? Made me laugh because it's as if I had written this word for word!! Our little man is a "milk monster" too! He guzzles down his milk and cries for more so we make another bottle and then he just takes 20 or so ml lol, so probs best to go up an oz! Knowing our little one though I'll go up an ounce and then he won't finish it all and will waste a lot of formula 🙈 cheeky little things!

Sending you love xx

RobinPenguins · 29/08/2021 22:22

Overfeeding isn’t really a thing at that age, it’s just one of those things that gets said to put people off formula. Keep feeding on demand.

sarah13xx · 29/08/2021 22:38

@lukiebebe hope you’re getting on okay! Glad it’s not just me 😂 I’ve been tracking what he takes on an app, quite glad I have now so I can go back and look at it. I think if I even gave one or two feeds per day of 5oz it would stop him taking silly small feeds every hour between 6-9pm. I think he must still be a bit hungry and it’s just making him have lots of smaller ‘snacks’ before bed. I noticed last week he was going longer at night as well but this week he’s only slept 3/3 and a half hours before waking up looking for more milk. Just want to get the number of feeds down a bit, it’s 12 some days 🙈 just glad he’s not looking for milk every hour during the night or anything though so I should really count myself lucky! X

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sarah13xx · 29/08/2021 22:39

@RobinPenguins that would make sense!

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DominicRaabsTravelAgent · 29/08/2021 23:17

Totally agree with others, if he's draining 4floz it's timber to move up to 5 floz.

Was he quite long at birth too OP? Tall babies often require more feeding Smile

PepsiHoover · 29/08/2021 23:21

@Letsallscreamatthesistene

Ignore the box and just feed him how much he wants. Mentally you'll feel a lot better!
This.

Your baby can't read so doesn't know who much they are supposed to be eating?

Do you eat exactly 2000 calories each day evenly distributed across three meals with exactly 1/3 carbs, 1/3 protein, 1/3 vegetables? Of course of don't. You eat when you're hungry!

sarah13xx · 30/08/2021 19:10

@DominicRaabsTravelAgent yes, he’s tall! He was 55cm at 9 days and the health visitor said that was two lines above average

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FTEngineerM · 30/08/2021 19:28

If it was at the boob you wouldn’t even know, he’d just be taking it. Unless he’s voming it all back up it’s absolutely fine, you’re doing great.

DominicRaabsTravelAgent · 30/08/2021 20:23

yes, he’s tall! He was 55cm at 9 days and the health visitor said that was two lines above average.

Thought he would be! My DF's DS was exactly the same. He's now a lanky 6'7".

As others have said, he hasn't read the guidelines, abs they are just guidelines not a strict set of rules Smile

sarah13xx · 30/08/2021 22:04

@FTEngineerM thank you 😊

@DominicRaabsTravelAgent wow, that is tall! I’m quite tall and his dads around 6ft so that would make sense

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