Drs telling me to reduce newborn feeds does this sound right ?

[ConnieC2001]

Just out of hospital with my 12 day old baby due to bronchitilitis . has been taking around 60/70ml of milk and they’re saying with her weight she should be around 40 ml. She was 4lb10oz at birth , lost 100 grams and then has now got back up to birthweight . I tried to stop her feeds at 40 ml but she absolutely screams for more . Should I listen and stop her at 40ml or go by baby and what she wants ? Don’t wanna over feed her but don’t wanna starve her if she’s hungry

Sometimes crying can be a sign of something else entirely. Ie I had a very gassy baby and would scream her face off and initially I assumed it was milk but when I changed her formula brand to something deemed gentler, the crying stopped

I would go by your baby. As long as they're not in obvious discomfort from the extra milk like spitting up/wind etc then carry on as you are. I breastfed for the first couple of months but then bottle fed and I largely ignored the guidelines, I just went by baby's feeding cues and added another oz once she started to drain the bottle.

That is what my daughter was on but she was close to 8lb. Your daughter is 2.09kg. The amount of formula you should be giving them is their weight in kg x 150-200, then divide that by the number of feeds per day. So at the lower end she would be on 8x 39ml feeds (2.09x150/8). At the upper end she should be on 8x 52ml feeds (2.09x200/8). 60-70ml is the right amount over the day if you are doing 6 feeds a day (2.09 x 200 =418/6 = 69.9).

@Pumpy001 @PurpleBananaSmoothie @buckingmad she guzzles the bottle I have to stop her and try wind her , she spits up a but sometimes but I feel that’s due to her drinking so fast . Then she cries and cries and instantly settles one she has more milk and is fine after . At a loss 🥲

I'd feed her the higher amount.

As lpng as she wasn't unsettled after feeds or spitting up huge amounts

I would give her as much milk as she wants. If you were breastfeeding you wouldn't know how much she was drinking so if I were you I'd just continue to follow her cues.

I was also told to reduce the expressed milk I gave my baby. She was hungry and she started to drop centiles too. It’s very easy say 40ml per feed but my baby wanted more milk sometimes and less at times. Also if you’re giving expressed milk thats very different to giving formula. I’d follow baby cues or at least consult a few more health professionals like a midwife or health visitor

Go with what baby wants for sure. She's telling you she's hungry. Often smaller babies are more hungry than bigger babies!

Thank you everyone . She’s formula fed idk if that makes any difference

My daughter weighed 6 lbs 10 oz. I breastfed her so couldn't tell how much she was getting, one week she gained 17 ounces! Feed your baby, she obviously needs more.

Nope never listened to drs and have 4 healthy toddlers. Cry because there hungry if I followed midwife they would have screamed all the time. Followed instinct and 4 happy babies

The public health nurse told me you cannot overfeed them at that age, they don’t sit around eating for fun like we do popcorn. If she is hungry then feed her.

The only thing I would look out for is reflux, if she has that she may be screaming in pain and that can be mistaken for hunger.

All the very best.

Are you doing paced feeding? This comment about guzzling makes me wonder if she's drinking so fast that her full cues from her tummy arent catching up. It might also help reduce the spit up. There are lots of videos online to show you how to pace feed if you haven't tried it.

You can over feed on formula. Does t sound like op is though, if she's setting after it. Have you tried variflow or slower flow tests op?

Congratulations on your new baby 🙂 What a rough time you've had so far.

Maybe try paced feeding so her body has time to catch up in the hunger/full signals if she is guzzling it.

But also if she is wanting to feed lots just keep an eye on symptoms for reflux as the feeding soothes pain and can often mask the problem.

Doctors told me the same with my first but she was huuuuungry so I fed her what she wanted. Ironically now she's a toddler she barely eats!

Agree with the paced feeding comment. You can over feed bottle fed babies as the milk will keep dripping out so baby keeps swallowing. Look for stuff like slow flow teats and feed in a semi upright position so they have to actively suck more.

My DS was low birth weight when born too and he ate like a little pig! I was told the opposite and to feed him as much as he wanted as long as he wanted it because he had some catching up to do……he’s now a lovely chunky 4 month old.