Feeding patterns

[CJ98]

My 8 week old baby has now started wanting a bottle every 1.5-2 hours. We make her 5 ounce which she completely drinks & then not even two hours later wants another bottle.
My Health Visitor has accused me of already over feeding my baby & so I don’t want to risk upping her milk to 6 ounce. She’s told me if after two hours she wants another bottle I’ve to top her up with 2 ounce although this isn’t enough as she’s drinking 5 ounce.
I’ve been told to start giving her water in between feeds by other mums as it helps her to stop being constipated & stops her from becoming dehydrated, again my health visitor has told me I shouldn’t be giving her water as that’s a summer thing.
She doesn’t take a dummy/pacifier so I can’t use that to replace the idea of her having a bottle. I feel like I’m going out of my mind. We’ve started her on hungrier baby formula throughout the night and she now sleeps for 3 hours in between feeds on 5 ounce.
she’s a baby that will not wait for a bottle and will immediately wake up screaming for one. She’s terrible for bringing up her wind so we can be sat for close to an hour attempting to get her wind up.
any suggestions on how to help a first time mum ?

I would make up an 8oz bottle and see how much she takes.

Don’t listen to anyone that tells you you are overfeeding - I got told the same. I went to A&E with my boy as he starts refusing milk because he clearly had reflux. They refused to give me Gaviscon and told me I was over feeding him. Told me to give him 75ml of milk every 2-3 hours - for a baby that had been drinking 150ml easily. He would scream and scream because he was starving. Got some gaviscon after a fight, and he is now fine.
I went back to feeding on demand. Do what you think your baby needs, you know her better than anyone!

Agree with this also - make more than you think you might need, she will stop when she’s full x

My 12 week old finished 7oz the other day and I was told the same thing too when I mentioned it to one of the HV at a drop in clinic! Unfortunately my baby didn’t read the guidelines on suggested quantities.

I just look for signs she is full- splayed, relaxed fingers and turning head away are the main ones I think. We have accidentally over fed her a few times in the earlier days when we didn’t know the cues and she would sick it back up so we know we are definitely not over feeding when she downs 7oz!

I have a 8 week EBF baby. At the beginning we combo fed. Our HV told us if he finishes a bottle and wants more give him breast and then if he does it consistently add an extra ounce of the formula.
It felt like we were making bottles and either he wasn't drinking it or we didn't make enough plus he kept throwing up so we reverted to breast only.
It has been tough as he was constantly feeding but it has eased up slightly and now at night he sleeps 3-5 hours waking up 3 times between 8pm and 8am. During the day he does feed every hour or 2 and we are struggling to get him to take expressed milk from a bottle but he doesn't throw up as often.
Also in regard to the water, check with your HV as I was told baby shouldn't get water until at least 6 months due to their tiny stomach.

I did this and she just drunk 5 ounce and nothing more. Every bottle she’s had today has been 5 ounce and she’s finished them all but still wanting a bottle every two hours at a push. I don’t want to increase the amount but it’s clearly not going to make a difference. I just feel like I’m constantly making bottles but she never seems satisfied 🤦🏼‍♀️

If the baby has silent reflux they could be comfort feeding. They feed as it soothes the reflux, only problem is the feed causes the reflux and to them the only solution is for them to feed again.
During one reflux flare up my daughter went from 2 3-5oz bottles overnight to 5+ 5oz bottles and absolutely desperate for more! It was like we had never fed her. The only way to stop the cycle was to restrict her feeds and get her reflux meds adjusted. She went back down to 2-6oz over night over 2 bottles

I would investigate whether there is any reflux at play.