Adapting Gina Ford for a formula fed baby

[TurtleAnn]

Has anyone tried to adapt the 'Contented Little Baby' routines for formula fed babies successfully?
I am following the advice on P63 about formula amounts and using the 'routines for breast-feeding' but as bottle feeding takes a lot less time than breast feeding I am finding that my 6-week old has completed the awake time early. For example, the bedtime wind down says, wake up at 5pm, bath by 5.30, feed at 6pm, bed by 7pm. Well, I can do the wake up at 5 and bath at 5.30, but it takes 10 minutes to feed at 6pm, so the latest he is in bed and asleep is 6.20 (I have a sleepy baby who is easy to settle and was very difficult to wake for feeds).
Did you:

1. adjust the activity times to include extra play before the bath
2. just put your baby to bed early
3. have wind down play after the feed and extend the bedtime routine (if so how do you plan to reduce the routine from 1 hour as your baby grows into a toddler?)

All advice welcome... Why is there no advice for formula fed babies and routines?

Wow, just read your blog, you, your baby and family are doing brilliant after all you've being through.

If you find he's still looking for something to suck after finishing a bottle you could try a dummy. Babies have a strong sucking reflex and plenty of bottle fed babies do well with a dummy to give them the extra sucking time.

I did FF on GF - I just let him drink as much as he wanted at the set times and inbetween if he wanted (he often drank more inbetween during growth spurts). But when I looked at the back of the formula box I found he more or less drank what they suggested. At 6 weeks he also went to sleep earlier than the times GF suggested but by about 2 months he more or less would stay more awake.

Also for the 10pm feed I didnt wake him but did the dreamfeed as per the suggestions in the baby whisperer as I really didnt want to wake him at that time (not that its possible to wake a sleeping baby I found - certainly not my DS)

Basically I adapted it to suit my DS and it still worked out ok with him (and continues to do so) As long as your baby is getting all his milk requirements during the day (more or less) the routine seems to work out ok.

Thanks CurryMaid, I have just read the bottle feeding section and I couldn't find the advice on 'over-feeding' where is it located?

Thanks everyone else, it was interesting to read about the 6-week old who went through a growth spurt and slept more during this period. That sounds like it might be Bubba at the moment (not his real name or his nickname), although it is still hard for me to tell. I want to ask how long does a growth spurt last? but I know that is a like asking how long is a piece of string...

I am thinking it is only 2 weeks until he is properly 2 months old, so I might just increase the formula dose early.

I reckon GF is more about getting me into a routine than Bubba. I don't really care about eliminating the middle of the night feed, although I would like to get rid of the 5am (in an ideal world). But I do want to tie down feeding times a little more securely so I don't over-feed him. And so that he doesn't wake up starving.

What is the 'dream feed'? Is this from 'the baby whisperer'? I haven't got this book yet, but if it is worth buying I'll see if I can get a second hand copy from oxfam.

Turtleann, start a thread asking about whatever your particular concern is and people will reply to you personally

e.g. "I'm worried I'm overfeeding my ff baby, is this possible? How much should he be having per day?"

Hi TurtleAnn. I am another Mum whose breastfed baby ended up in hospital through underfeeding. In my case, it was only 11 years later that I found out that the reason: dd's connective tissue disorder would have made her too weak to suck. Apparently it's something that happens with hypotonic babies. She also had an infection and needed antibiotics.

I never did the Gina Ford, but ended up with an exhausting routine of expressing foremilk, the breastfeeding her, then expressing hindmilk to top her up with a syringe. And in between feeds I had to fit in 4 daily doses of antibiotics. It's fair to say I didn't have much of a life in those first few months. (with hindsight I would have switched to formula- my routine was too punishing).

The good news is- whatever routine you follow, it's a limited time in your life. Dd took off no end by the time I started weaning her. She is now, at 12, as tall as me and eats like a horse, but still has a lovely figure.

With a weak and sick baby you may well need to stick to a routine that you wouldn't otherwise contemplate. But in the long run, the only thing that matters is getting the two of you back on track and help you to recover emotionally (I know I was shattered). If a routine is what it takes, then a routine is what you need.

Can't help you with the practicalities, I'm afraid, but I wouldn't worry too much about overfeeding your lo: babies do go through growth spurts and I don't think there is any harm in responding to that. I'd icnerase the dose if he wants it.

Thanks, I love the idea of bathtime/ waterproof storytime and I am going to look into baby massage too, to extend the GF bathtime.

I am also thinking go to bed a bit earlier and sleep a bit more (sleep isn't a problem), because my aim isn't to eliminate night-time feeds just yet, it is to feed with regularity using the GF routine.

Thanks for advice about hungry baby and based on that Bubba is not a hungry baby he is growing.

I like the sound of dream-feeding, but with a baby who has feeding/ sucking difficulties I don't think it will be for us. I have mentioned it to a couple of my friends though.

Thanks for the Mums who have contacted me and shared their experiences of having a dehydrated baby. I am finding out that this is more common than is published. It is nice to know I am not the only one.

What is DS and DD? I am assuming son/ daughter but what does the first D stand for?

Turtleann, make your way to the post-natal threads and join the rest of us who have babies born in May. There are lots of us and we all want to help and support each other.

My DS was born at the end of April and we aren't following a routine. He is my 2nd child and if he is anything like his brother he will find a routine of his own given time.

TurtleAnn - the amounts for formula are just guidelines so if your baby is draining the bottle then increase the amount. My DD went very quickly up the amounts and then cut back quickly when weaned, and was the perfect GF baby even though we weren't doing it whereas DS was a little and more often.

Re growth spurts...

Wonder Weeks

Scroll down to chart

TurgleAnn reading your post made me remember how I felt when my baby was tiny. I also used GF book to keep me sane as the first few months after having a baby you can feel so lonely and helpless.

I had no relatives or friends living nearby so reading in the book that you can have a shower or even dare to have breakfast every day is normal and you can do that without feeling guilty about not spending enough time entertaining your baby. It took me a while to recognise my baby's needs, I just wanted to make sure that he was well looked after, but was clueless about what to do and when.

So agree that GF does not work for some, it definitely worked for me and my bfed baby. I am still bfeeding 8 months later, completely relaxed the routine by now and have a beautiful happy baby who makes me feel like I'm the best mum in the world.

Keep up the good work and be patient, it will only get better!

My God, are you me?! I just read your blog - ds had a severe tongue-tie that wasn't divided properly at 3 days, so he also became unwell. Even after successful division at 6 weeks impoved his ability to bottle-feed, he still couldn't get the milk from the breast, and the agony of trying to feed him! As he could suck as far as the hard palate. Turned out, after 14 dreadful, painful weeks, that he had ongoing and inoperable tongue problems that would always make bf almost impossible. Wonderful bf specialists at the John Radcliffe diagnosed this, after 13 other health workers failed.

I chose to demand feed and co-sleep, and that's worked great for us. He's a very happy, calm little chap. I'm less certain that expressing all his feeds to 7 months (and most still now at nearly 8) was right. Definitely hsd a crushing effect on bonding. But I hadn't given up on bf till 14 weeks, and by then it seemed like I might as well get to 26. And it's one of those choices where you're between a rock and a hard place, isn't it?