5 Month Old never has more than 5oz feed

[K7]

My five-month-old has had the same amount of formula in her bottles for the last five months. She only ever takes 5oz and has five or six bottles a day. She's not huge - weighs 14lb - and I keep expecting her to move up a gear and drink more, but she hasn't increased her feeds since November. With the prospect of weaning looming, I'm worried she'll start taking even less. Anyone else had this? My HV says perhaps she's found her natural level and that's all she'll take, but she's quite small for age and I can't help worrying.

If I get you right and she's finishing five or six 5 oz bottles a day then that's great! That's 25 tho 30 oz a day! The minimum ammount a baby that age should have is 20oz. When u wean her she may drink a little less but since she's drinking so much now that's no problem and you can start weaning her on foods mixed with formula (baby rice / rusk soaked in milk) which will get more into her anyway.

Sounds like you and dd are doing just fine! Don't worry!

none of mine would ever take much more than 5-6 oz at one time.

Don't worry K7 - it doesn't matter if she's small - so long as she's healthy. From looking at my tin, she's only having a couple of ounces less then that "recommended" for her age anyway, so I would say it's really nothing to fret about - the tins themselves say that the charts are only guidelines and some babies may need more or less than that stated.

HTH

I've never managed to get my dts past 7oz and they are now 10 months, and not small at all. I wouldn't worry about it neither.

my daughter has never had more than 3-4 oz's five times a day and the morning bottle was even less. i have just weaned and she reduced intake even further and dropped centiles but still gaining weight. she is 24 weeks and nearly 16 lbs (although 5 weeks early)....so weight okay even though low milk intake

i have now tried (on a mumsnetters advice) giving fewer bottles and trying to get her to take more at each time, today trialing 3x6ozs with lunch and dinner, so far so good. takes her 1 hour to finish 6-7 ozs but it used to take her the same time to finish 3-4 ozs...maybe spacing them apart will do the trick when you start to wean too???

also adding milk to baby rice as a first food also gives a little extra. however tbh it doesn't sound like you'll have any problems because IMO she is having more than enough milk as it is; HTH

good luck

Same thing with my (almost 5 mo) DD. I worry because DS was at about 8 oz by this time, and would keep drinking if you would give it to him, whereas she stops when she has decided she's through and will not take anymore no matter what. She's not quite 15 lb, and the whole spacing feeds out so she takes bigger bottles thing doesn't work at all for us. I've just had to take it as she knows what she wants, and seems to be doing fine. She's petite, but has a double chin and chubby little legs, so I feel good about that.

Thanks for the feedback everyone - glad to know we're not alone here! I've tried pushing the feeds further apart but it makes minimal difference. She just doesn't seem to have the capacity for more. But she's healthy and happy, so can't be doing her any harm. When I tried feeding her more often, she took less and just got snacky, so the four hour gaps seems to help us get the maximum down her.

Forevermore - are you sure the teats are fast-flowing enough for your LO? It used to take us an hour to feed too, but then we switched to vary-flow. Now takes us ten to fifteen minutes. Or perhaps you just have a leisurely feeder?!

nothing to do with speed of sucking its about frequency...she will do 5 strong sucks then look around or push it away, or fall asleep, or squirm out of my lap, anything but suck, other times (rarely) she has finished a bottle in 10 minutes, so i know she can!

it just seems that she isn't really interested in having it and will only 'give in' if i perservere, hence why it takes an hour or so. i think she hates milk!

solids (if she likes them) go down in minutes...

Hello,

the past few weeks I have tried upping my babies feeds from 5 to 6oz but he just keeps spitting up all the time and very fussy after feeda

I think the baby in question will probably be around 20 now @MumtoWilliam25

You might be better starting your own thread