Formula feeders unite

[hannahl201477]

I started this for a kinda check in or question thread. Because, I have a question! Haha!

How much is LO taking and how often?
Malcolm is taking 4 oz and WAS going every 3-4 hours. Lately, we are doing good to make it 2.5 hours. He wakes up and eats 3 times a night when he was just eating once. I need this to stop soon. We went to dr friday for a week long diarreha spree and he had only gained 3 oz in 3 weeks. The dr didn't mention it but it was walk in clinic time. So I'm not even sure he had his full chart. My mom thinks I need to up Malcolms bottle to 6 oz but that is a huge difference.

[Bluedaisy]

Mine is younger than most babies(will be 14 weeks on Saturday) but is taking 5oz at most feeds. He usually sleeps eight hours without feeding then during the day goes 2-3 hour between feeds.
I would try upping by an ounce at a time. Going from four to six seems like a lot and will probably end up with a lot of formula being wasted.

[txngrl31]

DD is 4.5 months (I think 20 weeks) and she is eating between 5-7 ounces every 3-4 hours. She goes about 10 hours between her last feeding of the day to her first. We also added in solids during that last bottle feeding. The dr told us to stay ahead of her and always make more than what she is eating. She was 13 pounds and 5 ounces at her 4 month check up.

[baytosa2013]

Hmmm maybe DD needs to up her bottle. She is 4.5 months and was 14lbs at her dr appt last week. She's been taking 4oz every 2.5 to 3 hourrs and it took her a bit to work up to that. I just recently started noticing her wanting more from the bottle after she was already done so we upped it a 1/2 ounce but I may take it to 5. We will probably start some solids here in the next couple weeks. She was sleeping 9:30 to 5:30 every night but recently she's started waking up at 3:30 am. Maybe giving her the heavier bottles will help her sleep through the night again.

[hannahl201477]

Oct 14, 2015 8:04:33 GMT -5 @jemomma said:

hannahl201477 I feel like a jump from 4oz to 6oz is a big one. Does he still seem hungry after you feed him? It's normal for most babies to still be eating every 2-3 hours at this age. It will start to space itself out more once you start solids. He may be going through a growth spurt or just trying to catch up from the diarrhea issue you mentioned.

Usually M takes 5oz bottles, but I sometimes give a "snack bottle" in the afternoon of 2oz in order to get our schedule to work out. Here is the schedule we have been working on that seems to work for her:

7:30/8am - Wake up, 5oz bottle(sometimes she only takes 3oz of this)
9am/9:30am - 45 min nap
10:30/11am - 5oz bottle
12:30/1pm - 45 min nap
1:30pm - 5oz bottle
3/3:30pm - 45 min nap
3:30/4pm - snack bottle - 2oz
6pm - last bottle - 5oz
6:30pm - bedtime
2am - 4am - MOTN bottle - 5oz

Sometimes he seems hungry and sometimes he doesn't. I normally make 2 more ounces if he is still hungry. He is just a little squirt (like DH and me) but was already so low in percentile for weight at 2 month check up and next week is his 4 month and has only gained 3 ounces. So I'm dreading his apt.

[alayne926]

S is 16 weeks today and she will take a 5oz bottle when she wakes up, three 4oz bottles while at daycare and then her last one or two bottles at home are 5oz before bed. She will usually STTN. Sometimes she'll wake in the MOTN and I'll make a 4oz bottle after trying the pacifier if that doesn't work.

[musicfrk2002]

I definitely wouldn't jump from 4 to 6 oz. Maybe try 5 oz at a time?

J was eating 5 oz every 3 hours, and sleeping 11 or 12 hours at night until about a week ago. Now he eats 5, then an hour to hour and a half later he usually wants more, so I make another 2 oz. If it's been 2 hours, he usually takes another 5 oz bottle.

I would guess the diarrhea is the culprit for only gaining 3 oz. Has the diarrhea stopped? Maybe try some rice cereal to help it stop?

[sabrinaml]

I agree with only going up by an ounce.
C's first bottle of the day is 7oz then he usually takes 5oz (every 2.5-3 hrs) the rest of the day until his bedtime bottle which is 6oz (sometimes he doesn't finish it though.) He also gets rice added to his bottles in an attempt to help with spitting up. I started giving him one "meal" a day. When he gets it depends on the day and how many times he's already had it. (Brand new food or had it once or twice I will give it to him in the morning) if we are going on day 4 or 5 he might get it in the evening.
He goes to bed between 8-9 and wakes up between 5:30-6:30 eats then goes back down for another 1-2.5 hrs.

[missjenniebean]

V is 5 months but still takes 4 ounces anything more than that and it is a constant spit up marathon. Sometimes she will take more though. She's also on solids...she's a little one weighing in at 11 lbs 3 ounces today. She's a low percentile but is healthy, growing, and doing everything she is suppose to be doing. She is suppose to be double her birth weight by 6 months so she is almost there. She has been sleeping through the night. I honestly wouldn't worry too much.



Eta we go up by 1/2 ounces and that seems to work well . V gain 4 ounces between 2 and 4 month appointments.

[PurpleIris]

My girl is one of the youngest (born July 3, she was 2 weeks past due date) so she's a little over three mos.

I feel like we haven't got a real schedule, it sounds like all of you can give about the same amount at each feeding. She gets anywhere between 2 and 5 oz at a time, depending on when she last ate. She spits up a ton so I can't give her too much at once - the 5 oz bottle is before bed.

I'm stressing about how this will go at daycare. She starts 2 days a week next week. I guess I'll send in a bunch of 3 oz bottles and some extra?

When did you schedules start to stabilize? She also eats before she naps so depending how long a nap is she may have just 2oz if she just ate recently.

[hannahl201477]

Oct 14, 2015 16:04:31 GMT -5 PurpleIris said:

My girl is one of the youngest (born July 3, she was 2 weeks past due date) so she's a little over three mos.

I feel like we haven't got a real schedule, it sounds like all of you can give about the same amount at each feeding. She gets anywhere between 2 and 5 oz at a time, depending on when she last ate. She spits up a ton so I can't give her too much at once - the 5 oz bottle is before bed.

I'm stressing about how this will go at daycare. She starts 2 days a week next week. I guess I'll send in a bunch of 3 oz bottles and some extra?

When did you schedules start to stabilize? She also eats before she naps so depending how long a nap is she may have just 2oz if she just ate recently.

I would suggest sending a can of her formula. As a daycare worker and now mom of little one that goes twice a week I find it's easiest to send a can of formula and a jug of water that way she will always have more if needed.

[periwinkledaydreams]

This thread couldn't have come at a more helpful time for me as I just decided today to transition from breastfeeding to formula. We've supplemented with formula from the get go, as needed, but never regularly so I really have a lot to learn. This past week Ive struggled with plugged ducts, 6 in a week, and its unbearably painful. Im ready to make the switch today.

In the past I've always given her 4oz or 5oz bottles when supplementing because thats how much she takes from a bottle when it was pumped breastmilk. I have no idea though how much she was getting from me AT the breast in a typical feeding and I fed on demand at no particular schedule, so Im guessing we have a learning curve ahead of us. Id be really interested to hear from any mommas who have made this transition already if yall are out there.

[holliberry28]

I was just googling how many ounces should a 4 month old should eat and I got 28 to 32 ounces.

M's reflux finally seems better (knock on wood) so we took him off the zantac and now he takes 5 oz every 3 hours instead of 4. I want to eventually get him taking close to 7 oz every 4 hours (4 feeds a day) but I imagine that'll take some time. He's almost 15 lbs.

I agree with others suggestions to up it an ounce at a time, you don't want to make the jump all at once. If he's still having diarrhea on Gerber gentle, have you tried switching to similac sensitive or enfamil gentleease? M's diarrhea stopped after we got him off Nutramigen ( but he's on Gerber gentle now) so that won't work for your LO.

[hannahl201477]

Oct 14, 2015 19:22:21 GMT -5 holliberry28 said:

I was just googling how many ounces should a 4 month old should eat and I got 28 to 32 ounces.

M's reflux finally seems better (knock on wood) so we took him off the zantac and now he takes 5 oz every 3 hours instead of 4. I want to eventually get him taking close to 7 oz every 4 hours (4 feeds a day) but I imagine that'll take some time. He's almost 15 lbs.

I agree with others suggestions to up it an ounce at a time, you don't want to make the jump all at once. If he's still having diarrhea on Gerber gentle, have you tried switching to similac sensitive or enfamil gentleease? M's diarrhea stopped after we got him off Nutramigen ( but he's on Gerber gentle now) so that won't work for your LO.

Diarrhea is all gone now he just has AWFUL gas.. Worse than a grown mans! I wasn't really planning on upping him 2 ounces just didn't know what other babies his age were taking.
I don't know how to tag people but periwinkledaydreams but maybe this is right. I'm no real help being we made the transition at 3 weeks. But I still feed on demand too. So I guess if you have been giving him 4 or 5 ounces when you do just keep doing that whenever LO seems hungry. Maybe someone else will be more help though!

[junch817]

Oct 14, 2015 8:04:33 GMT -5 @jemomma said:

7:30/8am - Wake up, 5oz bottle(sometimes she only takes 3oz of this)
9am/9:30am - 45 min nap
10:30/11am - 5oz bottle
12:30/1pm - 45 min nap
1:30pm - 5oz bottle
3/3:30pm - 45 min nap
3:30/4pm - snack bottle - 2oz
6pm - last bottle - 5oz
6:30pm - bedtime
2am - 4am - MOTN bottle - 5oz

Omg @jemomma - your little one goes to bed at 6:30 and doesn't get up until 7:40/8 with only one wake up?! Damn! I sort of hate you haha!!! That's nuts!!

[musicfrk2002]

The handout our ped gave us at our appointment said most 4 month olds eat 6 to 7 oz every 4 to 5 hours. The only time we go anywhere near that long is if he is asleep, lol. I'm sure he would eat 7 oz at a time if I let him, but I would rather feed him a few more times a day than be spit up on that much more. Today was 5 oz every 2 to 2.5 hours, I might try upping it to 6 oz tomorrow to see how he does...I miss the simplicity and predictability of the 5 oz bottles every 3 hours

[amber311]

Lily is almost 4 months old. She's taking 4-6oz every 3-4 hours except at night. She will sleep 5-6 hours. We also add rice due to her reflux. Using the gerber soothe.