How much formula to feed a baby?

The_Next_Verse

People might think that this is silly, but when my son (now 5 months) was first born, we kept a note of his routine so we could start to work around him and fit him into our lives.

This was him at 23, 24 and 25 days old (so around the same ages as your LO). I hope it helps some.

23 Days old

1.47 a.m awake
1.52 a.m feed 2.5oz
2.15 a.m sleep
5.08 a.m awake
5.10 a.m feed 3oz
6.19 a.m feed 2oz
6.58 a.m feed 1.5oz
7.05 a.m sleep
8.25 a.m awake
8.32 a.m feed 2oz
8.45 a.m feed 1oz
9.04 a.m sick
9.11 a.m feed 1oz
9.57 a.m feed
10.30 a.m sleep
12.30 p.m awake
12.35 p.m feed 2.5oz
12.40 p.m asleep
12.50 p.m awake
12.59 p.m feed 0.5oz
1.25 p.m sleep
3.27 p.m awake
3.30 p.m feed 3oz
3.50 p.m sleep
5.50 p.m awake
6.00 p.m feed 3oz
6.09 p.m sleep
8.09 p.m awake
8.15 p.m bath time
8.40 p.m feed 2oz
9.10 p.m sleep
11.47 p.m awake
11.50 p.m feed 3oz


24 Days Old


12.33 a.m feed 3oz
1.30 a.m sleep
4.00 a.m awake
4.07 a.m feed 3oz
4.50 a.m sleep
5.30 a.m awake
5.50 a.m feed 3oz
6.40 a.m feed 2oz
7.20 a.m feed 2oz
7.40 a.m sleep
8.55 a.m awake
9.01 a.m feed 3oz
9.30 a.m feed 2.5oz
10.00 a.m sick
10.25 a.m sleep
10.31 a.m awake
10.40 a.m sleep
12.30 p.m awake
12.40 p.m feed 4oz
1.00 p.m sleep
3.00 p.m awake
3.05 p.m feed 2.5oz
3.35 p.m sleep
5.45 p.m awake
5.54 p.m feed 3oz
6.20 p.m feed 2oz
7.40 p.m feed 2oz
8.00 p.m bath
9.10p.m sleep


25 Days old

1.10 a.m awake
1.12 a.m feed 3 oz
1.20 a.m sleep
3.55 a.m awake
4.00 a.m feed 2.5oz
4.25 a.m sleep
7.00 a.m awake
7.15 a.m feed 4oz
8.18 a.m feed 2.5 oz
8.35 a.m sleep
8.53 a.m awake
8.59 a.m sleep
9.30 a.m walk to the shops to buy mummy some chocolate!
9.50 a.m awake
10.05 a.m sleep
10.50 a.m awake
11.00 a.m home from the shops!
11.05 a.m feed 3oz
12.00 p.m feed 1oz
12.45 p.m feed 1oz
1.20 p.m sleep
3.25 p.m awake
3.30 p.m feed 3oz
3.45 p.m sleep
5.45 p.m awake
6.05 p.m feed 3oz
6.23 p.m feed 1oz
7.22 p.m sleep
8.10 p.m awake
8.15 p.m bath
8.30 p.m feed 2oz
8.40 p.m sleep

onlyroz

I'd use what it says on the side of the tin as a starting point and then use your instincts from there. E.g. if he doesn't seem to want the whole bottle then don't force it down. Conversely, if it's all gulped down in one and bubs still seems hungry then next time make up a little bit more.

LJM

if you are not sure of the formula amounts to make up ask your health visitor all of us here with babies and children are different we can only advise you what we do or have done which doesnt mean it is right for your lo x

chanie

I never bothered with reading the packet of formula for guidance.

I had trouble breastfeeding and it ended up with DS being 'starved' the first day he was born. Anyway, Dr said I needed to feed him every 3 hours and he was given 3 ounces.

When we left the hospital, we continued with this. I upped this when he was sucking his bottle dry (after a few weeks) Sometimes he would take the extra, sometimes not, but we offered it to him and he took what he wanted.

My Dr's all told me that all babies, like people are different and some days they are hungerier than others. Thats why I didn't bother with Gina, or bother with reading the tin, which is a guideline.

My Mum told me that DS was still learning, as was I, so be patient.

moomoomama27

Each baby is different! It depresses me when I read about things like calculations and such rigid discapline for such young babies. At 3 weeks old a baby should be fed on demand, be it breast or bottle. The only way to really know is make up a 4-6 oz bottle and see how much baby takes. If they leave it then lower the amount, if they drain it up the amount. No book will be able to tell you what is right, just follow your babies lead.

stiltwalker

My DD was exclusively breast til 3 weeks then mix fed til 9 weeks then exclusively formula. She was always a greedy baby and with both BF and formula she would sometimes keep going until she sicked up (not fun into your bra!) then realise she'd sicked up too much and want a top up! I fed her SMA ordinary to start with but moved onto hungry baby at about 10 weeks and roughly went with the guidelines on the tin but found that she would have much more than guidelines during day but less at night, this was the reason I went onto just formula in the end as she was sleeping through but I was waking in the night like dolly parton ready to feed her but she was still fast asleep! Every baby is different and you know best so trust your instincts, you will know what is a hungry cry and what a bored one etc soon enough and be able to judge accordingly. The other thing I found was that I learnt to read the signs when DD was on an "up chuck coming" feed and took breast/bottle away just before she was too full. If you watch the face you should start to see the signs - with DD it was the eyes, they started to go! Having said all this I'm 28 weeks with no. 2 and fully expect to have to relearn all this for him as he'll do everything different to his big sis!

Good luck and enjoy this tiny bit as they grow so fast.

lilian1977

moomoomama27 wrote: »

Each baby is different! It depresses me when I read about things like calculations and such rigid discapline for such young babies. At 3 weeks old a baby should be fed on demand, be it breast or bottle. The only way to really know is make up a 4-6 oz bottle and see how much baby takes. If they leave it then lower the amount, if they drain it up the amount. No book will be able to tell you what is right, just follow your babies lead.

This is the problem - I'm well aware that each baby is different, but we were feeding on demand and letting him drain the bottle - and it resulted in violent vomiting and trouble breathing meaning we had a trip to A&E with him. So I just wondered what other people were feeding as the amount the paedeatrician recommended seems far too little.

smartie12

When Daisy was born she was unable to keep anything down and was constantly sick. She was threatened with special care unit but at 3 days old started to have a little.

At 3 weeks old she was only having around 2oz at the most at each feed and was still being sick quite often. As long as she was getting "something" we were happy.

Remember that their tummies are so little so they don't need a huge amount.

JBD

I have formula fed 3 babies. I used to start them off on 3 oz bottles [they were average size babies] and go from there.The important thing is to take your lead from them, often they would leave an ounce or two. I did find they tended to take roughly the amount recommended on the tin related to their age.

barbiedoll

I definitely wouldn't use larger teats yet, he is still very young and sounds as though he is a "greedy" feeder, (Doesn't mean that he'll be greedy when he grows up, it's just a term that we use for babies that drink quickly!)
Babies are designed to breastfeed which is MUCH harder for them than drinking from a bottle. If you give him a bigger teat now, he will gulp his feed much more quickly and will probably vomit most of it up straight afterwards.

Remember, babies won't want a full feed every time, just as you wouldn't want to eat a full roast dinner at breakfast time! Some meals will be small ones and some will be larger. And they will change every day so do yourself a favour, ditch the Gina Ford (she has never even had a baby and her books are rubbish) and watch and listen to your baby. If he is falling asleep during a feed, he has probably had enough for the time being. If he wakes a little earlier, then you just have to feed him then. I know it's a pain when they won't stick to a routine but babies aren't designed to follow a routine, they are designed to follow their instincts. And you have to do the same! He is also far too young for "hungry baby" milks, and so on, but he will have growth spurts when he will feed constantly for a day or so and then a few days later, he will settle down to a more normal feeding pattern.

Forget about reading the back of the tins, and the books, trust your instincts and your baby. He'll be fine if you listen to what he is telling you. When he has had enough, he will stop, no matter what SMA or Gina says!
Good luck, it will get easier as he gets bigger, I know how hard newborn babies can be!