How much Formula?

smilingeyes2308

How many oz if formula is your LO taking?

Since LO is a slow gainer, ped told me to just give her what she will take. She is currently eating 24oz/day broken up into 4 bottles of 6oz. I noticed most days, she will leave 3-6oz. I told her ped this, she said it's her natural way of weaning. She's a good eater when it comes to solids. I am just so paranoid about her weight gain! She gained great at her 9mo checkup so I think I just need to chill out.

When do you plan on giving less? How will you do it? Thanks lovelies!

RedDDD

DD is only taking in about 24oz at the most.  I guess Im not real hard core on weaning....my son just was eating more and more food and that was it....I might wait till she has a few more teeth just because she then can eat more solids but she eats everything we eat.

bossmom11

DD is taking between 18-24oz per day so 3-4 feedings of 6oz each time. She is also small for her age (10.5 months and 17 lbs 28in) and is a champ when it comes to solids. Very similar to your dd

DD tells us what she wants when she wants it and has, on her own, reduced feedings and hardly ever takes a "before bed" bottle now unless her schedule is off. Sometimes I worry because she looks so small but she gets full with what she eats.

Sounds like you are doing everything right!

KCLeaSLP

My LO is defintely on the slower side when it comes to accepting solids (i.e. Purees and soft solids) so she may take more formula then most. She usually drinks four 6oz bottles a day and then a 6oz before bed and then usually another 6oz bottle around 2am. So she gets about 36 oz a day still.

bermybabe68

DD just started on full formula 3ish weeks ago. She gets five 5oz bottles a day and does well with her solids. I did at one point (with pumped milk) drop her to two 5oz bottles morning and night and three 4oz bottles at daycare but ended up increasing them again because of the heat and her not drinking enough water. I was worried about dehydration. I'll look into decreasing the amount she gets once summer is over and things cool down.

smlowe9311

megd11 said:

DD is taking between 18-24oz per day so 3-4 feedings of 6oz each time. She is also small for her age (10.5 months and 17 lbs 28in) and is a champ when it comes to solids. Very similar to your dd

DD tells us what she wants when she wants it and has, on her own, reduced feedings and hardly ever takes a "before bed" bottle now unless her schedule is off. Sometimes I worry because she looks so small but she gets full with what she eats.

Sounds like you are doing everything right!

This sounds like us but we still do the before bed bottle (because it still allows us to get that fourth bottle in and I'm afraid to take it away in case that's what's helping her sttn.

krose0713

25 oz (five 5oz bottles). But she has definitely started to self wean a bit, and has been leaving some in her bottles, and even refused a bottle for the first time the other day.

munchkinsmama

DS is down to 3 8oz bottle's a day he usually drinks 20-24oz total. He also drinks about 4-6oz of water, has 3 meals a day and 2 snacks. He cut down on his own, I just followed his lead.

bossmom11

smlowe9311 said:

DD is taking between 18-24oz per day so 3-4 feedings of 6oz each time. She is also small for her age (10.5 months and 17 lbs 28in) and is a champ when it comes to solids. Very similar to your dd

DD tells us what she wants when she wants it and has, on her own, reduced feedings and hardly ever takes a "before bed" bottle now unless her schedule is off. Sometimes I worry because she looks so small but she gets full with what she eats.

Sounds like you are doing everything right!

This sounds like us but we still do the before bed bottle (because it still allows us to get that fourth bottle in and I'm afraid to take it away in case that's what's helping her sttn.

That was us 2 weeks ago. The past couple of nights she has taken a before bed bottle because I think she might be having a growth spurt. 

csspencer

During the week, when he's at daycare, DS gets 5 6oz bottles. On the weekend or when he's not at daycare he gets about 3 or 4 6oz bottles. Sometimes he finishes, sometimes he doesn't. He has lots of solids during the day. But he sets his own feeding schedule, and I have no clue how to go about reducing his formula intake. The pediatrician wants us to start reducing his formula intake to 18oz.

krose0713

@csspencer‌ when we had to reduce from 30 to 25, we just cut each bottle by 1 ounce. She didn't even seem to notice.

smilingeyes2308

@krose0713 - How did you manage that? For Enfamil it's 1 scoop/2oz and ped told me I shouldn't do 1/2 scoops since you really can't ever be sure that it's exactly half. Did you just do half scoops? Or is it different amounts for different formulas? 

Asivec

@smilingeyes2308‌ make the amount for 2 bottles (I measure water using the bottle and put it in another container) add scoops, mix, pour into bottles! It's the easiest way I have found. Then you have a bottle ready for later too!

smilingeyes2308

@Asivec - that's a great idea! Except - I make her bottles one at a time. Don't ask me why. I'm paranoid. On the back of the formula it says it's the best way and most safe blablabla. My Mom said to make a pitcher of it and put it in the fridge. I also still boil the water for each bottle - wait for it to cool down and then mix. Even her ped said it's unnecessary to boil the water still. I'm still kind of new to formula so I think I just lack the knowledge in proper storage of pre-made bottles. Any tips? I would love if you could share how you take bottles with you on the go (if you do). 

Asivec

I have two of the formula dispensers. I just pack her water measured in the bottles and bring the powder along. My LO takes 2- 8oz and 2-7oz bottles a day. Sometimes she drinks them all, sometimes there is some left.

https://m.target.com/p/munchkin-formula-dispenser/-/A-13991505

lilqt3929

@starscream‌ how do you know your LO may be ready to drop the afternoon nap? And what is a rough summary of LO's sleep schedule?

I am starting to think my LO may be ready to drop her afternoon nap and just take a long mid day nap, about 2 hours or so. She is really fighting naptime most days and seems to be pushing her bedtime later and later because her morning and afternoon naps keep being pushed later (I will wake her up from afternoon nap by 5:30pm because she will not go to bed if she sleeps later then that). She used to be asleep for the night around 8pm and has pushed it to about 10pm recently and will typically STTN til 8am. I'm really unsure on what to do right now.

ETA : we don't use formula so I don't have any input on that, just being nosy and reading discussion anyways

smilingeyes2308

@lilqt3929‌ - try keeping your LO up for 4 hours before bedtime. DD goes to bed at 7:30 every night and the latest she will nap in the afternoon is 3:30pm, once in a while 4. Maybe try making sure he doesn't sleep past 4 for a 8pm bedtime.

Jenly117

E takes 4 or 5, 4 oz bottles each day and 3 meals of homemade purées. So about 20-24 oz per day.

lilqt3929

@smilingeyes2308‌ that's what we try to do now. Currently she wakes for the day around 8am, then goes down for a morning nap around 11:30, sometimes 12 and sleeps for an hour and a half. Then she won't take an afternoon nap til at least 4:30 - which is why I've been having to wake her by 5:30 so she will go to bed at night. She definitely is starting to tolerate longer stretches of time without naps really well. Maybe she's just becoming a night owl (I hope not).

csspencer

@krose0713‌ Thanks!

krose0713

@smilingeyes2308‌ yes, we always use half scoops...I didn't know it mattered if you were exactly precise!

redfallon

@smilingeyes2308 said:

@Asivec - that's a great idea! Except - I make her bottles one at a time. Don't ask me why. I'm paranoid. On the back of the formula it says it's the best way and most safe blablabla. My Mom said to make a pitcher of it and put it in the fridge. I also still boil the water for each bottle - wait for it to cool down and then mix. Even her ped said it's unnecessary to boil the water still. I'm still kind of new to formula so I think I just lack the knowledge in proper storage of pre-made bottles. Any tips? I would love if you could share how you take bottles with you on the go (if you do). 

I make Emily's bottles one at a time. I tried a pitcher once and hated doing it because then I had to warm up the bottles. When I make them one at a time, it's room temp. I use our tap water. I don't boil water and never have boiled the water.

For on the go, I always fill up the bottles with the amount of water I need, so I'll take a couple of 6 oz bottles and a 4 oz. I have this little container that I got that holds pre-measured formula. It has three sections, so I put 2 scoops in one of the sections for the 4 oz bottle, and 3 scoops in each of the other two sections for the 6 oz bottles. We mix on the go when she's ready for a bottle.

This is the formula dispenser. It pours very easily into the bottles when you are ready to mix:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009ET94A/ref=wms_ohs_product_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

AlejandraN2

munchkinsmama said:

DS is down to 3 8oz bottle's a day he usually drinks 20-24oz total. He also drinks about 4-6oz of water, has 3 meals a day and 2 snacks. He cut down on his own, I just followed his lead.

this is us exactly only with one snack a day. And @smilingeyes2308 - for daycare, i bring 2 pre-made bottles. If they are in the fridge they are fine. If we travel, i do the same as PPs said: pre-measure the water in the bottles and bring the formula in the same container as @redfallon. 

Tally879

smilingeyes2308 said:

@Asivec - that's a great idea! Except - I make her bottles one at a time. Don't ask me why. I'm paranoid. On the back of the formula it says it's the best way and most safe blablabla. My Mom said to make a pitcher of it and put it in the fridge. I also still boil the water for each bottle - wait for it to cool down and then mix. Even her ped said it's unnecessary to boil the water still. I'm still kind of new to formula so I think I just lack the knowledge in proper storage of pre-made bottles. Any tips? I would love if you could share how you take bottles with you on the go (if you do). 

There's 3.52 teaspoons in one of those premade individual packets from enfamil (not sure about the other brands) so if you you measure out 1.76 teaspoons you'll get exactly half.  I put the grams into an online converter to get the amount so if you didn't want to mix ahead of time, you can just use your regular teaspoons.  

lilqt3929

@starscream‌ Thanks, it's good to know others' experiences when going through transitions like this.