I've EBF or EP'ed since she was born, but have decided to switch to formula. I know formula fed babies eat more than BF babies, so I'm not sure how much to feed her.
Right now she eats 7 times a day, 4 oz per bottle (when she gets one). Should I just keep giving her 4 oz of formula for now while I wean? Obviously she'll be getting a combination of BM and formula for several weeks as I cut back, not sure how long it will take to completely stop.
Up until a couple of weeks ago she was STTN and only eating 6x a day, but started waking again to eat at night making it 7. So I'm not sure if giving her larger amounts during the day would help or not, but I've just always fed her on demand.
I'm not sure how much she weighs, but she's an average sized baby. I'd guess around 14 lb?
Re: How much does your 4 month old eat?
I just had to switch to formula this past week. My LO eats between 4-6 times a day depending on a few different things. I highly recommend giving your LO larger amounts less frequently. She will probably go back to STTN after that. I'm not a doctor, but it seemed to work well for my LO
My friend just told me that she feeds her LO like this...Take LO's weight times 2 and then divide that by the number of times you feed him/her. That will give you the amount of ounces per bottle.
I found that when my LO had a lot to eat closer to bedtime he slept better at night. It's much easier to gauge once they are on formula. When they are just BF you can't really measure unless you pump and put milk into bottles. My LO has eaten wayyyy more than 4 oz. at a feeding since he was around a month old. Try giving more and see if your LO will eat it.
My LO is now 5 mos, but at 4 mos, he was taking 5 - 5 oz bottles of BM at daycare (approx 1 every 1.5-2hrs) in addition to being nursed prior to DC and at least 3 times in the evening.
The weekend he turned 4 mos (16 lbs), we started him on cereal as his demand for more BM was growing - he went from 4 or 5 - 4oz bottles to 5 - 5 oz bottles and looking for more. After approx 2 - 3 weeks, of adding cereal, his demand for BM has tapered to 4- 5 oz bottles. We've since added veggies and/or fruit to the cereal. I've been able to increase my supply with lactation cookies to avoid introducing formula.
GL.
We are 13ish lbs, FF. She eats 21-23oz daily usually broken down as follows:
3:30-4am - 3-4oz
7:30am - 5oz
11:30am - 4-5oz
3:30 am - 5oz
7:30-8pm - 6oz
No solid foods as of yet. We are also on Neocate + added Rice. When on other formulas, DD ate much more, we saw a drop when we moved to Neocate. For example at 2 months she would eat 24oz with goodstart and would only eat 18 with Neocate. For her, all formulas were not the same. She has continued to gain well so our pedi and pedi GI are not concerned with intake.
Mine only eats 4 at a time 6-8 times a day and he's pretty hefty. I've tried spacing things out/getting him to eat more per feed/whatever but he's just not having it.
When we switched from BF to FF, we just made him 2 oz and let him eat until full and then made more if he wanted more.