How much to feed?

JustGoWithIt

My LO IS 4 weeks old. We switched to formula completely last week. How do you know how much to feed them?

When he wasn't gaining weight at week 3 the nurse told me he needed 2-3 oz every 2-3 hrs, but we were also still BF some/ trying to pump, so I'm not sure if it same amount for formula vs. breast milk. 

He is currently taking all 3 oz. ev 2-3 hrs. Sometimes he'll only make it 1.5 or. 1.75 hrs before signaling that he's hungry. In those cases I do try to give him the pacifier just  to be sure. Since he's finally gaining weight they told me I didn't need to wake him to eat, but he never makes it more that 3.5 hrs. (Unfortunately it's never at night) So, we're looking at 8-10 feeds a day still. Which is 24-30 oz a day. Is this too much?

I ask because I did some looking online & several sources say to take his weight and multiply by 2 or 2.5 to see what he should be getting per day. If that is the case he should only get 18-22.5 oz...! Because he's barely making it 2 hours sometimes I thought about giving him an extra oz, but I don't want to over feed him either.  Thoughts?

JustGoWithIt

Thanks everyone! I'll try not to stress about it & just go with it until the doc tells me otherwise or he's spitting it all back up.

JustGoWithIt

shinyredsmartazz said:

We do offer the paci, when you all say to offer it to see if he's really hungry, what are you looking for to determine whether it's just a suckling reflex or he truly wants more food?

I don't know that I have the right answer, but my guy will use his tongue to push the paci out if he doesn't want it, and continue rooting/hands in mouth/fussing/generally unsettled if he still wants more milk. Sometimes he'll take it initially, but 5/10 minutes later he'll start fussing for milk again.