Formula question

brookeglenn50

How much formula does your baby eat? My baby girl is 3.5 weeks and it seems like the 3 oz doesn't fill her up sometimes but the doc said no more than 3. I hate seeing her look hungry still

meg_2006

We FF DS1.  If she seems hungry, give her more formula! Some babies are little piggies if she's showing all the signs of hunger (rooting, chewing hands, the angry cry), give her just another half ounce. Try that for a few feedings in a row. If she seems satisfied and doesn't spit it back up, stick with it!

eivaska

We are also formula feeding. Our pediatrician said to feed until she wouldn't take the bottle anymore. To take frequent burp breaks but to let her eat as much as she wanted. We are exclusively ff though. So I don't know if the same holds true for supplementing. 

jnhuri

My son is almost 4 weeks old & takes 3-4 oz at any given feeding. There have been a couple of times where he'll have 5 oz over the course of an hour. I do pump but only get about 8 oz a day so we give him at least an oz of breast milk at every feeding & the rest is formula. As long as my little guy is hungry, I feed him. Your kiddo will let you know when they are not hungry anymore. 

maelic

Hah, I wish. My almost 3w old takes on average 2oz at a go, sometimes less, but just eats much more frequently which is a huge pain in the ass. How much is she eating in a day? Our pedi just said feed baby when baby is hungry. If she's not spitting up I don't see the problem with letting her eat. 

FutureMrsCaesar

I'm no expert but maybe you could try offering the paci in case she just wants to suck more.  If that doesn't make her happy I'd offer her more formula.  Like a pp said, some babies eat smaller, more frequent meals and other eat more at a time and space them out longer.  Keep track of how much she's eating per day total and as long as you're in the correct range of total ounces for her age then I'm sure it's fine.  You'll learn that different pediatrician  have different opinions on a lot of things, even within the same practice.  You have to do your own research and listen to your own instincts at times too.

eivaska

I agree worth futuremrscesar about the paci. If my DD stops actively nursing from the bottle but starts nursing the second I try and pull the bottle away I swap out the bottle for a pacifier as she often is just looking for the comfort of the nursing motion at that point.

brookeglenn50

Thanks ladies, I'm gonna try to slowly bring in more ounces. As a FTM I have no idea what I'm doing most of the time but 

brookeglenn50

Whoops didn't mean to put the "but" lol

bbrianax

My DD eats 3 oz, she'll be 4 weeks on Friday, but she does a lot of the hand sucking and acting like she's still hungry. It usually resolves itself with a paci, so I think a lot of hers is comfort sucking. Just a thought

Poppy0419

My 4 week old eats anywhere between 2oz and 6oz. I usually just start with 2-3oz and if she continues to act hungry after trying the paci, I just give her another oz until she's satisfied. She's definitely a piggy but she isn't spitting it back up. I feel like I'm overfeeding her  but if she's hungry I'm not going to just not feed her more. 

anamevys

Hello. Has anyone found a good formula feeding guideline online that we can refer to? I can't seem to find a good one.

anamevys

Brooke how often are you feeding?

eivaska

@anamevys I've been liking this website https://www.fearlessformulafeeder.com

cataleya82

My daughter is 6 weeks and eats 3 ounces every 3 to 4 hours, she goes 5 hours at night. However I thicken her bottles with gelmix  (a thickening agent) because she has reflux and dysphagia so I'm not sure if that makes her more full or not. Before we got the gelmix I was giving her 2 ounces with 4 teaspoons of baby cereal every 3 hours. I think I've read that you take their weight and multiply by 2.5 and that's how many ounces in a 24 hour period they should have. 

anamevys

Very informative ladies! @eivaska I enjoyed the ff resource and @cataleya82 thanks for your example.

anamevys

Very informative ladies! @eivaska I enjoyed the ff resource and @cataleya82 thanks for your example.

AlissaLee17

jnhuri said:

My son is almost 4 weeks old & takes 3-4 oz at any given feeding. There have been a couple of times where he'll have 5 oz over the course of an hour. I do pump but only get about 8 oz a day so we give him at least an oz of breast milk at every feeding & the rest is formula. As long as my little guy is hungry, I feed him. Your kiddo will let you know when they are not hungry anymore. 

This is my life too. I wanted to exclusively breast feed, but I'm not making nearly enough. Everyone else I know who is supplementing seems to make a lot more and is truly just supplementing their breast milk, whereas my babe is getting mostly formula with an ounce of my pumped milk per feed. 

Our ped said no more than 4oz in a feeding, but my MIL (also in pediatrics, though she's a specialist) said that if he wants more, give it to him. Feed the baby. 

mshukh

I think it may be a good idea for many to look into paced bottle feedings. I know there are videos online and instructions out there. I heard that's the best way to feed babies from the bottle especially if they are breastfed, though I'd imagine it wouldn't hurt formula fed kiddos either. 

Knottie1456889319

AlissaLee17 said:

jnhuri said:

My son is almost 4 weeks old & takes 3-4 oz at any given feeding. There have been a couple of times where he'll have 5 oz over the course of an hour. I do pump but only get about 8 oz a day so we give him at least an oz of breast milk at every feeding & the rest is formula. As long as my little guy is hungry, I feed him. Your kiddo will let you know when they are not hungry anymore. 

This is my life too. I wanted to exclusively breast feed, but I'm not making nearly enough. Everyone else I know who is supplementing seems to make a lot more and is truly just supplementing their breast milk, whereas my babe is getting mostly formula with an ounce of my pumped milk per feed. 

Our ped said no more than 4oz in a feeding, but my MIL (also in pediatrics, though she's a specialist) said that if he wants more, give it to him. Feed the baby. 

I am in the same boat. Getting 8-10 oz of pumped milk a day and using formula for the rest. 
Happy to see I'm not the only one. My motto is also "feed the baby" and he gets all the milk whenever he wants. He prefers 2 oz every 2 hours or 4 every 4 hours overnight. 

He he is also gaining over an ounce a day after falling behind due to low supply.

beckylamken

Knottie1456889319 said:

AlissaLee17 said:

jnhuri said:

My son is almost 4 weeks old & takes 3-4 oz at any given feeding. There have been a couple of times where he'll have 5 oz over the course of an hour. I do pump but only get about 8 oz a day so we give him at least an oz of breast milk at every feeding & the rest is formula. As long as my little guy is hungry, I feed him. Your kiddo will let you know when they are not hungry anymore. 

This is my life too. I wanted to exclusively breast feed, but I'm not making nearly enough. Everyone else I know who is supplementing seems to make a lot more and is truly just supplementing their breast milk, whereas my babe is getting mostly formula with an ounce of my pumped milk per feed. 

Our ped said no more than 4oz in a feeding, but my MIL (also in pediatrics, though she's a specialist) said that if he wants more, give it to him. Feed the baby. 

I am in the same boat. Getting 8-10 oz of pumped milk a day and using formula for the rest. 
Happy to see I'm not the only one. My motto is also "feed the baby" and he gets all the milk whenever he wants. He prefers 2 oz every 2 hours or 4 every 4 hours overnight. 

He he is also gaining over an ounce a day after falling behind due to low supply.

I also have the same challenge, I have low milk supply and supplement most meals with formula.  I breastfeed first and then give 2.5 to 3 oz of formula (baby is 5.5 weeks).  I believe she gets .5 to 1 oz from me depending on the feeding.  @Knottie9983816 @AlissaLee17 @jnhuri Do any of you plan to go back to work?  I currently BF, then give her a bottle and then pump to try to drive my supply.  It's an hour+ feeding process I'm not sure I can continue once I go back to work.  I want to continue to give her any breast milk I can, but it's a major effort for 8 oz or so per day.  Curious how long everyone will continue that.

We recently bumped up her oz's because she was not going long (3 to 4 hrs) stretches in between anymore.  Like other people said, read your babies cues, we have got a lot of conflicting advice and you have to trust your instincts and what baby is telling you.

katy0990

beckylamken said:

Knottie1456889319 said:

AlissaLee17 said:

jnhuri said:

My son is almost 4 weeks old & takes 3-4 oz at any given feeding. There have been a couple of times where he'll have 5 oz over the course of an hour. I do pump but only get about 8 oz a day so we give him at least an oz of breast milk at every feeding & the rest is formula. As long as my little guy is hungry, I feed him. Your kiddo will let you know when they are not hungry anymore. 

This is my life too. I wanted to exclusively breast feed, but I'm not making nearly enough. Everyone else I know who is supplementing seems to make a lot more and is truly just supplementing their breast milk, whereas my babe is getting mostly formula with an ounce of my pumped milk per feed. 

Our ped said no more than 4oz in a feeding, but my MIL (also in pediatrics, though she's a specialist) said that if he wants more, give it to him. Feed the baby. 

I am in the same boat. Getting 8-10 oz of pumped milk a day and using formula for the rest. 
Happy to see I'm not the only one. My motto is also "feed the baby" and he gets all the milk whenever he wants. He prefers 2 oz every 2 hours or 4 every 4 hours overnight. 

He he is also gaining over an ounce a day after falling behind due to low supply.

I also have the same challenge, I have low milk supply and supplement most meals with formula.  I breastfeed first and then give 2.5 to 3 oz of formula (baby is 5.5 weeks).  I believe she gets .5 to 1 oz from me depending on the feeding.  @Knottie9983816 @AlissaLee17 @jnhuri Do any of you plan to go back to work?  I currently BF, then give her a bottle and then pump to try to drive my supply.  It's an hour+ feeding process I'm not sure I can continue once I go back to work.  I want to continue to give her any breast milk I can, but it's a major effort for 8 oz or so per day.  Curious how long everyone will continue that.

We recently bumped up her oz's because she was not going long (3 to 4 hrs) stretches in between anymore.  Like other people said, read your babies cues, we have got a lot of conflicting advice and you have to trust your instincts and what baby is telling you.

I am in a similar situation. When he has been weighed at our lactation appointments LO takes 1.3-1.8 oz, so we are supplementing with 2 oz after each feeding. He typically gets breastmilk, but about 4 oz per day have to be formula. I am worried about going back to work. Luckily I am a teacher so I am going back for only 6 days and then will be home all summer, but I hate our feeding routine and I don't think I can keep doing this long term.