? about nipple size and formula qty for 1 month old...

lulugirl

My babies are 5 weeks old. They are eating on schedule every 3 hours. Evelyn takes 4oz and seems satisfied. She is on Dr. Browns nipple size 1. Jack was taking 4oz but was continuing to root and fuss after he finished. I upped him to 5oz and he was satisfied (I actually make a 6oz bottle to make sure I do not scoop in too much/too little powder formula).

I moved him to a level 2 nipple last week and he seems to be doing well.

My other mom friends seem very surprised he is on a level 2 nipple and think his formula qty is high for his size/age. He will even finish off the whole 6oz sometimes. He was 7 lb 8 oz at his last weigh in (2 weeks ago) and was born at 6 lb 6 oz.

Just wondering how much formula other babies took at this age as well as when to move nipple sizes.

Thanks!

macchiatto

If he's drinking it all and not struggling/choking, I think he's fine. My boys were fairly big eaters at that age, too. (They both shot up to 90th percentile by 3 months but their growth tapered off after that.) We moved our boys to stage 2 nipples right around 2 months. At 5 weeks they were drinking I think 4-6 oz per feeding, IIRC. It really varied though--sometimes as little as 2.5 oz, sometimes as much as 5 or 6. Their amounts didn't become more consistent until they dropped to 4 bottles a day (at 4 months).

LMK8605

DS would sometimes eat that much when he was that age... I think it just depends on the baby.  If they are hungry feed them.  My pedi said as long as they don't spit up ALOT of formula then they can handle it and it must be what they need.  Not sure about the nipples since we don't use Dr. Brown's - but I think if they can handle that nipple without getting gassy then it is a good thing - it will make feedings go faster.

macchiatto

Oh and you might want to consider making your LOs' formula in something like the Dr. Brown's Formula Mixing pitcher or the Pampered Chef Quik-Stir pitcher. We would make up a day's worth of formula at a time, keep it in the fridge and just warm as needed. (Though DH discovered when the boys were about a month old that they would drink it cold, so that made it even easier!) Just a suggestion which saved a lot of time for us!

lulugirl

They both choke a lot when eating (3-4 times per feeding) and we have to quickly get them completely upright so they can cough productively. The nipple size has not seemed to make much of a difference here.

Question about gas - do they get more gas struggling to drink through a smaller nipple or drinking too fast from a larger nipple?