? for EP'ing Moms

ecu0505 · June 2013

How many bottles is your LO drinking per day and how many oz are in those bottles?

My LO has never been a really good napper (around 45 min/nap), but 3 days this past week she has taken longer naps and gone 4 hrs between bottles so she is missing an entire bottle for the day. On the days she missed a bottle she is waking at 3a hungry. Currently she is getting 6 bottles with 5oz each. I am thinking that I need to do 5 bottles with 6 oz each, but I need her to go 4 hrs between bottles. I am hesitant to do this because I am afraid she will take the 6oz and then still want a bottle every 3 hrs. I am only pumping about 25oz a day now and my freezer stash is almost gone so I really can't "afford" to offer more than the 30oz she is getting now. She is satisfied with 5 oz now, but I know she will drink 6oz. Do you think she will lengthen the time between bottles if I give her this additional oz? She has been STTN since 8 weeks so this waking behavior is really off for her. She will be 5 months tomorrow. Advice/experience is welcome. TIA

hohmanam · June 2013

I am like you, giving 5 or 6 5oz bottles during the day. Depending on the day. When this happens for me, I TRY to cluster feed before bed to get the missed bottle in. However, I am hesitant as I get frusturated when DS spits it up! So it is a balancing act. I wouldn't up to 6 oz if I were. Because, as you suggest, I believe she may wake up at 3 am still hungry. If she is taking 5oz and not hungry after I would keep doing what you are doing, it will likely pass. I do know that when DS is at his normal daycare he goes 4 hours between bottles and then when I feed him at night, he will take 8 oz instead of 5 oz because he is making up for missed time, he has never spit this up. DS went through a couple weeks where he was waking in the middle of the night too, it might just be a phase she is going through as well... Sorry I can't be of more help!

BLPL101 · June 2013

DD eats on demand so I don't actually know how many bottles I give her but she usually drinks about 3-4 oz in a feeding. She'll drink 6 oz in the morning though. She probably drinks about 7-8x a day if I was guessing.

bartkj03 · June 2013

Elliet drinks 6 to 8 three and a half oz bottles every day. I don't worry about the total oz each day because she seems to make up for it the next few days. She spits up with anymore than 4 oz.