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August 2013 Moms
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Switching to Formula Feeding

Carnation77Carnation77 member
in August 2013 Moms
So I've decided to wean DS. I was already supplementing and have slowly been doing more and more till he's now about 50% BF, 50% FF.  He eats 4 oz every 2 hours and STTN (his 6 am/noon/8 pm feeds tend to be on the small side and are currently BFing with me).  Now that he's going to be exclusively FF, I want to increase his ounces per feed and space out his feedings.  If you've done this, how did you go about it?  My goal is to eventually - maybe a month or two from now - get him on a 8/12/4/8 o'clock eating schedule.  We also started introducing solids a month ago and that's going well but obviously he's only eating a tiny bit right now.  Once I get him on the 8/12/4/8 schedule I'd like to do small portions of solids at breakfast (6 am) and dinner (6 pm).

So do I keep all his feeds the same times for now and slowly increase the amount fed at 8/12/4/8 until he's up to 7-8 oz's, and slowly decrease the amount fed at 6/10/2/6 until he's down to none?  Or do I introduce 1/2 ounce at each feeding each week or two, spread out the feeds by 30 minutes each time I increase amount, and change his feeding times every time I increase the amount per feed?  He's a great sleeper right now and we've finally gotten his reflux manageable.  I really don't want to screw up his nap/sleep schedule or aggravate his reflux with this change.  Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
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Re: Switching to Formula Feeding

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  • KQuinonezKQuinonez member
    petey1106 said:

    I have to agree with @mitsb707, why do you only want to feed your kid four times a day? My son still eats 12 times a day...

    So glad mine is not the only one. Its more like 9 or 10 but compared to other people it seems like a lot.

    OP I have no experience but as some one who has worked with babies in the past 4 times a day is too little. I would say at least 6. I get that you want to space the time a bit but I personally feel the idea you have in your head is unrealistic.

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  • SarahinMDSarahinMD member
    edited February 2014
    DD1 never went more than about 3 hrs (still doesn't at 3 yrs , needs a snack). But each kid is different. When do you feed in relation to naps now? We were fortunate with DD1 (and this far with DD2) that the baby whisperer EASY routine worked, so we never had scheduled feeding a bit always had a routine. But it's always hard to get a new routine figured out. Good luck! In my experience, LOs are often pretty flexible.
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  • JilllyBeanJilllyBean member
    That seems way too complicated, lol. We feed him around every 3 hours, obviously earlier or later if he is or isn't as hungry. This will eventually work into a routine as he wakes and eats around the same time every day and goes to bed at the same time every day. 
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  • Texasmomma13Texasmomma13 member
    My lo is eff and has been since one month old. She currently eats 4- 7oz bottles (around 6-7, 11, 2, 5ish ) and one 3-4oz bottle at bedtime. She's pretty much topped out at volume for her weight. However, it has taken us 5 months to get to this point where she doesn't need to eat during the night. I would ask your ped for advice.
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  • Carnation77Carnation77 member
    He doesn't need to eat in order to nap - just to go down at night and even then he only eats for about a minute.  He takes 4 naps a day and they vary in length from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the day.  But if 4 hours is too long a stretch between feeds then I can readjust.  Maybe I'll aim for 3?  He got on this every two hour schedule when I was BFing and he pretty much set it himself.  I never tried to change it because he had bad reflux and eating more often seemed to help.  However, zantac and a tablespoon of rice cereal mixed with some milk in the morning has solved the reflux issue.  Today, as an experiment, I added an ounce to each feed (for a total of 5 oz's) and stretched him to 2 1/2 hours between feeds and he did fine.  Now that he's almost 6 months I was looking to space it out since FF babies - from what I read - can go longer in between feeds and eat more at one time since the formula takes longer to digest than BM.  But my basic question is - how do you get them to space out their feeds?  Do you keep changing their schedule?  It just seems like that would completely disrupt their routine.

    And why do I want to decrease the number of times I feed my son?  So we can do more.  I work and have a 40 minute commute each way.  I only have the mornings and 1 1/2 hours at night with him.  Our weekends revolve around his eating schedule which means between his feeds and naps we get stuck in the house - especially since we live so far from everything.  It would just be nice to be able to take him out and about more.  I love my son and obviously don't want to do anything to harm him.  But I don't see anything wrong with wanting to find a middle ground between complete martyrdom and a well balanced family life in which everyone's needs are addressed.
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  • rfrazier611rfrazier611 member
    I think you're way overthinking this.  Are you at home with him during the day?  If so, try just feeding him on cue and see what schedule he creates for himself.  My breastfed baby only eats 5 times a day now that we've introduced solids.  Naps are more in the way of us getting out and about at this point - he only takes 2 big-ish naps and he sleeps best on a bed so I don't try to force him to sleep on the go.  Our out and about time is restricted to his longer awake period after his second nap.  Good luck!
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  • carrotcake06carrotcake06 member
    You're overthinking this. I overthink too - MH tends to get the brunt of it.

    I would slowly, slowly increase the amount per feeding and see if they begin to space out. I'd keep a log with times and amounts and follow his cues to see when he wants to eat. Let him set his schedule and once you see a pattern emerging, encourage it (within reason - always feed when hungry).

    My oldest was bf and he was down to 4 nursing sessions by 9mo. He dropped from 6x to 5x to 4x between 7-9mo on his own. The babies eat 6-7x a day and are bf. I imagine they'll drop some feeds by 9-10mo too.
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  • lkobriantlkobriant member
    First of all trying to get LO on an eating schedule could backfire big time. If he eats at those times, regardless of his hunger, how are you teaching him to recognize and trust his hunger cues? Is it just because it's easier for you to plan your life that way? Just take formula out with you. It's so not that hard, we've been out and about with LO from week 1 and have had no issues.

    That's about all I can offer. We feed when he's hungry and let him sleep when he wants. Right now he gets up once at night to eat, and that's ok. He's taking 5 oz every 3-4 hrs, which he got to on his own.
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  • RowcateRowcate member
    My baby has been eff since he was 2 weeks old. He eats when he's hungry. We leave the house when we want to. It's pretty easy when you don't set expectations on a baby. Do yourself a favor and let LO show you what works best for him. Good luck.
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  • mommabmbmommabmb member
    Joel set his own schedule. He's FF exclusively after weaning. He still eats 7-8 times a day with 4-6oz per feeding. Granted, he's huge, but the idea is to let them set their own schedule. I can't imagine a newborn with a stomach that can hold 1/4 of a day's calories at a time.
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  • TrueBeliever925TrueBeliever925 member
    Our LO eats 5 or 6 times a day, but it happened based on his preferences. He roughly eats every 3 hours depending on his naps ( usually 6 oz a whack).  He miraculously was sleeping through the night from 2 months on. Usually, his last bottle is around 9:30-10:00 pm and he gets up to eat at 5:45-6:00 am. Some days he could sleep through until 7 or 8 without that morning feeding, but because of my work schedule, I feed him at the same time every morning. 





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  • PB102012PB102012 member
    We also dont have a schedule, she tends to eat about every 2.5 hours, but she lets us know when she's ready. Good luck.

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  • BelhurstBrideBelhurstBride member
    lkobriant said:
    If he eats at those times, regardless of his hunger, how are you teaching him to recognize and trust his hunger cues? 
    I agree with @ikobriant. Scheduling feeds and sleep may be convenient for you, but what are you teaching your LO?

    I also don't understand how meeting your child's needs when they need to be met is being a martyr. I think you may have some unrealistic expectations. If you're struggling to accept your child for who he is as an infant what do you plan to do with a toddler who has a very strong opinion on how life is going to be lived? If you don't start to let your kiddo be his own person now you're really going to have a difficult go with the toddler years. 
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  • PrimRoseMamaPrimRoseMama member
    I disagree with scheduling feeds. Let baby tell you when she's hungry.


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  • ScarletOflahertyScarletOflaherty member
    This is why I breastfeed, we are able to leave the house whenever.
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  • LJUTCMommyLJUTCMommy member
    @ScarletOflaherty

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  • WheeLinTheSky3WheeLinTheSky3 member

    PS.. @Carnation77 you started this thread, where did you disappear to? Way to post and run.

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  • MitsB707MitsB707 member
    ScarletOflaherty said:

    This is why I breastfeed, we are able to leave the house whenever.

    Is this real life? Can someone really be this stupid?
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  • amarissa85amarissa85 member
    ScarletOflaherty said:

    This is why I breastfeed, we are able to leave the house whenever.

    What a stupid thing to day. How's it feel up there?!
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  • ladyorizaladyoriza member
    Just want to take a second to brag about myself. I can fix a bottle from scratch while MH drives us down the interstate. Boom. No more of a hassle than taking your boob out and getting baby comfortable.

    OP, you're overthinking it. You just feed your kid when they're hungry.

    Scarlet, I'm not going to bother to quote you because I know you're lurking this thread anyway. You said that to get a rise out of people. I just find myself bored.

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  • Soleil3Soleil3 member
    ladyoriza said:
    Just want to take a second to brag about myself. I can fix a bottle from scratch while MH drives us down the interstate. Boom. No more of a hassle than taking your boob out and getting baby comfortable. OP, you're overthinking it. You just feed your kid when they're hungry. Scarlet, I'm not going to bother to quote you because I know you're lurking this thread anyway. You said that to get a rise out of people. I just find myself bored. image
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