A place for feeding questions

[pinkcat]

We haven't had one of these in a while, and I have a few questions so I thought I'd just start a new thread we can all add to!

In yesterday's random thread, I saw several people mention how 6 oz seemed like too much for a bottle, and now I am worrying that I am overfeeding DS. Some info:

He is EBF when I'm home with him, and the 4 days a week that I am at work I am leaving him with 2 breastmilk and 2 formula bottles. I'm gone between 11 and 12 hours.

One those days he typically eats 4 bottles in the time that I'm gone, and usually eats all 6 of at least 2 or 3 of them- and then 5 ounces for the other two. So, he eats 6 oz bottles frequently. However, he does seem to know to stop when he's full- it is pretty easy to tell when he's done because he just starts playing with the nipple or turning his head away. I don't THINK we are feeding him when he's not hungry then-if he gets 4 oz he'll cry until he gets 2 more oz because he's still hungry.

I added it up and there are some days he has eaten as much as 35 oz or so (on days where he seems particularly hungry). If he is healthy and overall a very happy and content baby, do I just KOKO? He's gaining weight properly and has moved from about the 40% in weight at his 2 week appt to about 60% now that he's 14 weeks. 

I have a love/hate relationship with having the internet while raising a baby- it's so nice to be able to Google questions, but then also makes you doubt yourself when you see things that don't line up with what you're doing! 

[stephne]

May 24, 2018 12:18:50 GMT -6 pinkcat said:

We haven't had one of these in a while, and I have a few questions so I thought I'd just start a new thread we can all add to!

In yesterday's random thread, I saw several people mention how 6 oz seemed like too much for a bottle, and now I am worrying that I am overfeeding DS. Some info:

He is EBF when I'm home with him, and the 4 days a week that I am at work I am leaving him with 2 breastmilk and 2 formula bottles. I'm gone between 11 and 12 hours.

One those days he typically eats 4 bottles in the time that I'm gone, and usually eats all 6 of at least 2 or 3 of them- and then 5 ounces for the other two. So, he eats 6 oz bottles frequently. However, he does seem to know to stop when he's full- it is pretty easy to tell when he's done because he just starts playing with the nipple or turning his head away. I don't THINK we are feeding him when he's not hungry then-if he gets 4 oz he'll cry until he gets 2 more oz because he's still hungry.

I added it up and there are some days he has eaten as much as 35 oz or so (on days where he seems particularly hungry). If he is healthy and overall a very happy and content baby, do I just KOKO? He's gaining weight properly and has moved from about the 40% in weight at his 2 week appt to about 60% now that he's 14 weeks. 

I have a love/hate relationship with having the internet while raising a baby- it's so nice to be able to Google questions, but then also makes you doubt yourself when you see things that don't line up with what you're doing! 

Shoot! I hope my posts from yesterday are not making you second guess yourself! You need to go with your gut. I am just going off the Kellymom data that seems to be the bible for breastfeeders. Do you know if your daycare provider is doing paced bottle feeding?

[pinkcat]

Oh no worries stephne! I just saw so many people saying their LO had never eaten 6 oz or that it seemed like way too much and I was like uh oh....DS eats that much all the time, ha!

And yes, we do paced bottle feeding when he gets a bottle- he is sitting up while he eats it and we try to give it to him slowly. (I think that's paced bottle feeding, at least).

He switches between breast and bottle without issue too so maybe I am just worrying over nothing...but he has even had one or two days where he ate 7.5 oz :-O Maybe he is just a hungry baby!

[sparky85]

DD has been eating bottles made with 6oz of water plus the powder formula, which makes 7oz bottles. She drinks between 5oz and a full bottle approximately every 4hrs during the day, and goes a bit longer at night. She's 5.5 months actual but only 3 months adjusted.

We were feeding her smaller bottles, but she was sucking the bottles dry and not sleeping well so we upped them. Some days she will only eat 4 bottles in 24 hrs, but her next few days will be rotten due to missed food.

[pinkcat]

May 24, 2018 13:11:31 GMT -6 sparky85 said:

DD has been eating bottles made with 6oz of water plus the powder formula, which makes 7oz bottles. She drinks between 5oz and a full bottle approximately every 4hrs during the day, and goes a bit longer at night. She's 5.5 months actual but only 3 months adjusted.

We were feeding her smaller bottles, but she was sucking the bottles dry and not sleeping well so we upped them. Some days she will only eat 4 bottles in 24 hrs, but her next few days will be rotten due to missed food.

That makes me think of another question! So, if a bottle is 6 oz of water plus the power, do I call it a 7 oz bottle then? Because for 1 or 2 formula bottles he eats, it's normally 6 oz of water plus the powdered formula. Maybe he is actually eating 7 oz bottles!

[marygracerich]

pinkcat Ian is going to be 5 months on Sunday. We FF. Generally we make 6oz of water plus powder which makes just under 7oz. He has 4 of those a day plus a 5oz bottle and one container of gerber first foods. He normally drinks all of those. He stops when he is full or the bottle is empty. When he is full, he refuses to eat and will fuss until I take it away. He only spits up if I do tummy time too soon after he eats.

I say if your dude is happy, not spitting up and is growing just fine, KOKO.

[sparky85]

May 24, 2018 14:55:58 GMT -6 pinkcat said:

May 24, 2018 13:11:31 GMT -6 sparky85 said:

DD has been eating bottles made with 6oz of water plus the powder formula, which makes 7oz bottles. She drinks between 5oz and a full bottle approximately every 4hrs during the day, and goes a bit longer at night. She's 5.5 months actual but only 3 months adjusted.

We were feeding her smaller bottles, but she was sucking the bottles dry and not sleeping well so we upped them. Some days she will only eat 4 bottles in 24 hrs, but her next few days will be rotten due to missed food.

That makes me think of another question! So, if a bottle is 6 oz of water plus the power, do I call it a 7 oz bottle then? Because for 1 or 2 formula bottles he eats, it's normally 6 oz of water plus the powdered formula. Maybe he is actually eating 7 oz bottles!

I've been calling them 7oz if she finishes them, since there would be 7oz of milk in her stomach. I haven't confirmed if that is accurate though.

[aprilz81]

I call the ounces by the water I add to the bottle. 2 ounces of water = 2 ounces of formula even though it is a smidge over 2 when mixed.

I'm mentioned my weight/feeding woes before, but here is a question...

I've never considered Faith has reflux but I'm kinda wondering if maybe she does (probably not, but still).

-Random screaming fits when she should be hungry but refusing to eat. When she finally starts eating she is usually fine (no more screaming)
-Not a lot of spit up, but she has what I call "formula drool" where she isn't swallowing everything or maybe it is coming back up when it has been a bit since she has eaten
-Recently has fitful sleep and a lot of cat naps (but this could be the 4 month sleep regression)
-Hiccups

The symptoms aren't consistent enough for me to be certain, but her fussiness the last few weeks have made me google symptoms and now I'm symptom spotting. I'm also probably just looking for a "reason" she is so small, so feel free to call me crazy.

[stephne]

May 24, 2018 13:01:25 GMT -6 pinkcat said:

Oh no worries stephne ! I just saw so many people saying their LO had never eaten 6 oz or that it seemed like way too much and I was like uh oh....DS eats that much all the time, ha!

And yes, we do paced bottle feeding when he gets a bottle- he is sitting up while he eats it and we try to give it to him slowly. (I think that's paced bottle feeding, at least).

He switches between breast and bottle without issue too so maybe I am just worrying over nothing...but he has even had one or two days where he ate 7.5 oz :-O Maybe he is just a hungry baby!

I'm not sure, it could be different because you are offering both.

I think the consensus was that in an EBF baby 6 oz was quite a bit.

[benandjerrys]

So pinkcat, I don't know the answer. But I want to just say- you're doing fine. Don't worry or overthink it. My bigger concern would be that you're able to keep up with that amount when pumping. it seems like it would be easy to fall into a trap where you think you aren't producing enough, so then you supplement more, then your production drops, then before you know it you aren't breastfeeding because you couldn't keep up when LO actually didn't need that much anyway.

Does that make sense?

[sweetsurprise]

May 24, 2018 20:57:41 GMT -6 aprilz81 said:

I call the ounces by the water I add to the bottle. 2 ounces of water = 2 ounces of formula even though it is a smidge over 2 when mixed.

I'm mentioned my weight/feeding woes before, but here is a question...

I've never considered Faith has reflux but I'm kinda wondering if maybe she does (probably not, but still).

-Random screaming fits when she should be hungry but refusing to eat. When she finally starts eating she is usually fine (no more screaming)
-Not a lot of spit up, but she has what I call "formula drool" where she isn't swallowing everything or maybe it is coming back up when it has been a bit since she has eaten
-Recently has fitful sleep and a lot of cat naps (but this could be the 4 month sleep regression)
-Hiccups

The symptoms aren't consistent enough for me to be certain, but her fussiness the last few weeks have made me google symptoms and now I'm symptom spotting. I'm also probably just looking for a "reason" she is so small, so feel free to call me crazy.

I'm not an expert but it doesn't sound like reflux. Although I know there is such a thing as silent reflux.

My babe has reflux and he spits up a ton and has issues getting burps out.

As long as your LO is gaining weight there's nothing to do about it anyways.

[flippinchica]

May 25, 2018 10:44:48 GMT -6 benandjerrys said:

So pinkcat, I don't know the answer. But I want to just say- you're doing fine. Don't worry or overthink it. My bigger concern would be that you're able to keep up with that amount when pumping. it seems like it would be easy to fall into a trap where you think you aren't producing enough, so then you supplement more, then your production drops, then before you know it you aren't breastfeeding because you couldn't keep up when LO actually didn't need that much anyway.

Does that make sense?

I agree with this. I usually send 4 3 oz bottles to daycare for 8:15 to 5:30. No way I could pump enough for 6oz bottles. My philosophy has been to start low and only increase if he seems hungry after finishing that because I don't want to waste breast milk.

[stephne]

pinkcat...maybe AmyG could weigh in? She was super knowledgeable in all breastfeeding questions with DS1

[sunfrogger]

May 25, 2018 10:44:48 GMT -6 benandjerrys said:

So pinkcat, I don't know the answer. But I want to just say- you're doing fine. Don't worry or overthink it. My bigger concern would be that you're able to keep up with that amount when pumping. it seems like it would be easy to fall into a trap where you think you aren't producing enough, so then you supplement more, then your production drops, then before you know it you aren't breastfeeding because you couldn't keep up when LO actually didn't need that much anyway.

Does that make sense?

^^ this.

I'm not knowledgable with supplemental feeding, but if he's gaining weight, KOKO.

[sunfrogger]

May 25, 2018 11:03:21 GMT -6 sweetsurprise said:

May 24, 2018 20:57:41 GMT -6 aprilz81 said:

I call the ounces by the water I add to the bottle. 2 ounces of water = 2 ounces of formula even though it is a smidge over 2 when mixed.

I'm mentioned my weight/feeding woes before, but here is a question...

I've never considered Faith has reflux but I'm kinda wondering if maybe she does (probably not, but still).

-Random screaming fits when she should be hungry but refusing to eat. When she finally starts eating she is usually fine (no more screaming)
-Not a lot of spit up, but she has what I call "formula drool" where she isn't swallowing everything or maybe it is coming back up when it has been a bit since she has eaten
-Recently has fitful sleep and a lot of cat naps (but this could be the 4 month sleep regression)
-Hiccups

The symptoms aren't consistent enough for me to be certain, but her fussiness the last few weeks have made me google symptoms and now I'm symptom spotting. I'm also probably just looking for a "reason" she is so small, so feel free to call me crazy.

I'm not an expert but it doesn't sound like reflux. Although I know there is such a thing as silent reflux.

My babe has reflux and he spits up a ton and has issues getting burps out.

As long as your LO is gaining weight there's nothing to do about it anyways.

This is where I am too. We have reflux and she doesn't burp well. But probiotics and gas drops have helped a LOT. So.. They'll grow out of it soon. For now...... Less sleep for us!

[pinkcat]

May 25, 2018 10:44:48 GMT -6 benandjerrys said:

So pinkcat , I don't know the answer. But I want to just say- you're doing fine. Don't worry or overthink it. My bigger concern would be that you're able to keep up with that amount when pumping. it seems like it would be easy to fall into a trap where you think you aren't producing enough, so then you supplement more, then your production drops, then before you know it you aren't breastfeeding because you couldn't keep up when LO actually didn't need that much anyway.

Does that make sense?

Thank you benandjerrys! That makes total sense. It also feels good to hear someone say don't overthink it, because I totally have been doing that. I'm just going to keep pumping every 3 hours, let as many of his bottles be breastmilk as they can, and then use formula for the rest. I really am enjoying breastfeeding still so I definitely don't want to set myself up to fail! 

[pinkcat]

May 25, 2018 12:30:03 GMT -6 sunfrogger said:

May 25, 2018 10:44:48 GMT -6 benandjerrys said:

So pinkcat , I don't know the answer. But I want to just say- you're doing fine. Don't worry or overthink it. My bigger concern would be that you're able to keep up with that amount when pumping. it seems like it would be easy to fall into a trap where you think you aren't producing enough, so then you supplement more, then your production drops, then before you know it you aren't breastfeeding because you couldn't keep up when LO actually didn't need that much anyway.

Does that make sense?

^^ this.

I'm not knowledgable with supplemental feeding, but if he's gaining weight, KOKO.

Thank you! It feels really good to hear KOKO because I was starting to worry I was doing something really wrong. He seems happy and healthy so I am trying to focus on that!

[Deleted]

We have been doing 6 bottles 4 oz each a day (exclusively FF) but J has not been gaining adequately our ped told us to try to hit 30-35 oz a day for a month before our weight check. I tried switching to 6 oz bottles but I feel like I am force feeding her. She has absolutely no interest in eating. She sleeps a solid 8-10 hour stretch every night so I am certain that is contributing to the issue but I so do not want to have to wake her up to feed her every night 😭

[ajetter]

peachesncream that’s where we’re at too. I’m exclusively BF, but yeah, they think she needs another feeding to start gaining again, but if I feed her more during the day she just spits up more. So I really just have to wake her. I hate it. We’re going on vacation so I’m not trying to establish a rigid schedule yet. I’m supposed to do another weight check when we go back and if she still isn’t up I guess I’ll do what I’m told.

[sunfrogger]

I'm worried that someone will screw up pace feeding and O will prefer a bottle with my RTW.

But i do notice if it's been 2.5-3hr (on the longer end) she isn't as phased by OALD? Any other OALD / oversupply mom's chime in on your experience?

[aprilz81]

peachesncream, ajetter, Have you guys tried dream feeds? I started doing it again about a week ago in an attempt to help her sleep longer (it is working) but it is also getting her another 4 ounce bottle or nursing session in which I hope will help with her weight gain (she is roughly in the 10th percentile based on our home scale).

We feed her between 6-8 and try to get her in bed between 8-9 and then I do a dream feed around midnight as we go to bed. She will usually sleep until 4-5:30 before she wakes up again to eat.

[ajetter]

aprilz81 I think I’m going to try doing a dream feed. I just need to rework the day a little. The latest I’d be willing to do a dream feed is 10pm, because I really don’t want to teach her to eat between 10pm and 4:30am. We’re early risers and I generally sleep 10:30-4:30 or 5. So I want those hours to be off limits for eating if possible.

[Deleted]

I think dream feeds is what we will end up doing but I just hate waking a sleeping baby 😔 I know, I know, I will get over it.

With my older girls I never had to try different formulas, they tolerated just about anything, but I am wondering if that may be an issue here. We are using plain old Similac. Should I try one of the "gentle" formulas, and if so how long should I give it to try to see a difference? I know switching can be hard on their little tummies.

[aprilz81]

YMMV, but Faith rarely even opens her eyes when I pick her up for the dream feed. She stretches, smells my boob/the bottle, opens her mouth, sucks me/the bottle dry and goes right back to a deep sleep.

[ajetter]

May 26, 2018 20:46:48 GMT -6 aprilz81 said:

YMMV, but Faith rarely even opens her eyes when I pick her up for the dream feed. She stretches, smells my boob/the bottle, opens her mouth, sucks me/the bottle dry and goes right back to a deep sleep.

I only tried dream feeds with DD2, and she just would not eat unless I unswaddled her and roused her. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Maybe this babe would be different though!!

[aprilz81]

May 27, 2018 4:37:57 GMT -6 ajetter said:

May 26, 2018 20:46:48 GMT -6 aprilz81 said:

YMMV, but Faith rarely even opens her eyes when I pick her up for the dream feed. She stretches, smells my boob/the bottle, opens her mouth, sucks me/the bottle dry and goes right back to a deep sleep.

I only tried dream feeds with DD2, and she just would not eat unless I unswaddled her and roused her. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Maybe this babe would be different though!!

I have discovered that she stays asleep and eats faster if I offer her a bottle.  The first few times I tried to nurse she just comfort sucked like I was her pacifier.  So unless I'm full I give her a bottle at the dream feed and then nurse her when she wakes in the middle of the night.

[sunfrogger]

So Liv is spreading out her day eats
Which is cool and all but she's still up every 2 after a 5 HR stretch.

She's 3mo old (today!).

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Dd1 kind if organically changed her wake ups.

Also I've been finishing out the night in the rocker bc she was wants to be held bc fedluzybreakrhru and that shit can't go on forever.

[benandjerrys]

Yes. Both of my kids have slept through dream feeds. Definitely worth a shot!

May 26, 2018 20:46:48 GMT -6 aprilz81 said:

YMMV, but Faith rarely even opens her eyes when I pick her up for the dream feed. She stretches, smells my boob/the bottle, opens her mouth, sucks me/the bottle dry and goes right back to a deep sleep.

[tiffbabey]

DD is EBF. We had only been giving her one bottle a week if that, and she doesn’t enjoy it. I hate pumping and don’t go back to work until the end of August, so didn’t think I needed to do more. My mom gave her two ounces the other night while we were out and said it was torture, she screamed and hated it. So we decided to start doing one a day. Yesterday I gave her one while we were out at a park, she did fine. Tonight, DH tried to give her one and she wouldn’t take it from him. I took her and she would drink it; but she does this weird gulping and gasping thing where it sounds like she can’t breathe or something. I don’t know what it is. She doesn’t drink bottles steadily, she stops frequently and makes that noise. I warmed the bottle but maybe it was too cold? I’m not sure. Any ideas?

[sunfrogger]

Hey... At 3mo what are bf babies eating?

Liv seems to be taking 3- 3oz bottles. So a full ounce is being wasted bc I send 4. I obv want to conserve bm. Is that even enough? We nurse morning, bedtime and 3x overnight. That just seems on the low end.