Bottlefeeding: max amount for a 3 week old baby? Post Reply

[Lotta_1]

Hi mums,

My baby is currently 3 weeks old and I'm bottlefeeding. The first days he had 7 feeds of 90ml, but I soon found out that that wasn't enough, so the health visitor advised me to increase the amount to 6 feeds of 120ml (every 3 or 4 hours). That went well until two days ago. I have the impression that my son just can't wait for 3 or 4 hours for another feed, sometimes he's just sooo hungry after 2 hours that I give him half a bottle then and then an hour later another half feed. I just want him to get in a routine, but that won't work if he requires a feed after less than 3 or 4 hours. He isn't hungry in the night though, last night I give him a bottle at 9pm and he only woke up at 3am for another feed! So I guess he gets enough milk during 24 hours. Do you think I could increase the amount to 150ml per feed and see if that works to keep him longer between feeds? Or do you think it might be more effective to give him "hungry baby" formula? I just don't know what the maximum amount of milk is they can have each feed. I read on the box of formula milk that a 2 month old should have 5 feeds of 150ml, and now I'm thinking of giving my 3 weeks old that amount (or even 6 feeds)... His gain weight is a lot (birth weight 3.5kg and he now weighs 4.2kg), but I checked the notes of my oldest son and it's quite similar. However, I breastfed my oldest, so I didn't know how much milk he was getting. My oldest son has always been on the 95% curve, so probably my second one will be as well..

Bit concerned/uncertain about it though..

Any suggestions?
xxx

[shopper]

At 3 weeks old I would go with what baby wants even if feeding more frequently. Sounds like he is a big baby and just needs lots off feeding. Although we are all desperate for the routine to kick in, realistically most 3 week old babiees won't be ready for that (but it is amazing how quickly the routine will kick in especially if good feeder.) You could try the bigger feed and see what happens but risk is that tummy is still pretty small and if you go for too much volume he will throw it back up as too full, so more often but a bit smaller volume a better option. If well and healthy baby I'd say go with what baby wants for now.

[clare74]

I bottlefed my baby from around three weeks, but had the opposite problem to you at first - I was always having to wake him to feed him! However, for a very young baby like yours I would follow the NUTNOT rule - not under two, not over three, ie. you need to feed between 2-3 hours (ideally not less and ideally not longer).

Over time my son (now 4 months) has stretched this out a bit between feeds, and right from the start has only really needed one feed in the night, so I think that's normal. It's also the advantage of feeding more frequently during the day, and a good habit to get started

With regards to how much, I would go by how much he asks for. They're generally quite good at knowing what they need, and my son - despite fluctuating amounts consumed (last week was only 600ml per day rather than 900ml+) he's stuck on the same weight centile throughout. He's also having one more feed per 24 hours than the box says.

[flyer]

Don't forget you can check with your health visitor if you're lucky enough to have one you can trust....whenever I was stuck and followed mine's advice, it worked. All babies are different, and the routine will come in time.