https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 27 May 2026 04:28:14 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwyd-increase-supplementing-or-leave-things-be#post-2298125 Tue, 22 Sep 2015 10:36:42 +0000 gingerbebe 2298125@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was almost exclusively pumping by 12 weeks (we nursed for comfort and snuggles most days), so a little different, but I would increase the amounts in the bottles of formula to maybe 3oz. It looks like she wants to start taking longer stretches of sleep at night, which is great, so you want her to start taking in more calories during the daytime. I think 22oz is like the bare minimum I would be comfortable with at this age - 24oz sounds about right, especially since you need a little more formula by volume than breastmilk in terms of nutritional density. My son's peak of consumption was like 28-30oz a day around 12 weeks (he had six 5oz bottles a day, every 3 hours, with 5 bottles of BM and 1 bottle all formula). He slowly ratcheted down from there, and by 6 months he flat refused to take more than 24oz a day (four 6oz feedings). He slowly weaned down to like 12-16oz by the time he was 10 months old on his own. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwyd-increase-supplementing-or-leave-things-be#post-2298021 Tue, 22 Sep 2015 09:36:06 +0000 daniellemybelle 2298021@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ldh112: Oh, at that age it's totally normal to wake up for feedings at night! By sleeping well I mean at least 2-3 hour stretches. We went through a patch when LO was 4 months when her sleep was horrible and when we increased nighttime bottles she started sleeping a lot better.</p> <p>I don't think it would hurt to offer an extra ounce in one or two of her bottles. As long as you use slow flow bottles and are doing paced bottle feeding, she should just eat until she is full. But I don't think you need to worry too much! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwyd-increase-supplementing-or-leave-things-be#post-2298014 Tue, 22 Sep 2015 09:29:22 +0000 ldh112 2298014@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@daniellemybelle: Thanks for your insight. She has been a trooper doing both breast feeding and FF since 2 weeks so I hope she is just used to both by now. :) I am using the Comotomo bottles with the slow flow nipple so she is still working for it. I may do what @twodoghouse suggested and just up a couple bottles here or there as opposed to increasing the bottle count. </p> <p>When you say sleeping well what do you mean? :) She typically goes 4-6 hours after bedtime (which varies still, usually between 8:00-10:30) before waking for overnight nursing. She never wakes up fussy or anything but I do feed her anytime she wakes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwyd-increase-supplementing-or-leave-things-be#post-2297999 Tue, 22 Sep 2015 09:19:27 +0000 daniellemybelle 2297999@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I struggled with this same question. My LO never ate very much. Looking back, I kind of laugh at myself for worrying because she was a fat baby! But those early days of weight issues will make you worry so much. </p> <p>I, too, tried to get to at least 25 oz and offered probably more formula than she really needed at that point. For us, we did have some issues with bottle preference early on but we pushed through and continued to nurse until 19 months. However, I know some whose babies completely go on strike so you are right to think about that.</p> <p>If she is gaining appropriately, healthy, happy and sleeping well I really don't think you need to worry about getting to 25 oz a day. Breast milk changes as babies grow to meet their needs and that is still happening even though you are supplementing. And just because she has transferred 2 oz at the weighed feeds doesn't mean she couldn't be getting more than that sometimes. I drove myself crazy trying to figure out what my "actual" supply was and how much breast milk my LO was getting but the fact is that you just can't know (unless you EP).</p> <p>You are doing great! :heart: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwyd-increase-supplementing-or-leave-things-be#post-2297980 Tue, 22 Sep 2015 09:10:19 +0000 twodoghouse 2297980@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ldh112: If her growth is ok, I probably wouldn't panic over the exact number. (Easy for me to say now, but a year ago I was in your exact same spot and very confused about what to do!) I do remember that as the day went on, my supply got less and less. So my kids might not need any supplement after the first feeding of the day, but by 5 pm they would scream if I didn't have a bottle ready to go asap after nursing. Maybe try one bottle of 3 oz instead of 2 when you feel that your supply is lowest (or right before she goes down for the night?). See how she does with that? That way you aren't giving her an additional bottle, but you are getting an extra oz here and there. If she takes the extra oz willingly, then think about going up to 3 oz in a couple other bottles? It was around 3.5 months that I went from 2 oz to 3 oz supplemental bottles. They were on fortified (24 cal/oz) formula, though, so I'm not sure how that changes things in my situation. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwyd-increase-supplementing-or-leave-things-be#post-2297967 Tue, 22 Sep 2015 09:04:56 +0000 ldh112 2297967@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@twodoghouse: Even if she may not be getting the minimum amount "they"(kellymom, other websites) recommend? I agree that I try to watch her cues and generally she seems content with our current routine. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwyd-increase-supplementing-or-leave-things-be#post-2297947 Tue, 22 Sep 2015 08:58:07 +0000 twodoghouse 2297947@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>As long as she seems to be gaining well, I'd go by her mood. I think most babies (barring more extreme feeding issues) will let you know if they are hungry. We dealt with a lot of grouchy, colicky behavior from my twins in the early days and once I started increasing the oz in their supplemental bottles, they were much happier little people. I think they were just trying to tell me they were hungry! So if she seems happy and content and you're happy with this amount of supplementing, you should be good to go! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wwyd-increase-supplementing-or-leave-things-be#post-2297928 Tue, 22 Sep 2015 08:46:25 +0000 ldh112 2297928@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sorry I post frequently on this board- I just feel a bit overwhelmed and none of my friends have dealt with this situation. :)</p> <p>So, baby girl (13 weeks) is now transferring 2 oz at weighted feeds (!) which is huge progress from the first 8 weeks of no more than 1.25 at a feed. Since about 6 weeks, our regime has been to do 7-8 feedings a day with 3 bottles of 2 oz of formula offered after every other feeding. She had substantial gains with this set up for those 6 and 8 week check ups.</p> <p>At check ins with the LC, she has gained 7 oz from weeks 8-10 and from weeks 10-12 she has gained 5 oz. I've had a difficult time waking her for an 8th feeding (this is usually after 830 pm) so we average 7 feedings most days. This means now on the low end she is only getting around 20-22 oz a day of BM and formula. </p> <p>The LC things she looks good- she has always been in the 90+ percentile for length so she is long and skinny, but not gaunt. The LC has two charts that say 25 oz a day is good to aim for and another chart that says at her current weight, 32 oz is ideal. She was hesitant to encourage me to increase bottles due to concerns over bottle preference and said we could keep doing what we are doing.</p> <p>I feel worried that she may not even be getting 25 oz a day. She is not fussy after feedings and seems happy... but I just feel concerned I am not giving her what she needs. </p> <p>What would you do? Start supplementing after more feedings and not worry about the bottle preference issue? Increase current supplementing to 3 oz and keep them to every other feeding so she doesn't get a bottle 7x a day? Trust the LC that things are okay and leave it alone?</p> <p>(BTW - The pediatrician (whom we don't see again until her 16 week check up) has historically wanted me to bump things up because of early weight gain issues. Since she had great gains at 6/8 weeks she didn't reschedule us to return until 4 months. I don't know if she would be as accepting of the weight gains lately or not.) </p>