We are just now making the switch to feed LO pumped breastmilk after many breastfeeding woes. As LO approaches 6 weeks old, I'm wondering how I will know how much milk to feed him as he hits a growth spurt. With breastfeeding, you just feed whenever they want it. With bottle feeding, of course you feed whenever they want it, but how much? Right now, LO takes about 3.5 oz per feeding.
Any insights are appreciated!
grapefruit / 4823 posts
DS Usually spits out his bottle, or he'll just play with the nipple when he's done. At 6 weeks DS was at about 4oz every 2 1/2-3 hrs.
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
@sarbear: thx! My guy is still a peanut at 8 lbs. I hate wasting breastmilk so wondering when I should start adding more to his bottle. Or maybe I just wait and see if he wants more after a feeding of 3.5 oz? did you notice during a growth spurt that your LO wanted to feed more frequently?
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
My lo cries if she wants more and spits it out and refuses it when she's full. She's a good communicator!
pomegranate / 3388 posts
My daughter gets formula from her bottles, not breastmilk... but I tend to up the amount that I put in her bottles once I start noticing that she is completely finishing most of her bottles. For example, I just started preparing 4-oz bottles b/c this week I noticed that she is generally finishing her 3-oz bottles.
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
Around that time, we would offer 4 ounces of pumped milk. Sometimes she would finish, other times she would just drink 2.5-3.5 ounces. If there was leftover, I would save for the next feeding.
pomegranate / 3983 posts
When we were giving pumped milk in a bottle LO would never have more than 4 oz. Occasionally he would want more but always ended spitting it back up. I found that it was best to pace him so that he could feel fullness because they can drink faster from a bottle.
grapefruit / 4823 posts
@winniebee: yeah when he hit his growth spurts he definitely wanted to eat more. Starting at 3.5 is probably go and go from there. They don't always eat the same amount, sometimes more, sometimes less. Definitely learn your babies cues, he'll tell ya what he wants(or doesn't want) and of you overfeed, he'll probably just spit it up anyways. And DS was just at the doctor and the NP said that as a 'general rule' babies usually eat half their weight...so DS is 12.7 and he eats between 5 and 6 ounces(sometimes less, trying to get his reflux under control, which has him eating smaller amounts(3-4oz) more frequently)
Good luck!
pineapple / 12526 posts
My baby will play around, spit out the nipple or turn her head and knock the bottle out of her mouth when she's full.
I also would up the amount whenever we noticed her finished most bottles. She's in her 3 month growth spurt right now and she's been eating 5oz every 2, sometimes 3, hours. Before growth spurt it was 5oz every 3-4 hours.
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