Feeding Poll (3-6 mo)

[boiler717]

Another doc appt, another paranoid momma about his weight! T is down to 5th percentile for height and weight at 4 months (11 lbs 13 oz). We are back to weighted feeds and weight checks.
Pedi said he should be eating 6-8 oz at a time now based on age but has been taking 3-4 oz when we bottle feed (which is not often). He is feeding 6-8 times a day (after every wake up, before bed, and 1-2 times overnight) so 40-60 oz seems like a ton of food.
So questions for you:
1. How old is your baby and how much does he/she weigh (or feel free to give me data from 4 mos / 12 lbs if you remember!).
2. How often does your baby feed?
3. How many ounces per feed?
4. What is your baby's average daily consumption?
5. Mode of feeds (formula bottle vs expressed BM vs nursing)?

[sunshine608]

Is this BM or Formula. 6-8 oz of BM is a lot and sounds like a formula rec.

1. He weighed around 12 pounds at 4 months
2 He ate every 2 hours ( and honestly even at almost 2 he still eats at that rate although now its snacks and more of a routine- Brekafast, AM Snack, Lunch, PM Snack, Dinner ect.
3. he never took more than 3-4oz of BM in a bottle.
4. He had 15oz while I worked and then nursed. He kept up 15 oz until around 11 months when he went down to 12 oz.
5. Expressed BM during the day/nursing at night and weekends.

[dcn]

Ds2 is 4.5 months and weighed 16 lbs 9 oz at his 4 month check.

He is ebf, won't take a bottle so I don't know how much he is getting. He typically nurses every 1.5-2.5 hours during the day and once overnight, usually just from one side.

8 oz seems like a ton of milk for a 4 month old.

[karinothing]

1. DS is 8 months, I think he weighs 21lbs or so, he is big though, DS1 was probably more like your son, he was almost in the single digits on the charts.

2. DS2 eats probably 6-8 times a day too.

3. 4 oz

4. He gets two bottles a day that is 8oz, the rest of the time he nurses so I am not sure.

5. Nursing and pumped milk

[dcn]

Ds1 weighed 14 lbs at 4 months and ate every 2 hours and was up like 3-4 times to eat overnight. He never took more than 4-5 oz of ebm in one feeding from a bottle.

[Deleted]

Apr 26, 2016 12:14:16 GMT -5 boiler717 said:

Another doc appt, another paranoid momma about his weight! T is down to 5th percentile for height and weight at 4 months (11 lbs 13 oz). We are back to weighted feeds and weight checks.
Pedi said he should be eating 6-8 oz at a time now based on age but has been taking 3-4 oz when we bottle feed (which is not often). He is feeding 6-8 times a day (after every wake up, before bed, and 1-2 times overnight) so 40-60 oz seems like a ton of food.
So questions for you:
1. How old is your baby and how much does he/she weigh (or feel free to give me data from 4 mos / 12 lbs if you remember!).
2. How often does your baby feed?
3. How many ounces per feed?
4. What is your baby's average daily consumption?
5. Mode of feeds (formula bottle vs expressed BM vs nursing)?

1. At 4 months she was in the 8th percentile, whatever that was. Doc wasn't worried anymore.
2. She took 4 3oz bottles at daycare and nursed 3-4 times in the evening. She STTN, but I would dreamfeed at 10pm. She never took much.
3. 3oz bottles around that age. Upped it to 4 about a month later. She never too much more than 4-5oz.
4. Hard to say
5. BF and pumped milk at that age, we introduced formula at 7 months (and FWIW she went from 8th to 20th percentile)

[Muddled]

My 6 month old chunker doesn't take more than 5 oz at a time. She never has. I'm questioning.

[awkwardpenguin]

1. DD is a chunk - she was 15 lbs 9 oz at 4 months.
2. She was still fairly inconsistent at that age. 5-7x during the day and 3+ times overnight.
3. 2-5 oz. per feed, 4 oz. on average
4. We always estimated about 24-28 oz. per 24 hours until she turned 7.5 months and became ravenous.
5. At that age, she got pumped milk from a bottle during the day, occasional formula, and breastfed when DW was home.

DD didn't start taking 6 oz. bottles until she was 7.5 months and mostly formula fed. His pattern sounds normal to me, but I understand the concern because he is so tiny.

[countthestars]

1. DS was ~15lb at 4 months
2. When together, nursed every 2-3 hours around the clock (MOTN sometimes really quick nurses to sleep, not necessarily eating out of hunger)
3. Never more than 4oz at a time at 4 months
4. No idea!
5. Nursing when together, pumped BM when at daycare - 3 bottles of 3 to 4oz

[sierramist03]

Dd is 5 months and she hasn't ever taken more than 4-5oz per bottle. She typically eat every 3 hours when she has a bottle

[G22]

1. 6 months this week. He's about 19 lbs. At 4 mo he was 16lbs I believe.

2. He nurses every 2-4 hours, it varies from 10-30 minutes. He's always been a grazer, which is why he eats every 2 hours sometimes.

3. The few times he does take a bottle, he drinks between 2-5 ounces.

4. Not sure as he almost exclusively nurses.

5. Nurses 99% of the time. Bottle fed BM the other 1%.

[shoeless]

According to the Hopkins feeding guide 35 oz a day for 3-5 months would be expected (formula), even if its BM I think 60oz is too high.


www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/conditions/pediatrics/feeding_guide_for_the_first_year_90,P02209/

I will add that DD (9 weeks) takes 3x 4oz-6oz bottles a day and the rest is breast.  Not sure if that helps or not.

[thebreakfastclub]

My son was 7lbs even at birth and 14.5 lbs at his 4m check up. Now at 3, he's a 36lb beast at 90th percentile.

He was 100% formula and ate at 6am, 9am, noon, 3pm & 6pm. He sttn for good at 10 weeks and dropped his 9pm bottle around 12 weeks.

So he took 4oz bottles x5 a day. He peaked at 6oz bottles from 6-9 months, same 5 times per day.

Then he got into solids and the formula tapered down. He had 1 4oz bottle a day when he turned one.

So yeah, that seems like a lot!

[Deleted]

1. 3.5 months, ~16.5 lbs
2. He eats every 2-3 hours during the day with the exception of (1) 4-6 hour stretch at night
3. I'm not sure at the breast but he takes (3) 4 oz bottles while I am at work. Neither of my kids ever took more than 4-4.5 oz of bm at a time from bottles.
4. If I had to guess, maybe 34-36 oz?
5. nursing and pumped bm

I really question what your pedi said about 6-8 oz at his age. It is my understanding and experience that you don't really increase the amount of bm, the constitution changes according to your baby's needs.
kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/

[Deleted]

My bf children never took more than 3.5oz. 6 to 8 sounds like formula recommendations.

I don't have their specifics but the girls hung around the 4th and 6th% for a long time. Now at 2yo they are around the 30th. J also hung around the 17th% for a long time. With J we chased his weight for a long time. With the girls the pedi said well that's just your kids, koko.

All 3 started out at higher % in the 60s and slowly dropped to the Sigle and teens where they hung out for the rest of the first year before slowly climbing some.

[Deleted]

1. How old is your baby and how much does he/she weigh (or feel free to give me data from 4 mos / 12 lbs if you remember!).
--DS is 16 weeks today. At 14 weeks he was 14 pounds and 26 inches. I think he is 15 pounds now.
2. How often does your baby feed?
--6 bottles of formula per day
3. How many ounces per feed?
--5 ounces per feed
4. What is your baby's average daily consumption?
--30 ounces of formula daily
5. Mode of feeds (formula bottle vs expressed BM vs nursing)?
--exclusively formula

[dottyblue]

40-60 oz of breastmilk a day is insane. Your doc was, I think, basing her information on formula.

I have a huge baby and he has NEVER taken more than 5 oz of BM in a single sitting. He was taking about 4 oz every 3 hours from 3 months old to present (7 months). I can't imagine trying to force a 6-8 oz bottle on him.

[ebeth]

8 months, 18 lbs.

She has milk about 5-6 x/day now.It was 7-8 when she was 4 months. When she was 12# she was nursing 10x/day.

When she has bottles she takes 4-5 ounces of BM 2x/day now. At 4 months it was about 5 oz 3x/day most days. Don't know total daily consumption because I nurse at night. 6-8oz sounds on par for a formula fed 4 month old but that is a lot of BM.

I'm sorry you're still dealing with this what you're describing in terms of bottle size and number of feedings seems about right for an EBF 4 month old. Does he even want more milk?

[boiler717]

@sessalee what prompted you to switch to formula? I thought BM was higher in calories than formula so as long as I have an abundant supply I'd like to keep BF. But maybe he would gain better on formula?

[boiler717]

That's good to hear @awinter! He was a fluid overloaded 85th percentile at birth.

[curbsideprophet]

At 4 months DS was 14lbs, 12 oz.

He got breast milk in bottles while in daycare. I think he maxed out at 4 oz a feeding.

[boiler717]

ebeth No. He ends by pushing the boob away. I'm a producing more than he is consuming. My breasts generally still have milk in them after feeding but my supply has regulated some. I am able to freeze 6-10 oz a day (if he's not growth spurting/sleep regressing).

[Deleted]

Apr 26, 2016 12:35:50 GMT -5 boiler717 said:

@sessalee what prompted you to switch to formula? I thought BM was higher in calories than formula so as long as I have an abundant supply I'd like to keep BF. But maybe he would gain better on formula?

My supply couldn't keep up anymore, it started dwindling at 6 months and never recovered. If your supply is abundant, KOKO. I would have.

[thebreakfastclub]

I will say if I ever tried to give more formula than DS normally took, he just refused outright.

I couldn't get 35 ounces into him at 4 months if my life depended on it.

Now he can eat 1/4 of a large pizza for dinner.

[madringal]

Apr 26, 2016 12:14:16 GMT -5 boiler717 said:

Another doc appt, another paranoid momma about his weight! T is down to 5th percentile for height and weight at 4 months (11 lbs 13 oz). We are back to weighted feeds and weight checks.
Pedi said he should be eating 6-8 oz at a time now based on age but has been taking 3-4 oz when we bottle feed (which is not often). He is feeding 6-8 times a day (after every wake up, before bed, and 1-2 times overnight) so 40-60 oz seems like a ton of food.
So questions for you:
1. How old is your baby and how much does he/she weigh (or feel free to give me data from 4 mos / 12 lbs if you remember!).
2. How often does your baby feed?
3. How many ounces per feed?
4. What is your baby's average daily consumption?
5. Mode of feeds (formula bottle vs expressed BM vs nursing)?

1. She will be 5 months this week. She is 18lbs, 27"
2. She takes 4 bottles a day.
3. 7ozs a bottle.
4. 28 ozs rarely less or more.
5. She is EFF.

[shelbyann]

I will answer for my DD since it sounds like her build is more similar to your DS (around 20th percentile for weight both as an infant and now as a 2yo). And disclaimer that every kid is different, of course.

But she never in her life took more than 4 oz from a bottle at one feeding. 6-8 would have been absurd for her. Of course 6-8 is normal for some kids so nothing wrong with that, but there's a wide range of normal here. Although 60 ounces a day is way more than I've ever heard of a baby eating, like ever, lol.

Have you tried feeding him more frequently? DD was mostly BF but she nursed every 2 hours during the day for months.

[boiler717]

shelbyann if he's awake and it's been 2 hours I offer. He doesn't seem to like nursing before sleep (doesn't do nutritive sucking).

[shelbyann]

Forgot to add: is he generally doing well otherwise? As in, meeting developmental milestones, appropriate pee and poop diapers? Generally seems happy/satisfied with life?

I don't know. I mean I'm not a doctor but if everything else seems fine and you have ample supply I'd be inclined to KOKO. I know you guys have had issues with his gaining in the past so I'm not trying to brush off the issue, but other than offering food more often, really what can you do? Breastmilk is really the most calorie dense thing you can give him and you can't force a kid to eat more than they want to.

[boiler717]

Okay I'm glad everyone feels like I do LOL. I just did a weighted feed and I transferred 4 oz. I was able to hand express so there is still some in therex

[boiler717]

shelbyann YES! He has plenty of wet and dirty diapers. He can roll both ways, push himself on all fours, sit unassisted for <10 sec. Probably because he doesn't have much to move! He did go through a sleep regression but sleeps 14-15 hours a day, super happy and social, alert. We seem to be ending his sleep regression (FX). He's back to 12 hours overnight with one wake up and is able to put himself asleep.