Amount Per Bottle Issues

[Starry Night]

So, my DD decided to NOT ready the baby manuals before being born (ha!) and has decided to take formula as if she's taking the boob. This makes determining how much to put into each bottle rather tricky. According to the pamphlet I received from the public health nurse I should be giving her 4 to 5 ounces at this point so I put about 130mL (4 1/2 ounces) in each bottle. Some feeds she absolutely guzzles it down and seems to be upset there isn't more. However, there are feeds where she simply sips at the bottle and takes an hour to take about half. Then another half hour later she's hungry again except I'm supposed to toss the formula if she's not done in that first hour so I need to start another bottle.

She needs special reduced-lactose formula and it's EXPENSIVE. It's about $50 a week. I hate to make this about money but I have to be realistic too. We're not a high income family but we're not poor enough for any sort of grants or help. I can't keep tossing half a bottle of formula.

I guess this is more of a rant than anything. But is it such a big deal if I put the bottle back in the fridge if I know she's going to be eating it again within the hour? I'm still trying to figure out if there is a pattern when she snacks and when she guzzles so I can just make smaller bottles for the snack times.

 

[Krissykat1006]

I keep mine for 2 hours then toss, I also did that with my first. Formula (untouched) can stay good for 24hours in fridge so you could just start with 2 oz in the bottle and keep another 2oz in fridge for later.

I totally understand the money end...I've had a few times where I've made a 5 oz bottle and she eat 2.5 and sleep past my 2 hour mark...makes you wanna cry pouring that uneaten formula down the drain.

 

[Lovn.sunshine]

My daughter is the exact same. Some times she chugs down 6oz in just minutes and acts like she is angry there isn't more but sometimes she just sips on a couple oz and is totally content on wasting the rest I have the same worry. about cost and it's going to get more expensive as she gets older so the less waste, the better, in my eyes. So my solution has been to make a jug of about 10-12oz. She averages about 4oz a feed. This way, I can put 2-4oz in the bottle off the bat. If she seems to want more or is hungry again in an hour or two I can just fill up another few oz. That jug of formula will be good for 24 hours in the fridge. Maybe start doing that? Track her intake for a day or two, find the average and make a little less than what you think she'd consume in a 24 hour period, so you can attempt to reduce the waste.
[I hope all that made sense. I'm super tired ]

 

[Starry Night]

Thanks. It's annoying as it is to dump 1/3 or less of the bottle down but when it's 1/2 or even more then I start to get frustrated. Not with DD, of course, but with life and how the baby companies know they have parents hooped/trapped into paying such ridiculous prices.

I have read that formula can be good for 2 hours but I keep reading contradictory information. The info from my public health nurse says 1 hour but the formula packaging says 2.

The most frustrating thing is at her bigger feeds she seems ready for me to increase the amount. She eats at regular intervals in the morning (every 2 hours) but then takes a longer nap in the afternoon so there is about a 3 to 3 1/2 hour gap. Sometimes the next feed she guzzles and then starts with the snacking but often she will snack for the rest of the evening. Other times she will snack but then have a guzzle just before bed.

I was so strict with a feeding schedule with my son that I never ran into this and he also had a tendency to overeat to the point of projectile vomiting so it was always about cutting back with him. But DD likes to do her own thing and I am overall more relaxed this time around. She has a very loose schedule and is sleeping better at night so it's working. Just don't want to waste formula.

I like the 2oz bottle idea. Will have to keep a couple of those on hand for the evenings as well as the 4 1/2. She always takes the big bottles for her night feed.

 

[MindUtopia]

Here formula is considered fine at room temperature for 2 hours and I've gladly used up the last of a bottle at 2.5 hours. 2 hours is a general rule, and a few minutes over now and again isn't going to do any harm as long as your bottles are properly made. Generally speaking though, I'd ignore advice on how much you 'should' be feeding. All babies are different and they will eat different amounts from feed to feed and day to day. I'd just go by her cues. Maybe make smaller bottles and then either use two if she's really hungry or make up extra as needed. But no, I wouldn't hesitate to just keep a bottle for 2 or even a little bit more hours and continue to use it. Some babies are snackers and that's totally normal.

 

[Bunnikins]

My little one is exactly the same. I stopped BF at 7 weeks ish and she just acts as though she BFs still. I never know how much to give her, and sometimes she can be crying so frantically hungry and i think she guzzle down a whole bottle, and she'll have 1 or 2oz! It is VERY frustrating given the ridiculous cost of formula and we get through 2 cans per week, thats £21 per week which is scary! The only time my LO really drinks a whole bottle (5oz is a "whole" bottle for her) in one sitting is when she wakes in the night for a feed.
When i took her to docs they said she must just not like milk very much (no health issues), so i look forward to her being on solids!

And i always keep a bottle on the go for 2 hours. Ive also read about 1 hour and 2 hours, so i went with the 2 hours. SOMETIMES after 2 hours she might have finished the whole 5oz in bits at a time... then onto the next bottle. Aaaargh! At least we're not alone

 

[Starry Night]

So my DD normally snacks in the evening but yesterday she snacked all afternoon and guzzled in the evening. Just when I thought I was noticing a pattern! And she woke for her night feed again which was a first in awhile. She hasn't been completely STTN but waking up at 5:30 is so much better than 3:30! I'm already feeling that 2 hour difference and I've only been up a few hours (she fortunately sleeps about 4 hours after her night feed).

I still have some ready-to-go 2oz bottles that I received free from the formula companies so have been having those on hand in the late afternoon. I want to buy some bigger bottles for when she's taking more so my smaller bottles that only hold up to 4 or 5 ounces can be used for her snack feeds.

And I'm still trying to figure out if I should up the amounts in the bigger bottles or not. During her night and morning feeds she routinely finishes her bottles (watch it, she'll be snacking this morning...lol) so maybe experiment with increasing to the full 5oz at this point.

 

[roseolav]

Hey there, I just wanna ask if my son formula milk is normal. My son is 1 year old now and he consumed 8x180ml daily. is this normal or over feed?

 

[Starry Night]

My son had been weaned to cow's milk by about 13 months but before I fully weaned him off of formula I was giving him 4 bottles at about 8 ounces (240mL) each. I haven't worked out if the total daily amounts are the same or not. I'm not sure, but I think a one year old should start working towards having less but bigger bottles by now. A child can't be forever "snacking". I certainly don't feed my toddler on demand! But that is not something you can change overnight. It would have to be gradual.

Speaking of which, my DD's snacking is getting worse and worse!! She used to cluster-feed in the evenings (which I was totally OK with) but this past week each new day sees her doing it longer and longer until she's finally now only taking 1 1/2 ounces each hour and it's taking her up to half an hour to take that small amount. I'm going to a higher nipple flow and playing "mean mummy" to try and get her back to her every 2 hours. I have a toddler, a house and my own sanity to maintain. Also trying to keep her awake as she feeds because she falls asleep right away. They made me try that when I was trying to BF my son so don't see why I can't keep a FF'd baby awake until she's absolutely done eating. Last feed I got her to take nearly 4 ounces by giving her kisses and gently blowing on her face--all tricks I learned from the public health nurse to encourage BFing.