Any advice on making sure my LO gets enough to eat??

[wifey2013]

So here's the deal. My LO was eating 5 times every 4 hours (6oz, so a total of 30oz a day) a day having his last bottle around 10-11pm and then sleeping through until 6am.

Recently he started getting really sleepy and cranky around 7pm. I would put him down and he'd fall into a deep sleep. For the first few nights of this I was waking him at around 10-11 for a "dream feed" and putting him back to sleep.

Last night I just let him sleep. He woke around 3am, just fussing a bit and moving around, but I gave him his pacifier and he went back to sleep, he woke again around 4:30, but again I popped in his pacifier, and he fell back asleep after about 20 minutes. Finally he woke around 6:30 and I gave him his bottle. The times he woke he never cried, just fussed a bit.

But taking out his last night feed means that he's only getting 24oz a day and that's not enough.

Should I try to feed him every 3 hours during the day, that way we can fit in the 5 bottles and he eats enough?? I'm worried that on only 4 bottles he won't get a full nights sleep or won't get enough calories....

Basically, to repeat myself, would it be ok to feed him every 3-3.5 hours during the day, say, 6:30am, 10:00am, 1:30pm, 4:30, 7:30pm, and then let him go through the night??

 

[MindUtopia]

The best way to make sure he's eating enough is to feed him on demand and not on a schedule. When he's hungry, let him eat as much as he wants, whenever he wants. If you plan to feed him, say, every 3 hours, but on a given day, he's actually hungry after 2 hours, then in that case, he wouldn't be getting all he needs. But if you just feed him whenever he's hungry and make sure you offer enough that he's leaving some milk in the bottle about half the time, then you'll know he's getting enough. If he's not waking to eat during the night, he's getting enough during the day. If he was hungry, he wouldn't settle back to sleep unless you left him to cry, which it doesn't sound like you are. As long as he's sleeping well and you're feeding him during the night if he does wake for a feed and is hungry, then you're doing a great job. I wouldn't worry about the times or the amounts. He knows what he's doing.

 

[wifey2013]

The best way to make sure he's eating enough is to feed him on demand and not on a schedule. When he's hungry, let him eat as much as he wants, whenever he wants. If you plan to feed him, say, every 3 hours, but on a given day, he's actually hungry after 2 hours, then in that case, he wouldn't be getting all he needs. But if you just feed him whenever he's hungry and make sure you offer enough that he's leaving some milk in the bottle about half the time, then you'll know he's getting enough. If he's not waking to eat during the night, he's getting enough during the day. If he was hungry, he wouldn't settle back to sleep unless you left him to cry, which it doesn't sound like you are. As long as he's sleeping well and you're feeding him during the night if he does wake for a feed and is hungry, then you're doing a great job. I wouldn't worry about the times or the amounts. He knows what he's doing.

I guess I didn't mean such a strict schedule lol, of course if he gets hungry before I feed him. I am worried to overfeedhim too. He finishes the bottle every single time! I know 5-6 month old babies that are getting 8oz, but if I offered my LO 8oz he'd eat it! That's what worries me.

Should I up all his bottles to 7oz? Then if he still ate 5x a day he'd be eating 35oz, isn't that too much formula??

 

[mel28nicole]

I think if he's finishing the bottle and still fussing then yes, up the bottle. But if he's not fussing I wouldn't worry. 24oz in a day is fine. DD almost always only drank about that much, especially since she started sleeping through at 3 weeks old. Even at 7 months she only drinks 24oz in a day. Of course she has her meals too, but milk is most important. I think my paper work from her ped at 2 months says anywhere from 20 oz to 40oz is a good amount.

 

[StranjeGirl]

Just a guess, but I bet if you continue to drop a feed he will start waking for it. Mine won't take more than 5 oz at a time so I don't put her to bed til 9:30 or 10 so I can get that last feed in. If I get all her feeds in she sleeps for like 10 hours. I keep her on a strict feeding schedule and wake her during the day to keep her on schedule. Obviously if she is hungry before her normal eating time I feed her, but it doesn't seem to happen much. If yours will take an extra oz at feeding you can try that- it should work the same as long as the oz stay the same. Although- we are dealing with babies here, we think we figure something out and it can all change the next day!