FFers - routine?

[ILoveShoes]

Hey everyone!
I've just switched from BFing on demand to FFing. LO seems to havetaken to it very well but I'm just wondering whether most of you ladies have a routine and set feeding times, or if you play it by ear?
My LO is 11 weeks old, and seems to be going 4 hours(ish) between bottles, taking approx 4 - 7oz (120-180mls) at each feed.
If you do have a routine, what happens if you deviate from it (eg. If LO naps for longer than usual and misses a bottle?)
Sorry for all the questions; I was hoping my HV would help me with all this yesterday, but she was crap!
Xx

 

[Mrs Doddy]

Jess was 4 weeks early so had to be fed every 3 hours when I stopped making her drink every 3 she stuck to the times anyway, gradulally she has increased to 4/5 hours herself, I let her sleep and she tells me when she is ready, the last 24 hrs she has gone back to her 3 hours even in the night and seems to be drinking more. I always offer 30mls more than what she actually drinks in the hope that one day she will just carry on and take more- as I type this is what she has done !!!

Jess doesn't sleep much during the day and often fights the tiredness, I've had a few occasions where she is awake in between feeds she has fallen asleep at the time she should feed again, I've let her sleep and she has woken up and asked for feed when she is ready, unfortunately for me this was yesterday in the pub when I was trying to eat my lunch !!! I'm not sure if this is ok and how long is ok to go without feeds if they don't ask/ are asleep. Ff is such a mindfield - you would think it would be easy wouldn't you !!!

 

[MrsT&Ben]

I've ff my lo since day 10. I let him fall into his own routine. Once he'd figured out what he want it was every 3 -4 hours
Oh and i never ever woke him. I believe that a baby will let you know when they are hungry. (unless of course you have to for medical reason)

 

[OmarsMum]

At 12 weeks Omar was having 4 bottles 5-6 oz each 1 every 4 hrs. He used to take his bottles before his naps so we didnt have any issues with missing bottles while sleeping (he used to go for a nap every 1.5-2 hrs). He was sleeping through for 12-13 hrs at night with no feeds xx

 

[zzypeg]

I used to FF on demand too. now she has just gone in a routine but seems to be starting to go longer. I put the last 2 feeds closer together though and leet her just have what she wants. sometimes the whole bottle soemtimes not. then she goes through the night. xxxx

 

[TattiesMum]

Tattie switched from EBM on demand to FF on demand when Kaylum was about 6 weeks. Just like BF there was no worries about sleeping through bottles because he was just fed whenever he wanted it.

To be honest, although he's being weaned now (BLW) and is given solid food 3 times a day, he still gets his bottles on demand .... it's what I did with my 3, he's not a particularly big baby and uses a lot of energy crawling/ cruising the furniture and it seems to suit him that way He has routines for bedtime, solids etc but not for bottles - it seems mean to make him wait if he's hungry

 

[bethx]

my LO is 9 weeks and she has her first feed at about 9 in the morning then i feed her every 4 hours after that and then her last feed at 9.30 regardless of when her last feed was then she goes through to about 9 in the morning. i make up 240 feeds and sometimes she takes all sometimes she dosent.

 

[_Vicky_]

I had a routine from day 1 - with twins demand anything is a nightmare. They were fed three hourly and I used to wake one up to feed if they werent awake in the day (at night the crying brother did the waking up job for me) - the thinking behind three hourly is that they get all their calories in the day and wake less at night. The boys started sleeping 12 hours from 16 weeks.

I cant remember volumes though sorry xxx

 

[_Vicky_]

ps three hourly worked reallly well when it came to weaning to as it fell around melatimes

 

[sunshine114]

I've been doing it on demand, but recently LO has been going about 3 and a half hours between bottles and as a result has dropped one so has been having 5. It might be coincidence, but now he keeps waking in the night and needs to be resettled. So I'm going to try waking him in the morning at 7.30, then feeding 3 hourly after that in the hope he will sleep longer. Oh, and we wake him at 11.30pm for a bottle otherwise he wants one at about 1/2am.

 

[Janidog]

I do demand feeding, so when ever LO wants a bottle really, but its roughly every 2/3hrs and he has 7oz. The only routine we have is LO will go to bed at 6ish and then woken at 10pm for a dreamfeed

 

[RHR]

Hi hun, we let Isabelle tell us when she was hungry. we gradually got into a routine of when she is hungry now and occasionally this does change.

First bottle of the day is about 5am ish
2nd bottle about 8-9am
3rd bottle 12-1pm
4th bottle 3-4pm
and last bottle from about 6pmish

Isabelle has just started to sleep the whole night through (woo hoo) and is more hungry in the mornings.

When she was first born she wanted feeding every 2-3 hours. I was making up 6 bottles twice a day for her. We tried to increase the amount she had, but she couldn't drink it, had a few problems with reflux and then put her onto Hungry baby formula and that has helped immensely.

 

[MissMuffet]

Hi,
Just noticed that our LOs are almost the same age! We combi feed, although I've never had much milk. I'm no expert but comparing with our LO, 120 - 180 ml every 4 hours sounds brill! That's what I'm aiming at for the moment.
The most our LO has is 120 ml, but mostly 80-90 ml every 3 hours or before if she's hungry, so you could say we feed on demand.

 

[kirstylm]

Yes definately have a routine with bottle feeding so u know what to make up.

EVA goes 4hrs between feeds so I feed her as close to 10,2,6,10 bit she wakes at different times each morning so I just take it from when she wakes. She will wake if she's due a feed but if she goes over or is hungry before the 4hrs I just feed her then start again the next day.

Glad ir LO has taken to it well xx

 

[girlsmooch]

my lo is almost 12 weeks. he feeds 3 hourly during the day - demand fed but just his routine. 7.30, 10.30, 1.30, 4.30 and bedtime bottle at 7.30 taking 5/6oz he still wakes twice in the night for feeds. this week he's been waking at approx 11.30 then sleeping through until about 5. he's taking less and less at this 5am feed only 1.5oz last night hopefully ready to drop it soon!

we always feed his first bottle at 7.30 as OH works night and feeds him when he gets in - in the hope that one day he'll last untill this bottle! anything before this i treat as a night waking

 

[pigginteacher]

my lo is almost 12 weeks. he feeds 3 hourly during the day - demand fed but just his routine. 7.30, 10.30, 1.30, 4.30 and bedtime bottle at 7.30 taking 5/6oz he still wakes twice in the night for feeds. this week he's been waking at approx 11.30 then sleeping through until about 5. he's taking less and less at this 5am feed only 1.5oz last night hopefully ready to drop it soon!

we always feed his first bottle at 7.30 as OH works night and feeds him when he gets in - in the hope that one day he'll last untill this bottle! anything before this i treat as a night waking

My LO is very similar apart from she goes 4 hours inbetween. i have to start the day at around 7.30 because I have another child to take to school. Funnily last night she slep through from 11 to 5.30 without a feed, so like u i'm hoping that this is a good sign, would be great if should could go fromm 11 till 7.30!! I do alter her feeds if she is having a hungry day but try and aim to give the last bottle at 7.30 so I can put her to bed.
Girlsmooch, how old is ur LO out of interest?

 

[pigginteacher]

Sorry just realised u said ur LO was 12 weeks on ur post!!!

 

[honeybun]

Lwxi-Mrie is 4 weeks old and has kinda settled into her own rouiteen she feeds every 3-4 hours at 4ozs.If she wakes at 6am she falls asleep about 9-10 and has her normal (feeds just before sleep) then sleeps till 2 ish and then feeds and sometimes back sleep at 3-5 and then feeds and stays up then bath,feed and bed by 7:30pm...During day i wake her if she goes longer than 4 hours without a feed but a night i leave her..Each night differs, sometimes she goes 3/4 and maybe 5 hours between feeds.x

 

[Odd Socks]

bella generally feeds every 3-4 hours in the day (anywhere between 4 & 6 oz), & usually sleeps through the night (10-12 hours). but i feel on demand.
xx