Newbie questions - 2nd Q added

[CeriB]

Hello ladies

I have a few FF questions that I'm struggling to find answers for! Any help would be appreciated!

LO is on a feeding schedule of 70ml every 3h, as prescribed by paediatrician. At what point would I go up in ml or hours?

As he is only on a little bit, when we go out I was thinking of pre-making the bottles rather than using a ready made bottle which I wouldn't be able to keep the rest. Best way to do this?

He is starting to wake himself up for some feeds and not for others. He will also fall asleep pretty quickly during most feeds meaning it takes forever to finish, if he finished at all! I've tried stripping him off and changing his nappy but this doesn't always work. Any suggestions?

Thanks ladies

 

[MindUtopia]

As for how much and when to feed, I would follow his lead. The advice I got was to make an amount for each feed that wasn't drained every time. So if he is finishing 70ml every or nearly every feed, I would start making 100ml. If he's leaving some half the time but draining it the other half of the time, then it's probably the right amount. I found it hard to notice feeding cues at first (my daughter was early and didn't really show any to start), but once she got a bit older and was gaining the right weight and started to show obvious cues, it was a bit easier. If you've been put on a schedule due to weight issues, your doctor is probably best to advise you when it's time to increase the time between feeds. We stayed on the every 3 hour feeds until we regained birth weight (which was after 26 days), and then we fed on demand, which was usually around every 3-4 hours.

Formula is safe at room temp for 2 hours after you make it. So yes, often when I was going out, I would make a bottle at home and just put it in my bag knowing she would likely be hungry within the next hour to hour and a half. It would be cooled to the appropriate temperature in that time and was ready to feed when she needed it.That way it saved making it when out and it was used up within the 2 hour limit. If I needed a feed later in the day, initially I took a flash of boiled hot water and a pot of powdered formula with me, made it fresh and cooled in a running sink (it's kinda a hassle though and I stopped as soon as she was having enough to finish one of those whole cartons). After the first 3 months when she was having more for feed, I used the ready made cartons as it was much easier.

As long as he is putting on weight now, I wouldn't worry too much about him falling asleep during a feed. It's normal and they all do. The only time you should worry about waking him if he is continuing to lose weight or not gain. We did all the taking off clothes, changing nappies, etc., but it didn't really help. I found just feeding regularly as much as she could take before she fell asleep was enough. If he gets less at one feed, he'll likely make up for it later in the day. 70 ml is a decent amount for a week old baby. I don't think mine was taking that much until she was probably around 6 weeks, so I don't think you have much to worry about as long as he is putting on weight.

 

[CeriB]

Brilliant! Thank you! I'm totally new to bottle feeding so a bit lost!

 

[CeriB]

Another question- cluster feeding? DD was ebf and would cluster feed like crazy, mainly in the evening. Will ff babies do the same? Max is not due a bottle until 8pm but woke up at 6pm giving me feeding cues. He is not grumpy or crying, but is sucking his hands and lip smacking. I'm taking these as cues but he only had a bottle (60-70ml) at 5pm. I'm more than happy to give him one and will do if he gets grizzly, just wondered if cluster feeding was the same?

 

[MindUtopia]

Some do. It just depends on the baby. Mine didn't, but she didn't cluster feed while BF either. In fact, she was small and like I said didn't really show hunger cues, so we were having to feed her even when she didn't really seem to want it or waking her for feeds to get her gaining weight. She was BF the first 6 weeks and combi fed after that and then FF exclusively from 10 weeks and I didn't personally notice any real difference in frequency of feeds between the two. But definitely some babies will. In that case (and we did this when she was teething and eating only small amounts often), I would just make up a bottle and continue to offer it whenever you need to within the two hour window. After that, I'd discard and make up a new one if you need to.