How much formula for 6.2 kg 3 month old?

[rayasyaa13]

At https://www2.hse.ie/babies-children/bottle-feeding/preparing-baby-formula/ it suggests feeding my baby 150ml per kg, which is 930ml for my 6.2 kg baby.

The formula manufacturer at https://shop.hipp.co.uk/hipp-organic-first-infant-milk-powder-800g-7.html says to give 150ml 5 times a day, which is only 750 ml.

Which number is correct? To get close to 930 I have to wake my baby twice during the night. If I only wake her once, she drinks closer to 750 during the day. She doesn't wake on her own during the night, but will thrash around and thump her legs if I don't feed her (she settles eventually).

 

[henry123]

@rayasyaa13 If your baby isn't waking up themselves, I wouldn't wake them to feed.

The amount from this calculation is a guide and not a target - trust your baby to tell you when they are hungry. Not all babies are the same. Some will eat more than that recommendation and some will eat less and some will eat different amounts every day.

This obviously applies if your baby is healthy (good number of wet diapers per day, gaining weight, etc.) If you have concerns about weight gain, it may be best to go to the doc to discuss this.

ETA: Your baby will start increasing how much they drink during the day if their night feeds become less and/or stop. They may want to drink a bit more frequently to make sure they get enough before bedtime. Babies are pretty smart when it comes to their milk intake.

 

[rayasyaa13]

@henry123 Thanks! This is almost exactly what my doctor said - she said to go from 2 to 1 night feeds and that she would eat more during the day. The issue is even after a week of 1 night feed, the ml totals are very different. I offer her all she can drink every 2 hours during the day but it's not working to get close to 930, I can't really get her over 800.

Also, we both sleep better with the 2 feeds - with only 1, she does her loud limb thumping when she wants more and eventually it stops, but then she starts thumping again every 30 min-1 hour. If I just feed her again, the thumping stops for hours.

 

[henry123]

@rayasyaa13 If feeding her at night works for both of you then carry on doing it. You are her mom - if you think she needs two feeds during the night, give her two feeds.

If you do eventually want to stop a night feeding, you can maybe try weaning her off slowly instead of just stopping. The recommendation I've seen on how to do this is to just reduce the amount of milk in the night time bottles. Obviously not drastically and not with both at the same time. Reduce one bottle by a small amount for a couple of days and then if its going well, reduce again until you eventually get to the point where there is just one night time feeding and then you can start working on that one. This should then hopefully have her increasing her daytime feeds but it will be a slow increase, giving her tummy time to adjust to bigger bottles.

Your aim should be to eventually have no night time feedings - for some babies this happens at 2 months, for some this only happens at 10 months or even later.

Like I said, you know your baby so do what works for you two.

ETA: Don't push her to have 930ml - if she is satisfied with only 800ml then it may just be that she isn't a big eater. Main thing is just to keep an eye on her diapers, weight gain, etc. to make sure she is a happy and healthy baby.

 

[aphesis]

@rayasyaa13 Estimate 100 calories per 1 kg a day.

30 ml of formula = 20 calories.

 

[rayasyaa13]

@aphesis OK, that's 930 ml - should I wake my baby 2x at night to reach it?

 

[stenerson]

@rayasyaa13 Like others have stated 100 calories per 1 kilo.

6.2×100= 620.

About 21. Oz. No less