Every baby is different.
Every mom is different.
Every doctor is different.It's important that you, as the mom, work to combine your baby's needs and your doctor's recommendations into a consistent schedule for your baby. One of the best things about bottle feeding is that we know exactly how much our babies are eating each day. Your doctor will, no doubt, have an idea of about how much your baby should be eating--and that's the first place I'd ask.
My doctor is very conservative when it comes to feeding. He thinks that fat babies grow up into fat kids and that fat kids grow up into fat adults. I have to say that I tend to agree, and so NOT overfeeding my children has always been a priority for me.
But how do you avoid overfeeding?Good question. If your babies are anything like my babies, not overfeeding is hard because every time you stick a bottle in the baby's mouth, it stops crying, eats, and goes to sleep for a little while. This basically means that your choices are a fussy, unhappy baby, or a sweet, sleeping baby. All I can tell you is that it's hard. I can't tell you how many times I heard "He needs a bottle" or "She's hungry" from someone who had no idea when the last time my child ate was or when he/she was due to eat again.
My best advice: Get your baby on a schedule. I feed mine every 3 hours and I try really hard not to feed in between feedings. Babies cry for reasons other than hunger--dirty diapers, itchy tags, being too hot, being too cold, wanting to be held, wanting to be put down...
One last thing--your baby should probably never consume more than 32 oz of formula a day. If your 3 month old is taking six 8 oz bottles day, that's probably too much. I wait to up my baby's formula intake until he/she has seemed hungrier than usual for a few days in a row--and only go up one ounce at a time. Again, talk to your doctor.
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yeah for moms who have a feeding schedule! My kids get fed every three hours...period. First of all, the idea of feeding them more often is overwhelming. Secondly, I find that babies learn to eat efficiently when they are fed on a schedule. They learn not to casually "snack". It's easy to interpret my baby's cries when they are on a schedule. Has it been 2 and a half hours...ok, they are getting hungry, but they'll have to hold out for a few more minutes. Has it been forty five minutes...ok, they need to be changed, swaddled and put to bed. Infants become stress free, errrr, at least, less stressful. I've seen many moms concerned that their children are still hungry even when their kids are chuncking up at a healthy rate. I don't get that.
ReplyDeleteMelissa-
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more!! And I'm learning that the same is true for toddlers and bedtime--we had a great, consistent nightly routine that got interrupted for 5 days in a row due to a wedding, a date, a family crisis and a birthday party. In those 5 days, my son was ruined!! We're going back to the routine this week, but it's like starting from scratch!