Formula Feeding Thread!!

[cpbride8203]

Hi girls...there were a lot of people interested in this on the WC...

From our thread there:

I thought this could be a good place for people to discuss their formula feeding problems, issues, success stories, etc. There are so many formulas out there to choose from and sometimes it is nice to hear how they have worked for others.

If you are formula feeding and haven't done so yet, go to the formula companies websites and join their clubs. They will send coupons and lots of free stuff. And if you have signed up and have coupons to share, post them here!

The websites are:

www.similac.com
www.enfamil.com
www.verybestbaby.com (Nestle Good Start)
www.brightbeginnings.com

[cpbride8203]

Last few posts from WC:

Littlebear - > Do you store the big
> batch of formula in the fridge? And what do you do
> for nighttime feedings? Do you bring the bottles up
> to bed with you or do you leave in the fridge and
> come down to fill them up when necessary?

Kelly- I actually put all of the formula into the individual bottles and store them in the fridge. My son is older so he's not doing nighttime feedings anymore, but I used to actually bring a little cooler with ice packs upstairs with the bottles that I knew he would need at night. For some reason, my son won't drink warmed bottles anymore so I don't have to worry about the heating. He just drinks them straight from the fridge. When he was smaller and would drink them warmed, I would just keep a big mug in the bathroom. When I got up for a feeding, I'd fill the mug with hot water and pop a bottle in for a few minutes to warm it a little. (I've got lots of stairs in my house so I became a pro at figuring out ways not to have run up and down the stairs in the middle of the night.)

Canaianbride - have a Q for you all:

I asked doc at Belle's 9 month appt when I can start Homo milk - he said 12 months.
The heatth nurse said 9 months, and they are usually overly-conscious.
My friends' doc said that you can start milk anytime (my MIL did at 3 months), and gave my friend the go-ahead and her son is 6 months.
??
Really wanted to get Belle used to milk now, easier when we go camping this summer - also will save me $$$$.
Belle's been eating yogurt for months, and it's milk - so why not real milk?? (I think my doc said this out of his opinion only because he didn't offer a reson why I had to wait)

Has anyone here asked their doc this?? I'm curious to hear other peoples' answers.....

[cpbride8203]

Marisa724 - CB - the best reason to wait as long as you can with regular milk is that babies who are given milk later will have less trouble digesting it and will have less chance of developing allergies and intolerances later. In addition, formula is fortified with more vitamins, iron, protein and those important fats, and cow's milk just doesn't have the same nutritional balance. Cow's milk is actually a pretty poor source of iron, so giving it too soon as the primary part of baby's diet means a risk of anemia. While bottles are the primary source of nutrition (for pretty much the entire first year), they should be formula, to make sure baby is getting all that they need.

It's good that she's doing well with yogurt, she'll likely not have too much trouble when you do make the switch. The milk proteins in yogurt are processed a little differently than those in straight milk, though, so this is why babies sometimes do well with yogurt even when cow's milk to drink upsets their tummies.

ahavnes - I have a quick question, and I apologize if it's already been addressed, but I don't have time to read the whole thread.

My DD is 4 weeks old and takes about 4 oz of Similar with Iron per day (when I can't keep up with BF during her little growth spurt). She's been taking this for about a week. The thing is, she seems to only have one poopy diaper per day, which is a drop off from when I exclusively BF. I'm sure this is b/c of the formula (iron?) but I'm wondering if it's normal or if I should switch formulas. Or does she just need time to adjust?

TIA!

[cpbride8203]

BooeyJ2 - We had bought a mini fridge for our bedroom (on sale at Home Depot for around $45) while I was pregnant for bottled water and grapes and whatnot. Now we use it for bottles and bottled water. I keep the fridge stocked with bottles and we have a cheap "The First Years" bottle warmer ($17 at BRU) on top of the fridge. Both items have been lifesavers! For under $65.00 we have a FAST, safe (I can't imagine going up and down stairs at 3am or something) and easy way to prepare bottles whenever we are upstairs. Totally worth it in our opinion Later on when we don't need to store bottles in it we will go back to using it for just bottled water, fruit, or even baby food.

littlebear - -When my son was exclusively on formula, we only had about one poopy diaper per day. I think it's pretty normal for FF babies to have fewer BMs than BF babies. As long as she doesn't seem constipated or straining, I think she's probably OK.

kellemel -
* Night feedings - I also make all the bottles at night, for the night and next day. I leave them in the fridge, and go down in the middle of the night to heat them up in a bowl of hot water (even did that when I had to let DD cry for the few minutes it took to warm it up). Now she will also eat it cold (we've traveled long car rides a few times, and I wanted her to be able to eat it cold; she got used to it very quickly). She still mostly takes them warmed-up.

* Powder or concentrate - can't help. I use ready-to-feed because we were lucky enough to get a prescription for that type from the pediatrician (because DD uses Similac Alimentum which is hypoallergenic - she was allergic to the Similac Advance).

* Cleaning bottles - I just use very hot water from the tap. My mother (who is a pediatric ICU nurse) when she visited the first week said the water was hot enough. I scrub out the bottle with the brush thing (inside and out), then rinse it thoroughly (8 times each bottle; don't ask why I settled on that number). I use a little bit of unscented dishwashing liquid in each bottle. We've been doing it this way for 5.5 months with no problems. I don't use the dishwasher because we only have about 8 bottles and I like to keep them in constant rotation - we don't use the dishwasher often enough.

* Adding solids - we just started this last week, so I'm interested to hear what people say. So far, I've been feeding her solids when I bring her home from daycare (around 5:30 or 5:45) then feed her her usual evening bottle a little later than I used to - now around 7:30, and she goes to bed at 8. It actually works better for us, because although she goes to bed later, I was having a hard time getting her to bed earlier - which I wanted to do for her sake, since she gets up at 5 no matter what, but I'm now resigned to her sleeping from 8 to 5 generally. I know it's not enough but she seems happy and hopefully she'll make up for it with naps during the day.

As for formula-feeding updates from us, we switched to the #3 nipples this morning - ate 6 oz. in 25 minutes (a huge celebration for us, since it usually takes her an hour!!). So maybe we should have switched sooner - but we'd tried the variable nipples - see a few pages back - and those didn't work well (she kept throwing up; maybe it was something else, like a stomach bug, that was just coincidental), and then I think we were shy to try again. But just the regular #3 nipples seem to be working really well (this morning was the first time we'd used them), so I'm going to buy more tonight and transition her fully to them in the next few days.

[cpbride8203]

Ok - I think that has us caught up on what we were talking about...

Let me know if there are any other links you would like in the first post.

The thread is open! :D


<< saving for more space >>

[twinnyme]

Thanks so much, cpbride8203!! This is great!

ETA: Just back to subscribe...

[jki]

Does anyone here use a toddler formula or has anyone used formula past 1 year? DS just turned one and we have been transitioning him to whole milk.... which seems to be fine but his diet is pretty bad - he hates vegetables and I'm afraid he's not getting enough nutrition. In addition, I was anemic while pregnant with him and I'm afraid he's not getting enough iron.

Any thoughts on this?

[cpbride8203]

jki - I was going to ask my ped about toddler formula when we go for Kylie's 10 month checkup next week. Really not sure about it and about the whole transitioning to milk thing.

I just got some Similac 2 coupons in the mail if anyone is interested!

[Marisa]

Does toddler formula cost the same as regular formula? Honestly if you decide to keep using formula for the added nutrition, instead of whole milk, I would rather use the infant formula. Toddler formula, for some reason, is heavy on things like corn syrup.

[jki]

I have no idea what the cost difference is between regular formula and toddler formula... we always bought formula at Costco, where they don't carry toddler formula. Does anyone here know?

I've heard that about toddler formula - that it contains corn syrup and is very high in sugar.

We have Jackson's 1 year appointment on Thursday, so I will ask the pediatrician then, but wanted to see if anyone here has any insight!

[jki]

We had our appointment with the pediatrician yesterday. She said using toddler formula is a "waste of money" in our situation because DS is 25 lbs. 8 oz. He is in the 90th %tile for weight and 100th %tile for height - if his percentiles were low, she said she might recommend continuing formula after a year.

When I brought up my concerns about DS not liking vegetables or very healthy food, she said that she would recommend a chewable multi-vitamin at 15 months, or when he gets his molars but that he is obviously growing well.

[Juniper]

I have a 17 month old and I still give him formula at night and whole milk all day. We just use the regular formula. My son is low in the percentiles though.

The milk transition was super easy for us. He loved it so much more than the formula and he drinks twice as much.

[karilynne_97]

Please tell me your experiences with Soy. DD has been on formula part time until about a week ago. Before that she was getting 3-4 bottles of formula for about 4 weeks. 2 weeks ago she started getting extremely gassy and fussy, would spit up a lot and was constipated for a few days (from what I hear that's due to the iron). Luckily, she's been pooping everyday, but it's a strange green color and is the constancy of clay; per Dr this is normal for FF babies. She's been on Good Start Supreme DHA/ARA and Dr thinks she may not be tolerating the dairy and suggested, if after a week it hasn't gotten better, to switch to Soy.

I'm really nervous to switch her, but she's been in so much pain. At her 5am feeding this morning, she was screaming like she was in pain after her bottle. I ended up laying her across my lap, on her tummy, and she eventually fell asleep. I know she's in pain; I'm just scared that the Soy will cause more pain. When she was EBF, she would get gassy if I had dairy, so I'm sure that's the culprit.

Oh, and we've switched to Dr Brown's bottles, which have helped tremendously with the spiting-up! Before we were using the Playtex Nursers.

Thanks for your help!
Kari :cool:

[linda_loo]

Does anyone here use a toddler formula or has anyone used formula past 1 year?

Both of my kids had a little formula each day, after 1 year... but by 14 months or so, none. I have read comments similar to what Marisa mentioned, that the corn syrup is a definite draw-back. That type of sweetener isn't needed, and you can get *most* of the same benefits from just plain formula.

[ez2luv]

Ha! Found this thread - so happy!!! (thanks CP) :D


Re. Anemia and Iron:
When my health Nusrse said I could put Belle (91/2 months) on whole Milk, I asked how I could be certain she was getting enough Iron.....first of all she gave me a form that states how much Iron is in baby food, and what the requiremants are etc. (I'll try to post it here somehow...?)
She also said that the most important source of Iron (besides formula) is Cereal (Pablum).
I give Belle Cereal with mixed fruit and it has added Iron in it.
She said that when the are eating a variety of foods, the added vitamins in formula aren't necessary.
Since Belle eats cereal, fruits, veggies, breads, meats, dairy - milk is the next step....

[jki]

Just wanted to bump this thread up.

Did anyone's baby get really constipated when they switched from BF to FF? DD has been super constipated.... I'm thinking formula is the culprit. We tried a suppository - but the only thing that came out was a suppository!

[curlywig]

jki: Did you try holding her bottom closed for a couple minutes to give the suppository time to dissolve? You probably did, so other than that, I'm no help. DS did go about 3 or so days w/o a poop when we first started formula.

Is she constipated (hard, marble-like stool) or she just hasn't gone poop in a number of days?

[jki]

curlywig:
Yup, we tried holding her bottom closed.... she screamed bloody murder the entire time! It was awful. Poor thing - she is SO miserable! She is definitely constipated.... she pooped a tiny bit today and it was a pretty hard piece of stool. :( Any other tips? BTW - DD is also SUPER, super gassy. Her farts smell SO bad and she has giant burps that seem to rip through her body!

[cgmom313]

jki- I dont have any suggestions on the constipation. My dd has been on formula since day 3 and have been lucky that she is quite the pooper. However she had have some problems with a lot of Gas and it sometime really made her fussy. Have you every tried the Mycolin Gas Drops? You can give it to them via mouth or add to the bottle. I have added it to the bottle at night and seems to really help with gas.

Good Luck!

[daphne]

jki My son's ped had me give my son some pear juice when he was constipated. I also gave him a little extra water. I'd check w/your daughter's ped to see what s/he recommends...

[SaphirimalMei]

Signing up...
I think I was a member of this thread on WC, but my brain is so addled that I can't honestly remember :p

about us:
Me - Marisa
DD - Jillian
Tried (REALLY REALLY HARD) to BF, but my milk never came in despite all interventions including pumping like mad, teas, oatmeal, tinctures w/ fenugreek, etc. Even a Rx for Reglan didn't do the trick. So we started supplementing and when my poor bbs gave up entirely around 4 weeks, DD was FF full-time.

Formula: Enfamil Lipil
Bottles: Dr Browns
Jilly has been on Enfamil Lipil for the most part with a brief stint on Good Start. Given that I found DD was more gassy and had alarmingly blue/green poo on the Good Start, we went back to Enfamil. Jilly has been doing GREAT! She is a happy healthy little girl and is absolutely thriving on formula.

5 1/2 month stats:
26.5 inches long
15lbs 6oz

[tgray99]

I'm signing on too.

Me - Tara
DD - Aidan (10 weeks)
I also tried to BF. I would feed her all day and all night and she would still cry for more. I tried pumping, my milk looked like skim milk. Aidan was definitely not getting enough to eat. We supplemented her at the hospital because she was dehydrated and desperately wanted to exclusively BF her once we got home. After a week of screaming we started supplementing, BFing and giving her EBM. Nothing worked. So, we put her on formula solely. She's fat and happy. I'm glad that she got some of my antibodies for a little while and I'm glad that she's happy now.

Now I can't imagine BFing. I go out shopping, running errands, seeing friends and I can feed her anywhere. I get single serve tubes of powdered formula and carry a bottle of water with me so I can make her a bottle anywhere. Mixed one up today in Linens N Things!

[sabrinag]

Gassy/Spitting Up/Not Burping:

I'd like to join!

Me: Sabrina, 27
DS: Logan, DOB 6/10/05 and DD: Madison, DOB 6/10/05

Formula: Similac Advance

Bottles: Playtex Nursers with drop-in liners

Amount we feed/they eat: We give them 5 ounces at each feeding and we feed 6 times per day. They don't always finish the botles so Logan averages 27 ounces/day and Madison is about 23-25 ounces/day. Logan weighs 9 lbs. 2 ounces and Madison is 7 lbs. 13 onces (As of last week)

The twins will be 6 weeks on Friday. They are both growing but are very gassy and spit up. Logan hates to burp and has been this way since birth. He also can projectile after or during a feeding quite a bit. I'd say he does this once every other day, sometimes less sometimes more. Madsion has a hard time finishing her bottle and will do lots of bodily contortions, take breaks and make weird sounds during the last 3 ounces (is this normal??).

I am going to try the Mylicon drops I think but should I also consider changing formula or bottles? We got the Playtex nursers because the pediatrician said that the drop-ins decrease gas. And as for Sy formula, I'm not sure if we are candidates or not (?)

[Chylynn]

sabrinag -Hi there! Wow, twins- you definately have your hands full. :D

My DD went through the whole spitting up thing about 2 months ago (she is on Similac Advance with iron) and I mentioned it to my pediatrician. She advised me to multiply my DD birth weight by 2 1/2 and that is around the amount of formula she should be getting every day. I had no idea I was overfeeding her! Now, she eats about 27 oz a day and is a happy camper. I would try that before I switched formulas.

Good luck!!!

[tgray99]

Aidan is eating Enfamil Lipil with Iron but it's getting too expensive so I want to change to generic. Anyone have any idea what the generic equivalent to Enfamil Lipil with iron is?

TIA!

[linda_loo]

tgray99 - were you the mom who was asking about generics in another thread? http://www.storebrandformula.com/ is the website for the generic manufacturer. Here's the Walmart cow milk w/iron comparision chart:

http://www.storebrandformula.com/04s_parentschoice.html#milk

[cgmom313]

I have posted in here but would like to offically join.

Me - Amy - 35
DD - Catherine Grace 3/13/05

Formula - Enfamil Lipil w/ Iron

My DD has had formula since about day2 (Supplementing in hospital). I had a horrible time with BF (Lots of issues) and I struggled with the decision but it was the best one I made. And in reality I kept trying till about day 7 or 8 and my milk really never came in and since she was so big she wanted some food.

Bottles - Playtex Ventair and we also use Advent bottles as well. Stage 1 nipple. Thinking of trying the Stage 2 again. Tried them a few weeks ago and she was choking on the milk, but recently she looks like Stage 1 is too slow.

Amount we feed/eat - Well my dd is a big girl. Just had her 4 month wbv and she is 19 lbs and 25 inches long. She is in the 98% percentile. She eats about 6oz a formula every 3- 4 hours and she does STTN from about 9p or so to anywhere between 6-7a. Doctor said she is fine and eating a good amount. She said we can start her on cereal whenever we want. So we will proabably start around 5 mths or so. Some days she spits up more than others so we have stuck with this formula.

[tgray99]

tgray99 - were you the mom who was asking about generics in another thread? http://www.storebrandformula.com/ is the website for the generic manufacturer. Here's the Walmart cow milk w/iron comparision chart:

http://www.storebrandformula.com/04s_parentschoice.html#milk
Yep, that's me! Thanks for the info!

[Pookie]

Me: 27
DS: Ryan 3/15/05
Formula: Enfamil with Lipil
Bottles: I think we have just about every kind.
I tried really hard to BF, but DS totally refused. I also had a few medical issues for the first 3 weeks where I had to pump and dump.

[jess&dan]

Signing up. I was apart of the one over on the WC.

Me: Jess 23
DS: Nathan 6 months

Formula: Enfamil Lipil

Bottles: Playtex Ventaire

Amount: He's just reduced each bottle because of getting solids, so he's now doing 4 oz. in the morning (2 of that is in his cereal...he's not a morning eater), 6 oz. at 11:30 and 3:30, and then 8 oz. before bed. He also gets another 2 oz. in his cereal at night.

[hub1176]

Can I join?

Me - Kate 28
DD - Rhiley 7W
Bottles - Avent (not sure I like them)DD seems so gassy.

I tried so hard to BF but DD would not latch and 2 LC's couldn't get her to. Supply was never an issue for me and she was fed EBM for 6 weeks but unless all I want to do is pump I couldn't keep up. So now we're doing Similac Advanced with Iron but I think we may switch to a generic brand - I've heard good things about Target's formula.

[njnewyearsbride]

how do i get out the formula stains on clothing???

[tgray99]

I like Dreft stain remover in a spray bottle. Oxyclean works good too. They make a Baby Oxyclean but I doubt it's any different than regular Oxyclean.

[jess&dan]

I use the Dreft spray also and that has been working great so far.

[KGif]

How many times a day does your formula fed baby have a BM? What does it look like? I am sorry if this is all TMI but I really want to see if there is anyone else out there dealing with this....

Jack is 9 weeks old. Up until last week he was very regular ... 1 bm a day and it was always brown and pasty. Then all of a sudden last Thursday he starts having this yellow very loose runny stool. And it's about 8 times a day! Every diaper change - there it is! I called the advice nurse on this twice already. She said that as long as he is not dehydrated (he's not, he's actually more drooly then I've ever seen him) and he doesn't have a fever (nope) then he's fine for now. She said maybe a stomach bug going thru him. She said I could give him pedialyte if I had some on hand just to make sure he doesn't dehydrate ... but other then that to watch it and call if it's still going on in 7 - 10 days. It's been six days so far. I just can't believe one little guy can poop so much! Has anyone else experienced anything like this!?!?

[Brady]

Hmm.. Kgif , I'm no expert... but it def. sounds like diarrahea (sp). My son has had pretty much 1 bm a day since we switched to formula.

I'm surprised the nurse didn't really have any other advice. Does your son seem any different behavior-wise? Still drinking the same amount?

[littlebear]

Teething possibly although it sounds really early for it?? My son usually has 1-2 BMs per day. They're actually pretty solid now that he's eating some food too, but when he's teething his BMs are a little more frequent (3-4/day) and looser. With that frequency of BM, I would make an appointment to see the ped and bring a dirty diaper with you. They can test the stool sample.

[njnewyearsbride]

how many bottles do you have? i feel like im constantly making and cleaning bottles!

[littlebear]

6 8 oz and 6 4 oz. We don't really use the 4 oz anymore. We used them more in the beginning. Since he's down to 5 bottles, I only wash bottles once per day.

[myshel]

DS is currently 5 days old. Due to some latching issues, we've been using both formula and EBM to feed DS. He seems to tolerate this pretty well. The hospital sent us home with 8 small bottles (think 4 oz size) of ready to feed formula. That is now gone and we've been using the powdered single serve packets that came w/ the Similac diaper bag from the hospital.

My question is this: which formula style (powdered, ready to feed, or liquid concentrate) did you use at this age? Which did your DC tolerate best? Which seems to be the "best deal?" Thanks!

[catmom]

How do you get formula coupons? I signed up on the similac webpage, but is there something else I should try?

Also, is there someplace that has particularly good prices on formula?

Thanks!

[Brady]

bottles: We have about 3-4? We use the playtex nursers, so the bottle itself just gets a quick rinse and we just soak the nipples in hot soapy water after every feeding.

Myshel- the powdered formula is the most cost-savings. When my son was that age, we use using the ready to use, only because that is what the hospital had given us to supplement with, so we were just using the "left-overs" at that stage. When I switched to FF full-time at 12 weeks, we used (and still use) the powdered formula. A lot of the time he doesn't finish a bottle, so it's such a waste if you are using the more expensive, ready to feed. I feel less guilty throwing away the powdered.

Catmom- If you plan to just use Similac, signing up there should do the trick. I signed up on Similac, Enfamil and Nestle just in case I was to switch.. and now my friends and I all swap coupons (they also signed up on all).

[KGif]

littlebear - So weird -- I thought it might be teething b/c he just started to drool when all this started happening too! I know it's early, but I do have a few friends whose babies started teething at 2 and 1/2 months!

Brady - No, he's not acting any different. He's just as smiley as ever and more smiley each day! It doesn't seem to be bothering him at all!

[cgmom313]

Bottles - I have 6 - 8oz bottles. I use Playtex ventair bottles. I also had some 6oz bottles but I don't use them anymore. I wash and clean them once a day fill them up and put in the fridge.

Formula - I use Enfimal Lipil with Iron Powered formula. I agree with Brady, I feel less guilty when I need to throw a few ounces down the drain that my dd doesn't finish.

Coupons/Price - If you signed up on the website you should begin getting the coupons. The best price I found is at Babies R Us. I get a large can of Enfimal for 19.89. Most other places is around 20.00 or so. Always watch the sale ads. For example, one time Target had it on sale for 19.00. I have heard that the generic brands are just the same and cost less, but my DD has done so well on this formula and I always have a coupon and I shop for sales, I think I will just keep her on it.

[Brady]

I meant to comment on the best price question..

I agree with CGmom-, BRU has the best price, although here it's $21.29 for the Enfamil. Walmart has it for $21.32. lol. Target is a few pennies higher than Walmart...

[hub1176]

How do you know if your child is having problems with the formula? DD has the worst gas and is constantly straining to the point her face gets purple and hot. She has 1 BM a day - but you would think there would be more with all the grunting/groaning and straining. BM seems sticky - and dark green. She also seems to spit up alot -

She will be 2 months old August 1 and I believe she is about 10 lbs - how many ounces should we be doing at a feeding? We seem to have gotten in to a habit where sometimes it's 3 hours between feedings other times it's an 1 or 1.5 and she's crying.

[Jodi AKA BostonTeacher]

Joining the thread (with my whole 5 days of mom experience I admit I will be more of a question-asker than an answer for awhile).

Formula: Similac Advance (it's what the hospital started us on and it seems to work well)

Questions:

Have you noticed a difference between the ready-to-use and the powdered formula?

DS is doing really well on the r-t-f and I'm hesitant to tamper with that.

If you use powdered formula what kind of water do you mix with it?

Are there any things that need to be taken into consideration such as the age of the house/pipes? Should I boil water or use filtered or bottled water?

What have you learned from your bottle/nipple experiments?

We had been using the samples that the hospital gave us with the matching disposable nipples. They worked great for DS. We ran out yesterday and DH prepared a Ventaire bottle. It took DS 45 minutes to suck down a 1/2 ounce. DH then made up a Playtex Nurser with a Drop in Liner and the formula came out so fast that it was running all down DS face. The poor thing was fussy and cranky for the next 9 hours...and his poor parents didn't get to sleep until 3 a.m. I think that maybe too much air got into his tummy or something b/c the only thing that was different was the bottle/nipple.

[njnewyearsbride]

we're currently using similac advanced soy -- and i reall want to switch over to the milk-based...

whats the best way? should i alternate bottles? mix the two?

[allyray231]

njnewyearsbride -we tryed the soy for a while to help with DS reflux-we just mixed it

Formula -Similac with Iron but we are going to try the Efimil AR to see if it helps with his reflux

hub1176 -they say 2.5 ounces per lbs. How much is you little one getting a feeding? are you sure she is hungry when she is crying after an hour? does she use a pacifier?

[curlywig]

JODI:

Have you noticed a difference between the ready-to-use and the powdered formula?

We've never used RTF, so I can't weigh in on that. We use Nestle GS Supreme FWIW. It mixes pretty well and isn't bubbly like the Similac powder was.

If you use powdered formula what kind of water do you mix with it?

Are there any things that need to be taken into consideration such as the age of the house/pipes?

Per our ped, if we have no reason to believe we have faulty pipes, or concerns with the water, we're fine. Just use tap water. Although I was boiling for a while in the beginning. Since I make formula once daily, it's not hard.

Should I boil water or use filtered or bottled water? I've read that if you're not diligent with changing your filter, the filtered water can be worse than tap. My DS seems to be doing fine with tap.

What have you learned from your bottle/nipple experiments?

We started using Avent bottles with the slowest nipples and DS sucked down the formula so fast we had to do things to slow him down. I'd say, the slower the better especially since your baby is so young. When DS got to the point that he'd fall asleep rather than eating, we went to the next stage nipple. Even so, it took him a couple bottles to figure out it was faster, then he got the hang of it. We now use Dr. Brown's wide neck bottles. DS has been very gassy, and they seem to help.


HTH!

[cynder]

Have you noticed a difference between the ready-to-use and the powdered formula?
Not really. We used RTU formula for our supplements in the hospital and they gave us a few boxes when we left. DS did not seem to bothered when we ran out of those and swtiched to the powder. They are supposed to be the same except RTU is more $$ b/c it is premade.

If you use powdered formula what kind of water do you mix with it? Are there any things that need to be taken into consideration such as the age of the house/pipes? Should I boil water or use filtered or bottled water?
I was never told to use any special water but we went to Sam's Club and bought a bunch of bottled water and use that. It's nice to have in the diaper bag and a tin of formula when you want to make a fresh bottle on the fly.

What have you learned from your bottle/nipple experiments?
We were using the latex nipples and bottles in the hospital but I want DS to get used to the Avent bottles so we transitioned him at week 2. The newborn nipple seemed to flow more but at this small age, all the nipples seemed to flow too much. Our LC recommended a slow flow nipple and I got Avent's slow flow nipple from Target. He dribbled less but not much. It improved with time. DS never really got fussy gas pain so can't help you there.

[SaphirimalMei]

Have you noticed a difference between the ready-to-use and the powdered formula?
The only difference in our experience other than the $ is that it causes more stains.

If you use powdered formula what kind of water do you mix with it? Are there any things that need to be taken into consideration such as the age of the house/pipes? Should I boil water or use filtered or bottled water? I have heard that it is not crucial, but better to boil the water from the tap. Something in the water that may be perfectly fine for adults could potentially be hard on baby's sensitive, new tummy. So...We boil our water. I believe the Pediatrician said it is best for the water to be at a rolling boil for a few minutes, but not to overdo it. I keep Jilly's boiled water in a sun tea jar on the counter so i can easily measure out how many oz i need. When going out on the town or to daycare, i fill up a plastic water bottle with the boiled water. Very Handy ;)

What have you learned from your bottle/nipple experiments?
I have learned that it's not easy to determine a baby's sucking habits right away :p We tried several bottles/nipples, before we found one that worked for DD.

[tgray99]

Have you noticed a difference between the ready-to-use and the powdered formula?

We used RTF when we left the hospital and when we ran out of it we used powder. Aidan never noticed a difference. We recently switched to Bright Beginnings from Enfamil and we haven't noticed any kind of difference with that either.

If you use powdered formula what kind of water do you mix with it?

I just use tap and haven't had any problems. Our families try to guilt us into using bottled so when we're at any of their houses we use bottled. The only difference I've noticed between types of water is that when we use warm tap water she tends to drift off to sleep after her bottle easier than when we use cool water.

What have you learned from your bottle/nipple experiments?

We use Avent bottles (the 9 oz size) and nipples (a #1 nipple right now). I accidentally fed her once with a #2 nipple and the child nearly drowned! ;) I realized what I did and put her back on a #1. I personally REALLY like the Avent bottles and so do a lot of other mom friends of mine. You might want to pick one up at the store to do a test run on it...if I recall a single bottle and nipple aren't too expensive.

Good luck!

[Brady]

Hi Jodi!
Have you noticed a difference between the ready-to-use and the powdered formula?

Yeah, ready to use is more expensive! We supplemented with ready to feed from the hospital, and when it ran out, just went right to powder. No difference. We mix it with tap water, bottled if we are out and about. The Ped. told us there was no need to boil (not sure if it depends on where you live though, so may be worth just checking with your ped.)

What have you learned from your bottle/nipple experiments?

I hate the Ventaire's.. some of my friend's LOVE them, but most have said you need to get the next flow nipple as the starter one is super slow. But, that said- when he was a newborn, my son alternated between an Avent, but mostly used the Playtex nursers. DO you have the slow flow nipple? We still use that nipple today at almost 5 months. I never use the Avent anymore. The nursers work best for us! (and if you do use them, as a tip- the generic bottle liners work just as well, and save a pretty penny!)

Good Luck and Congrats again!
Lisa

[Chylynn]

First off, congratulations!!!

Another Similac Advance with Iron user here...

Have you noticed a difference between the ready-to-use and the powdered formula?

No difference here, either! RTU Formula is more expensive (we have 8 cases and 20 8oz cans in our hurricane stash, but we got it for free from a friend of mine that works in a pediatricians office). We were using RTU Formula from the hospital and switched over to powder and DD never noticed.

If you use powdered formula what kind of water do you mix with it?
We boil tap water whenever we make bottles. I know a lot of people don't boil water, but our DD has a metobolic disorder and we have to take extra percautions not to get her sick, so our pediatrician recommended we boil the water everytime we make bottles.

What have you learned from your bottle/nipple experiments?

Another Avent user- it works great with our DD, but I know a lot of people use Dr. Browns if their DC is gassy. We have 4 4oz and 5 9oz bottles. We make our bottles all at once at night after DD has gone to sleep. We pour the formula into individual bottles, so during the day, I don't need to pour anything into the bottles, just grab and go. Works out great for us!

One item I love, and has made cleaning bottles easy, is the Avent Bottle Sterilizer:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000056OUH.01.PT01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
$29.99

It is great- you put a little water on the bottom of the container, place 4 bottles, caps, and nipples (we also put our DD's pacifiers in too)in the container, pop it into the microwave for 4 minutes and your bottles are steralized! It also comes with 4 9oz bottles (product packaging says 2 bottles, but mine and a friends came with 4) if you need extra bottles, so basically you are only paying $10 for the sterilizer and $20 for the bottles!

Let us know if you have any other questions!

[cgmom313]

Have you noticed a difference between the ready-to-use and the powdered formula? Just like everybody else said is the $$$ Cost factor. We use Enfimal Lipil w/ Iron and has worked fine for DD. But just like Chylnn I have some RTU formula in our hurricane stash, and if we hopefully dont need to use it by the end of the season, I will use up so it doesn't go bad. Us Floridians have to be prepared, especially after last season.

If you use powdered formula what kind of water do you mix with it? My Ped said it is not necessary to boil, but we have filter water on our fridge and since the baby came we make sure to change it every 6 months like is says. We didn't use to do that before she came along.

What have you learned from your bottle/nipple experiments? I learned just when you think it is ok to move to the stage 2 nipple it's not. My DD is 4.5 months old and is still ok on stage one. We are a Playtex Ventaire and an Advent User. Either one works for my DD. I also make them at night and pour into the bottle to have ready for the next day.

Chylnn - That Bottle steamer does look quite handy. My need to pick one up since she uses advent bottles.

[Chylynn]

cgmom313 -What I love about the avent sterilizer is you can use other bottles in it. I don't think Dr. Brown's bottles fit, but most others do!

Where do you live in Florida??

[allyray231]

I use the avent sterilizer when I have a few to do--but usually I boil them on the stove

[curlywig]

cgmom313 -What I love about the avent sterilizer is you can use other bottles in it. I don't think Dr. Brown's bottles fit, but most others do!


Actually, I now use the wideneck Dr. Brown's bottles which are roughly the same size as the Avents (a bit taller though). They fit in the sterilizer at an agle (shown in a diagram in the instructions). Big plus!!

[hub1176]

hub1176 -they say 2.5 ounces per lbs. How much is you little one getting a feeding? are you sure she is hungry when she is crying after an hour? does she use a pacifier?[/QUOTE]

Ally She takes from 2.5 to 4 oz a feeding. We did start using a pacificer (even though we didn't want to!) because a while back we realized we were overfeeding her (she had 30 oz in a 12 hour period!!) and she sometimes just needs to suck. We have our 2 month appt on Tuesday (shots :( )and hoepfully I can get some answers from the dr. How did you know your DS had reflux? Does he take medication for it? My niece had to take Prevecid and do Soy formula.

Bottles: We use the Avent but even on the slowest nipple it seems like she dribbles constantly. We only have the 4 oz size so when we get the bigger bottles I will probably get a few different brands to see what works best.

Formula: We started out on the Similac RTF from the hospital but at the time I was also giving her mostly EBM so we didn't notice any problems. On the powdered Similac Advanced with Iron it seemed like she had gas all the time and trouble having a BM - also when you mix it seems like half the bottle is foam. We are using the Nestle Good Start Supreme and so far I think she likes it better - she had 2 BM's yesterday without all the straining and groaning that we had been noticing. We did have 2 major spit-ups with the Good Start - but that could be me overfeeding.... :o

Water: I was told that boiling water is not necessary so we just do tap - for the middle of the night feeding we just mix and go feed her - we were premixing and using a cooler to keep bottles cold then warming the bottle but by the time it wasn't freezing she was wide awake and screaming!

Steralizing bottles: I thought you only had to do this the first time and then hot soapy water after? I use the yellow rubber gloves so I can have the water all the way on hot.

[allyray231]

We knew he had reflux becuase he was spitting up A LOT and having choking and coughing episodes. DS uses a pacifier too becuase if we didnt the kid would sometimes eat all day. However if he eats and I give him the pacifier and he is screaming he gets more

I think that is fine--somestimes DS takes 3 1/2-sometimes 4-last night he wanted 5. There is rule as to how much your little one should take-just go by thier clues. Like my doc said -you won't starve them!

[Chylynn]

Actually, I now use the wideneck Dr. Brown's bottles which are roughly the same size as the Avents (a bit taller though). They fit in the sterilizer at an agle (shown in a diagram in the instructions). Big plus!!

I had no idea!! That is wonderful. I have heard really good things about Dr. Brown's bottles, but I have never tried them myself. Now, I just might try one!!

[curlywig]

Chylynn: If you do, only the widenecks fit in the sterilizer. The narrow neck bottles, while they have the same anti-gas features, have a MUCH narrower, smaller nipple and the bottles themselves are taller and skinnier. Not sure if that's an issue for you or not. Plus, while the bottles do seem to help DS's gas, they are a bit of a pain to lean. HTH!

:)

[Jodi AKA BostonTeacher]

We've been continuing with "the great bottle experiment of 2005."

Ventaire: took DS 45 minutes to finish an ounce. Hated Them!

Playtex Drop in Nursers: Liked the easy -to -clean feature, but disliked the fact that we could never really tell how much he was drinking. Also, we had to try 3 nipples before settling on one that was OK. Didn't Care for them!

Evenflo: formula 'poured out of it' Hated Them!

Dr. Brown's: We just started using these at his last feature. They were a PITA to wash initially which leads me to beleive they will be a PITA to wash always. However, as DH said, "I would rather spent 30 minutes a day washing bottles and have a happy baby than 5 minutes washing and spending 5 hours up with a fussy baby."

In an ironic twist DS burped more and actually spit up after using the Dr. B bottle. He never spit up prior. We'll see how they work in future feedings.

[cynder]

I made our usual bottle of formula last night for our midnight feeding but we decided we would only give it if he woke up since he is reliably gaining weight these days. Well the little guy slept until 6:30. The bottle was out all last night. Can I still use it. DH put it in the fridge this morning.

[catmom]

Hi, ladies... I have a quick question regarding formula-poop. DD gets about 12 oz a day of formula in addition to breastmilk, and her poop this morning had little tiny curds in it. Is this normal?

Also, what kind of water to you use to mix formula? I have been just boiling my tap water and using that.

[allyray231]

cynder -I would toss it-they say it stays good for an hour-a night is too long

[cynder]

her poop this morning had little tiny curds in it. Is this normal?

Totally normal. Unless it's black or has blood, you should not be concerned. We feed DS 4 oz of formula a day and we see a variety of things week to week in terms of color, smell, frequency, texture, etc.

We used bottled water. I went to Sam's club and bought a huge pallet of water.

[cgmom313]

Chylnn - I live in St. Augustine, FL

Jodi - Ack on the bottle experiement. I have heard good things on the Dr. Browns, but also heard they are a PITA to clean, however I agree if the make your DC happy then it is worth the extra cleaning. It looks like you have tried many so all I can say I hope you find one that you both like.

Cynder - I agree with allray and to toss the bottle. They say you should only leave a bottle out no longer than 1 hour.

Catmom - You should have no concern with the poop. My DD is FF only and she sometimes has runny poop, curdle poop, light poop. You name it she has had it. Unless it is black or blood should be no concern. Ok too much poop in this response. :rolleyes:

Water - We use the filter water out of the fridge to mix the formula. Some peds say you should boil, others dont. I think it depends on your area and your water supply. My ped advised not necessary to boil. We have used the filter water from the fridge from Day 1. We are just going to change the filter more often than we used to before DD got here. We used to only change once a year, but it says to change every 6 months so that is what we are going to do.

[Sasha]

Hi girls,

Wanting to join your thread and hoping someone might be able to answer this question. First my info:

Me - Sasha
DD - Sarah, born 5-16-05
Formula - Enfamil AR

I very much wanted to BF Sarah and she did get 2 months of BM and EBM, but for a variety of reasons, I was pretty much forced into stopping and going the formula route. It was a tough decision for me but all is good now.

DD has severe reflux (she gets Prevacid daily) and we had been giving her Nutramigen mixed with rice cereal to thicken it. Nutramigen is riduclously expensive, we kept having to mutilate nipples for the rice cereal to flow through, causing all sorts of problems, and we were concerned she was gaining weight too quickly because of the rice cereal, so I recently switched her to the Enfamil AR, which is for reflux babies. I have a question about what kind of nipple to use for it - because it is so thick, it sometimes clogs the nipple and sometimes it takes DD forever to finish her bottle. Does anyone know if you are supposed to use the tri-cut nipples for Enfamil AR or are you supposed to use regular nipples? We have been using Playtex Nurser bottles, but I am thinking about switching to Avent bottles once she is ready for Stage 2. If anyone is familiar with Enfamil AR, I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thanks!

[SaphirimalMei]

I have heard good things on the Dr. Browns, but also heard they are a PITA to clean They take a little extra time, but they're not too bad. The Playtex VentAire bottles were a MUCH bigger PITA in my opinion :p So, for us, the switch to Dr B's was a huge step up in ease of use & cleaning :)

RE: Lipil AR We occasionally will use this formula for DD when she seems extra spit-uppy and we have found that stage 1 nipples are almost impossible to use with that formula, and stage 3 is way too fast. but stage 2 is a happy medium although they will occasionally still get clogged.

good luck! :)

[usafwife]

Hi everyone. My DD is a month old now. We've been using a combination of formula and breast milk. However she's getting more formula than breast milk for a variety of reasons (namely my supply is not that well and I think getting lower with each passing day :( . Plus we took a little trip and DD decided she didn't want to nurse and only took a bottle during those few days.).

Anyway, we switched formulas and found out that was NOT a good thing. So no more Similac for us. We will stick with the Enfamil LIPIL that they had her on at the hospital. We use the powdered right now. We've gotten a few cans of the concentrated to try.

Water ~ We use distilled water. We asked my SIL and that's what she said to use. I would never use our tap water as it's horrible. We have a filter on the faucet just so we can stomach to drink the water ourselves.

How much formula should a 9 lb, 7 oz. baby be eating?

[SaphirimalMei]

How much formula should a 9 lb, 7 oz. baby be eating? The general calculation is (weight) x 2.5oz. That means that your DD should get roughly 24oz of formula per day :)

[Chylynn]

Welcome to our newest members, Sasha and usafwife!

Sasha -Per our nutritionists request, our DD has been getting 1tbs of rice cereal in her bottle since 6 weeks (we just weaned her off this past Friday) and we were having the same problems with the milk getting clogged in the holes. We went with the Avent Variable Flow Nipple and we don't have the problem anymore. We still use it without the cereal because now DD is used to her milk flowing out without any work on her part. It has raised lines on the bottom of the nipple (1 line is like the #2 nipple, 2 lines is like the #3 nipple and 3 lines is like the #4 nipple).

http://store.babycenter.com/MEDIA/ProductCatalog/1210_104282_md.jpg

The natural shape and anti-collapsible tip of this silicone nipple allow your baby to alternate easily between breast and bottle. An adjustable slot lets you vary the flow to suit your baby's needs with a simple turn of the bottle. The fast-flow position is recommended for babies 6 months and older.

usafwife -If you calculated 2 1/2 oz per pound, that is a good rule of thumb as to how much formula each day your DC should have. In your case, I think 24oz would be perfect for your DD! I Hope your DD doesn't have anymore problems with the formula!

[Jodi AKA BostonTeacher]

How much formula should a 9 lb, 7 oz. baby be eating?

The general rule of thumb is 2.5 ounces per pound. Since your DD is almost 10 pounds you would multiply 10 X 2.5. However, I'm finding DS drinks one amount at one feeding and a different amount at the next.

[Sasha]

Chylynn - I just bought a Avent Naturally bottle - is that the same as the AVent Variable Flow nipple? Thank you so much for all the info, and also thanks to SaphirimalMie.

[Chylynn]

Sasha- I have the Avent Naturally bottles, too. If you want the variable flow nipples, you can purchase a two pack at BRU for around $4. I have not seen this nipple at Target, Walmart or Publix. I believe the Avent Naturally bottles come with a size 1 nipple. Let me know if you have any other questions and how it works out for you! :D

[usafwife]

SaphirimalMei ~ Thanks for the information.

Chylynn ~ Thanks for the welcome and the info.

Jodi ~ Thanks as well. My DD tends to eat different amounts at each feeding as well.

She usually eats between 3 and 6 oz. at each feeding. Sometimes she will eat all 6 oz. at a time, go to sleep for hours and then wake up and be quite happy. Other times she will be quite happy with 3 oz. or 4 oz. And other times she will take 1.5 oz. And sometimes the time between each feeding varies too. I don't know how much she gets when she nurses though. I estimate that it's no more than 3 oz (and that was probably only at the beginning) at a time. She usually will nurse for an hour at a time.

When do you introduce the rice cereal? I know that my friend's baby who was born in late January (Jan. 28th) was eating the rice cereal when they were visiting over Memorial Day Weekend. So I assume that it's sometime around 3 months.

Nipples/Bottles ~ We are using the Vent Aire ones with the Stage 1 nipples. And we've had no problems what so ever. DD hardly ever burps with them. Sometimes she will be that is few and far in between times. We have a few other bottles but we always seem to go for the Vent Aire ones.

[SAMIKE32700]

Hi!! I'm new to this thread and will be reading up on it. Ds is 10 days old and I tried breastfeeding but as soon as the milk came in he didn't want nothing to do with the breast.

We have him on the Enfamil Prosobee Lipil. He seems to like it. We also buy the cans that need to be mixed with water. Dh doesn't like the powder. He finds the cans to be easier.

[Chylynn]

SAMIKE32700 -Welcome and Congratulations on the birth of your Son!!!

[cgmom313]

Welcome to all the new members. I love this thread, I think you will find it very helpful.

Amount of Formula - I agrea with everyone else with calculation with the weight.

When do you introduce the rice cereal? There will be various opions on this subject. Every Ped will tell you something different. Many of the books will tell you what signs to look for as queues of when to introduce cereal. (Holding head up, tongue thrust, etc.)Some people put in the bottle first for nutrional/health reasons/sleeping through the night. My DD is 4.5 months and we just started her on cereal with a spoon. At my 4 mth wbv my ped said to start her at anytime. She is a big girl for her age and holds her head up with no problems. She is doing quite well and finishes every spoonful.

usawife - We also use the ventair bottles since the beginning and she still uses stage one. My DD loves them. Just a tip on those bottles, makes sure you use a bottle brush to scrub the rubber inserts at the bottom. I noticed that one of them were clogged with dryed up formula (I clean & sterlize them really well everyday) and I just noticed that this one just stank :rolleyes: It was because of the dried formula in it. So we make sure we rinse them real good after every use and then I clean/sterlize.

SAMIKE32700 - The cans are easier but more $$. Tell you DH to go to the store to pu some formula, I bet he changes his mind :D That is exactly what happened to my DH. He kept saying we are just using the cans, then I sent him out the first time to buy formula he came home with the powder. :p Men!!!

Ok ... I think I got everything. Have a great day ladies.

[Sasha]

We tried the Avent bottle last night, it came with a Stage 2 nipple. It immediately went dribbling down her face and neck :rolleyes:. So back to the Playtex nursers we go. At what age should you try a Stage 2 nipple?

[Brady]

Sasha- What's funny is last week I bought some Avent stage 2 nipples as I wanted to try to give my son 8oz at a feeding and knew the Avent bottle would be easy to measure it in. Well, like you I put the bottle near his mouth and he was soon covered in it. Needless to say, that lasted a half a second and we were back to the Playtex Nursers. So, I guess I don't have an answer. I had chose the stage 2 Avents as it had stated on package "3+ months!". Mmhmm. I don't know.. he still just uses the slow flow Playtex nipples, it takes him about 20 minutes to drink 6oz, so I guess why mess with it? It's not like we are spending half the morning trying to get him to eat, so I'll guess we'll stick with this until he's really ready for the 8oz at a time or if he seems frustrated. Neither thing is happening now, so we'll stick with what works.

solids We gave the rice cereal a whirl about a week or so ago (he was about 4.5 months), he mostly just played with it and wanted to hold the spoon and do it himself, so you can imagine how well this went over... :o but it was fun to watch. He got a little better the next couple feedings (we were just doing once a day), and I tried oatmeal a couple days ago. I'll fully admit it's more for my amusement at this stage of the game... he def. likes to eat the spoon, but not sure how much he actually *likes* the cereal. lol. So, we are not really consistent with it yet.. just doing a little hear and there and I probably will start on the veggies at 6 months. My Ped. recommends veggies before fruit... but you'll hear differently from most every Ped.

L.

[usafwife]

cgmom313 ~ We have a bottle brush that we use to wash out the bottles after each feeding. I've noticed that sometimes the formula will build up on the inserts at the bottom as well. It usually washes away if I scrub them really good. If not I let them sit in some water for a little while to soak. Thanks for the information about the rice cereal.

Did any of you start out breast feeding and didn't continue for whatever reason? I really want/wanted breast feeding to work but after all the problems we have I just don't know whether it's worth it or not. First problem was that I was so exhausted after labor and delivery that I didn't feel comfortable nursing her. I'd been up since 1 am and had gotten just two hours of sleep prior to that. Add the shakiness I had on top of the exhuastion and it just wasn't a good thing. The next day I was still very tired as well. I did attempt to nurse her that night/next day. Things went pretty good for the most part. She didn't really latch on all that well (mainly just took the nipple and a small (tiny) amount of the areola. She has such sucking strength that I'm usually sore/tender after she would get done. Then for a few days she just wouldn't hardly suck. I'm trying to get back to doing more breast feeding but not sure it's going to work out.

[Jodi AKA BostonTeacher]

BOTTLE UPDATE: The Doctor Brown's seem to be working out OK for us. He ironically has been spitting up since (he never did before that), but he seems much more comfortable after eating and between meals than he did before using them. They are really a pain to clean, but seem to be worth it.

QUESTIONS:

We are struggling with the amount to feed him. Lately he has been looking for food every 2 hours (it was 3). Should we feed him on demand at 2 hours with the same amount (2.5-3.25 oz) or try for the every 3 hours with more ounces?

Burping...it's rare that he burps. Should I be concerned or since he typically seems comfy and doesn't spit up all that much is it OK if we can't get a burp out of him?

[usafwife]

Jodi ~ I've heard that the Dr. Brown's bottles are hard to clean. My DD hardly ever burps. It doesn't matter if she is bottle fed or nurses. She rarely burps. I asked her doctor about it the other day and he said that it most likely was that we were using a very good bottle that didn't allow air in. When I told him that we were using the Vent Aire ones he said, yup those are a very good bottle. It's perfectly okay if your little one doesn't burp. He'll let you know if he isn't comfortable and needs to burp.

[jess&dan]

Jodi: Not all babies need to burp that often. My DS normally only needed one in the middle and now he rarely needs to. As for the feedings, it could be that he is going through a growth spurt and needs to eat more often. If that is the case, he should be back to his normal 3 hours in a few days. If it goes on for a long time, see if you can up the amount of ounces to 4 every 3 hours instead and see if that helps.

[Kasia216]

Jodi

My Little guy is about the same age as yours and he is feeding every 3 hours like clockwork. I give him about 2.5 oz of formula but I'm thinking he might need a little more as he's fussy after he eats. I have a Dr's appt on Monday so I'm going to ask if I can increase his formula intake. You may want to call your doctor to ask if you should increase his intake....

Burping - He usually gives me one good burp after a bottle. If he seems fine/not bothered I wouldn't worry about it

Bottles - I'm using the Playtex Nursers. I'm afraid to switch to the Avent or Doctor Browns as he seems to like these. We are using the Slow nipple which has been good

[hub1176]

usafwife I really wanted to B/F but DD just wouldn't latch and I was pumping all the time to keep up with her demand - pulling double duty was too exhausting. I feel great that she got 6 weeks of EBM and the colstrum and I have to be content with that. That said if I decide to have another child I will meet with the LC before the birth and have her come to the house after - we went to the LC and I think being in our environment would have helped.

Jodi If he doesn't seem uncomfortable I wouldn't worry - I can't rmember the exact guideline but I've read that after so many pats and no burp they probably don't need to.

Solids - I was told not before 4-6 months and earlier and it could increase the possibility of allergies?

Bottles - What size do you use? We have the Avent 4 oz bottles and am wondering if I should buy the larger size? She takes between 2-6 oz's a feeding but I'm afraid that if we go up too soon we'll overfeed her....again :o

We had the 2 month check-up yesterday and DD is 10lbs 11oz (birthweight was 6lbs7oz) Dr. was pleased with her gains in all areas.

[jki]

Do you use the wide neck or skinny neck bottles? What's the difference between the two?

Also, when I put 4 oz. water and 2 scoops of formula into the bottle, it goes well past the "do not fill past" line. Is this a problem? Do you just eyeball it and put less water and less formula?

I just bought one of these for DD yesterday and she seems to like it - the nipples are much softer than the Avent ones but I'm not convinced it's reducing her gas/spit up!

[curlywig]

jki: I'm not convinced it helped either, but I figure it can't hurt. When DS was very small, we tried the skinny neck bottles. The nipples for the wide neck are more similar to Avent and I'd assume, better if you intend to continue any BF due to their shape. ?? As you know, we're no longer BF'ing, but I like the wide necks because they are easier to sterilize, fit in our bottle warmer, etc. Hard to find though. The ONLY place I could find them was at BRU in Marin City.

I often wonder if the skinny necks are better for babes with a bad latch. DS is still really burpy/spitty on Dr. B. and I wonder if it's b/c he doesn't latch on right.

[littlebear]

I often wonder if the skinny necks are better for babes with a bad latch.

I think this has some truth to it. My son was a preemie and had a hard time feeding at first, some of it due to latch problems. He used these really tiny bottles in the NICU. When I tried to transition him to regular bottles at home, he would not take any of the wide bottles. Dr. Browns skinny ones were the only thing that he would take.

[allyray231]

Humm we use Dr Browns skinny necks and he still spits up=granted he has reflux. Also he had a bad latch when I tired to BF-interesting theory.

So you think the skinny neck Dr Browns are better then the wide necks??

[curlywig]

Humm we use Dr Browns skinny necks and he still spits up=granted he has reflux. Also he had a bad latch when I tired to BF-interesting theory.

So you think the skinny neck Dr Browns are better then the wide necks??

I honestly don't know. Just theorizing. Seems logical to me, but I'm far from an expert.

[littlebear]

I don't think they are necessarily better. I just think that they work better for some babies who won't take the larger nipples. My son still spit up using the Dr. Browns too because he had reflux. I think the Dr. Browns will help, but it's not going to solve the reflux issue entirely. It improves vastly with time. I found that he really started to have less spitting up around 4 months, and at 8 months he virtually never spits up now.

[jki]

Thanks for the responses regarding Dr. B's bottles!

I don't like the skinny bottles because it's harder to dump the scoop of formula in.

Another question, regarding latching onto the nipple - how far do you push the nipple into the baby's mouth? The nurse at my ped's office said that the top of the nipple should touch the baby's soft palette on the top of his/her mouth - but how do I determine where this is?

We have some Evenflo nipples and they are so short and stubby - I push the nipple almost all the way into DD's mouth (so that her mouth is practically touching the ring) and she leaks like crazy. She doesn't leak at ALL with Avent - and we were using #2 nipples!

[Jodi AKA BostonTeacher]

I don't like the skinny bottles because it's harder to dump the scoop of formula in.

Just an FYI...The doctor brown bottles say not to shake formula in them. I use a measuring cup and make 4 bottles worth at a time and then just pour it into the bottles.

[jki]

Just an FYI...The doctor brown bottles say not to shake formula in them. I use a measuring cup and make 4 bottles worth at a time and then just pour it into the bottles.

I don't actually shake the bottles - I use warm water and sort of swirl the bottle until the formula dissolves.... I rarely get clumps.

How do you re-heat the bottles if you are making 4 bottles worth at a time? In a bottle warmer, I assume? Also, what do you do with the extra formula? I gave mine away - DS could never wait that long before getting his bottles!! Plus, I only have 1 Dr. Brown's bottle.... I haven't decided if we are going to continue with them!

[curlywig]

jki: We do exactly what you'd said: Use a bottle warmer. I make all DS's formula at once for the whole day in a tupperware-like pitcher. That way, there is little waste involved.

My neighbor's son will take formula right from the fridge...no reheating at all. Not sure if DS would do that. Part of me feels like it's just a little more natural for it to be a bit warm, even if not fully up to body temp. KWIM?

[allyray231]

Question-
DS is getting 4 oz about 3 1/2-4 hrs. By his 5th feeding-usually around 6 or so he seems really hungry. AN hour or so after that he will get really fussy and cry and be really happy once he eats more. So sometimes he has 2 bottles in a 2 hr span. Then he sleeps from about 10-3. SHould I be giving him more during the day or just feed him more at night?

[njnewyearsbride]

how many oz do you give your baby? how often? and how old is your baby?

we're at 5oz every 3 hours during the day and DC is 10 weeks old..

[allyray231]

Right now it is 4 oz about every 3 1/2-4 hrs. He is 8 weeks old

[tgray99]

Aidan eats about 8 oz. at a time as often as she asks. She asks, I feed. She sleeps through the night so she only eats during the day, during which she gets between 35 and 40 ounces.

My little piglet!! :D

ETA: Oops! Oh, yeah! She's almost 3 months old.

[usafwife]

how many oz do you give your baby? how often? and how old is your baby? ~ DD usually gets about 4 oz. at a feeding. Sometimes she takes an ounce more. She eats around the time that DH leaves for work in the morning (5:30-6), then again mid-morning, afternoon, evening, and then before bed. Her exact times vary depending upon if she goes to sleep or is otherwise entertained.

I try to breast feed her at least a couple of times a day (morning and evening usually). DD is 5 weeks old.

[Chylynn]

how many oz do you give your baby? how often? and how old is your baby?

DD eats as follows:

10AM- 3oz
12:30PM- 3oz
3PM- 3oz
5PM- 3oz
7PM- 3oz
10PM- 4oz
2AM- 4oz
6AM- 4oz

27oz a day

DD is just past 4 months and weighs approximately 12lbs. We have to feed her regularly during the day due to her metobolic disorder. We cannot let her go more than 4 hours without eating, thus the nighttime feedings. DD dream feeds and doesn't fully wake up- thank goodness!!

[cgmom313]

Let's see if I can catch up...

Warming of Bottles - My DD does not like them very warm. We heat up a cup of water in the microwave for about 1 minute and then we stick the bottle in there just to take the chill off.

how many oz do you give your baby? how often? and how old is your baby? My DD eats about 7oz every 3 - 4 hours and she will be 5 mths on Aug 13th. She also SSTN from about 9p - 6a so no bottle at night.

allray231 - The hardest thing I had to do was to determine when to increase her formula. She happened to do the same thing. The next day I increased it one ounce and put her back on schedule. What happened to my DD in the evening if she drank bottles to close together she would get a little bit of gas and would not sleep. But it looks like your DS is sleeping. I asked a friend who has 2 kids and she told me to up the formula and it worked for me.

[Pookie]

DS will be 5 months on the 15th. He sleeps from 8 pm - 8 am. His first bottle is 6 oz, then 2 5 oz bottle, 4 oz, and then 7 oz with 1 tbsp of rice cereal. I'd like to up his ounces and maybe cut out 1 bottle, but he seems to need to eat every 3 hours regardless of how much. We'll start feeding solids at 5 1/2 months, so I'll probably just keep the schedule we have.

[LilMarty]

DS will be 5 months on Monday and takes 7-8 ozs about every 4 hours, has a little cereal in the morning and STTN.

[twinnyme]

DD will be 7 months next week and she takes between 28 oz and 32 oz a day, in 5 bottles usually. She STTN, from between 6 and 7 to between 5 and 6, and usually takes 8.5 oz. in her first bottle of the day (as soon as she wakes up). Then the rest of the bottles are usually anywhere from 4 oz. to 6.5 oz. She sometimes takes 7-8 oz. for her last bottle, too. We're still figuring out how introducing solids (which we did at 5.5 months, but it's taken a while for her to catch on) affects this. For instance, on Thursday she ate 32 oz. total but had only 2 solids servings.Yesterday, she had 3 solids servings -

8:45 a.m. - oatmeal mixed with applesauce (about 10 bites)
11:30 a.m. - 1/2 jar of applesauce
3:30 p.m. - 1/2 jar of sweet potatoes

After each of these meals, she did want a bottle but they were smaller amounts. She drinks a bottle about every 3.5-4 hours.

[QPDoll]

Posting to subscribe. Dealing with newborn twins, and I know this has probably been discussed, but Im too frazzeled to read the whole thread. Please accept my appology if this has been answered a thousand times over.

We are trying to pump and also use formula, as recommended since both boys are poor nursers and were loosing too much weight. We started them on Similac Advanced with Iron. No problems. One of my boys is a bit gassy, but ehe, so is his dad. LOL We switched the past couple of days to the equivalant Enfamil formula that our ped gave us. Now they are both real fussy, gassy, and spitting up.

If the formulas are basically ths same, could it be just an age thing? They are 2 weeks old. Or is there a correlation to the formula?

Oh, and both boys are two weeks old.
We use a variety of nipples and bottles with no problems. (and the breast too, with no problems)
They are gaining weight (our biggest boy, gaining IMO too much!).
Not sure what else is needed.

[allyray231]

OPDoll -congrats on your boys!!

Some people say no formula is different but I don't think that. Our Ped said you could try a new kind each day and the kid would be fine. He said they are more like Coke and Pepsi-Simalac and Efimil. DS also was supplumented in the beginning and started spitting up at about 2-3 weeks old. You could be overfeeding them--I was giving DS way to much of formula and BM when I was nursing. DS does have reflux-but he had lots of other issues besides spitting up-mainly coughing and gagging.

And don't worry about too much weight. I always get pissed when docs say babies who get fomula gain too much--if they were strickly BF babies no one would care.

I say stick with what works. If the Simialc was good for your boys I would go back on it. I have tried several differnt types and we keep coming back to the Simlac

Good luck!

[QPDoll]

thanks for the reply - typing one handed here.

just sent dh back to the store. the enfamil was with iron, but so wwas the silimac. with the infamil though, one of our boys suddenly became terribly constipated today. Im on iron pills myself - I recognise the smell, color and PAIN of too muh. I fel like im feeding my kid poisen. He is screaming like he does when I try to bf him.

Im prtyyt much only doing ebm in feeding apart from formula, same qty as I would give him in formula.

Im so frustrated today! D/h has to witness him screaming in pain b4 he gets that this new stuff isnt working. He just says ' lets give it a try for a few more days." Now he gets it. I was ready to send him to the store at midnight last night, I knew something wasnt right.

but now u dont know if we should get the same similiac we has been using - it has iron too...or if we shoukld go with the one without. the similac just made him gassy (farty), but that didnt seem to phase him.

[allyray231]

Ped really don't suggest giving them formula withouth iron. And you sure he is constipated or just gassy? Have you tried some gas drops in the bottle--that works great for A.

[Brady]

Warming of Bottles - I usually make the bottles with lukewarm tap water. If I make them ahead of time, I usually just put them in hot water to take the chill off.. when he is not in the mood to wait, he'll even drink it cold. He's not fussy.

how many oz do you give your baby? how often? and how old is your baby? My son eats about 7oz every 3 - 4 hours and is 5 months old. He sleeps from 8pm to 6am, so no nighttime feed. He also has some cereal once or twice a day.

QPDoll- I just wanted to say Congrats. (I don't really have any advice, sorry). Did you call and ask the Ped what he recommends?

[Jodi AKA BostonTeacher]

QPDoll: Congrats on your twins! My son was also born on 7.23! I am so tired and am in awe of how you are juggling two! We use the Similac Advance w/ Iron. It works well for him. We did have some issues with gas and discomfort, but found it was b/c of the bottle and not the formula. We use the dr. brown's and he has been much better since.

Warming the bottle: We just stick it in a cup of warm water or he'll drink it right from the fridge which makes life easier.

[cgmom313]

QPDoll - I would recommend what allray said, and try some gas drops like Myclon. My DD is on Enfamil with Iron and a few times was quite gassy, but you would want to make sure you DS is not constapatied. If he hasn't had a bowel movement in a day or so you should call the ped. They would probably recommend an infant enama (sp?) If just gassy, try the Mycoln drops they worked for us. You can give directly to your son or mix with the formula in the bottle. That seemed to work for us in the bottle. Also to help with gas, lay you son on his back and play bicycle legs. This helps break up the gas in there bellies.

Good Luck... I know what it was like with one, and all I can do is give you support with Two!!!

[SAMIKE32700]

We had to switch to the Enfamil Lacto Free cause DS was so constipated and gassy. He finally poops without having to put any Karo syrup in his bottles.

QOTD~ My DS takes about 4 oz every 3-4 hours. He is 17 days old.

My QUESTION??~ How old was your child when h/she first starting sleeping through the night?? Did you do anything different to make sure they slept thru the night??

[jess&dan]

My DS was 7 weeks old when he started to sleep through the night. I didn't do anything special. When he hit about 4 weeks old, I started a bed time routine in hopes of reaching that STTN point. They say that once they reach about 12 lbs. is when it happens, and that is when he hit 12 lbs. so I don't know if that played a factor along with the routine or not. But I do know that routine helps them learn the order of things and what bed time is...no matter how young they are. Babies love routine!

[cgmom313]

My DD was about 8 weeks old when she first STTN. I also started a routine, Bath, Book (If she is not to cranky) Bottle and Bed. Which at the time was about 10p or so and she would sleep until 6a or so. Now at almost 5mths she is in bed about 9a and sleeps until 6a or so. The only thing different, is if she was wimpering or cried a little I would wait and see if she would really start crying and instead of picking her up she would cry for a few minutes and go right back to sleep. She still does that today. She wimpers in the middle of the night and usually puts herself back to sleep.

[myshel]

Question: Lately, DS (who is almost 3 weeks old) seems extremely cranky and gassy-- both burping and passing gas down "south." I'm debating trying to switch a few things with his feeding around to see if that is the problem. For bottles, we are using the Evenflo Comfi bottles with orthopedic nipples (ortho nips were rec'd by the LC at my hospital). His food consists of mostly formula (Similac Advanced w/Iron) and a 2-4 ounce bottle of EBM a day.

If I wanted to find the culprit of this gassiness and crankiness, where would you start first? The bottles or formula? FIW, we've tried the gas drops and they only seem to help mildly.

[SAMIKE32700]

Thanks for replying. I'm trying to start the whole bath and then bottle routine. I hope the whole 12lbs thing runs true cause my Ds was 9.15 almost 2 weeks ago at the doctors so I know he's at least 10 now if not 11. He did pretty good last night since my poor DH had to go back to work.

[Brady]

STTN- The definition of this varies, but I didn't consider it truly sleeping through the night until he slept uninterrupted for about 8 hours. My son started STTN a little before he turned 4 months old. I found after 3 months you could really start reading his cues better sleepy/hungry, etc. and I started to find that right after his last bottle around 7:30ish, I could see his eyes getting a bit heavy, etc. So, we started a routine around 7pm... bath, bottle, book.. and for the past month+, he's been in bed by 8:30pm and wakes up between 6-7am.

ETA- SAMIKE- your son is still very young to be sleeping through the night.

[allyray231]

When you guys say bath is it a full bath each night??

[Brady]

Hi Ally... I do do a full bath (sometimes I won't wash his hair), of course he kicks and splashes like mad lately, so that it turns into a speed bath. ;) I find that it calms him too if he is fussing a little, as soon as he gets into the water, he is just as happy as can be.

[jki]

DS started STTN (8 hours of uninterrupted sleep) at 8 weeks old and he could sleep for 12 hours at 12 weeks old. The one thing we did was to make sure he got all of his ounces in during the day. We also started giving him less to eat in the middle of the night, keeping the room dark for night feedings, not talking during night feedings and no diaper changes unless necessary. The other thing that is important is to make sure they are napping enough in the day - overtiredness leads to night waking. A bedtime routine is a must. I used to give DS a bath daily, but I'd only use soap every other day or every third day so that his skin didn't get too dried out!

[SAMIKE32700]

ETA- SAMIKE- your son is still very young to be sleeping through the night.

I know this. I was just getting an idea of others babies and when they started sleeping through the night.

[jess&dan]

Ally...I give a full bath, but only wash his hair every other day so it doesn't dry out his scalp. He has a great time playing in the water and my DH loves to play with him. So it's his last moment of play and getting his engery out before getting serious for bed. When the bath is over, we'll snuggle in the towel for a little, then get lotioned, dressed and have a bottle. He goes right to sleep after that!

[twinnyme]

DD STTN for about 2 months starting at around 8-11 weeks (somewhere in there but I don't remember exactly when). But then she started waking again in the middle of the night and we began to feed her. We stopped that after a while and did some sleep training. I'm happy to say that she has again STTN steadily since July 1st (thank goodness). She goes to bed anywhere between 6:45 and 8:00 p.m. and sleeps from anywhere until 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. I have actually found that an earlier bedtime works better for her (though not for us - well, really DH now that my work schedule has changed and I'm home earlier - who hardly sees her during the week) AND a shorter bedtime routine. For a while (a week or so) I had everything but the bathroom sink in her bedtime routine - quiet playtime, bath/lotion, book, bottle - and it seemed to be too much for her. The bath actually seemed to stimulate her. Then it was just bottle and bed - I cut it down at others' suggestions on WC and put her to bed sooner, and that worked wonders. We have slowly re-introduced bathtime, usually every third day or so (she has a ton of hair so I need to wash it, but I start the bath early enough so that she can stay upright in her bath seat while it dries; she now loves the bath and splashes a lot). Good luck figuring out your routine; it may take a while to figure out the signs and what works for your DC.

[cgmom313]

Myshel - I cant really help you to find the culprit between FF and EBM. I only BF my DD for about 4 days and then went to full FF. So I dont know much on that topic! You could start with different bottles and see how that helps. I know some ladies who have had very gassy babies recommnd the Dr. Brown Bottles. Go back a few pages there was a whole discussion which may help you.

We do a full bath (soap and hair wash) every other day. On the off days I just do a quick sponge bath on face and bottom. My DD has baby excema which dries out her skin and leaves red bumps. And per the ped she told me to skip a day and it has helped her skin out so much. But like Brady, my DD loves the bath she splashs her feet and it really soothes and relaxes her. Now that she only gets it every other day she really enjoys it.

[Sasha]

Two questions...

-DD is 3 months old, 12lbs and taking 5 oz each feeding. She still is pretty much eating every 3 hours, although only once and a while can I stretch is to 3.5 (except during the night, then she sleeps for 6 hour stretches before waking for middle of the night feeding). Does this seem to often for her to be eating since she is taking 5 oz? I have a friend who had a baby the day after me, he also takes 5 oz but every 4 hours. Granted he is bigger than she is, but it just made me wonder.


-At what age should they graduate to a Stage 2 nipple? We do have one Advent Stage 2 nipple, and that feeding goes rather quickly. I would like to switch from our Playtex nurser bottles to Advent, so if she is ready, then I'll go buy the bottles now.

Thanks!

[jki]

Sasha: I think it's fine your DD eats every 3 hours. I checked my log book and DS used to take 6 oz. every 3 hours at 3 months old - he was probably 15 lbs. at that age, though. In order for her to sleep longer stretches at night, she needs to eat more during the day.

The package says stage 2 is for 3+ months, I think? I ped said when it starts taking them a long time to finish a bottle, when there is absolutely no dripping or if they get bored during a feeding than you can move up in nipple size. That being said, my DD uses stage 2 Avent nipples and she is only 5 weeks old - it still takes her an hour to eat 4 oz.... she's the slowest eater ever and the ped said it was ok.

[cgmom313]

Sasha - My DD almost has always been an every 3 hour eater. Every so oftern she will make it till 4. I think it is fine. They say to listen to your babies cues and that always seem to work.

Stage 2 Nipple - My DD is 5 mths old and she still is on stage 1 nipple. We use both the Playtex Ventair and Advent bottles. Have tried to move up but it basically gags her. She is a fast eater so we seem to be ok with Stage 1. Each child is different depending on there "suck" factor.

[vegasgirl]

Hi there - My DD is 8 weeks old and has been taking Similac Advance with Iron since about 2 weeks. Does anyone know if there is anyreason NOT to use both the ready to feed and powder formula throughout the day? We were lucky enough to get a ton of RTF sample bottles so we like to use them on the go or in the middle of the night - we just twist on the nipple and throw them away when we are done. I use our regular bottles
(Avent) and powder formula when we are home. She seems to be tolerating the mix ok - they just seem to be such different consistencies (sp?) I don't want to upset her stomach. Any one have any thoughts? Thanks.

[cynder]

Sasha DS is almost on the dot 3 hour eater (4.5 oz when he has a bottle). As long as you are reading her cues, I don't think 3 hours is too soon. We were using nipple 2 for the past 2 mo because it said Slow Flow nipple on it and that was what LC told us to use. I bought some Avent bottles that had nipple 1 and saw that DS took longer but nippled much less. So we went backwards. Try one and see. If it is too much for her you can hold and use it later when she is ready.

[Jodi AKA BostonTeacher]

Lately DS has been wanting to eat every 2 hours...he basically DEMANDS food via screams. Luckily he'll go 2-5 hours at night, but during the day it's never more than 2 hours. We give him 2.5-3.5 oz at a time.

Recently he started screaming when we try to burp him. It seems like the reason is not so much the burping, but simply the fact that he WANTS to eat NOW! Burping is a glitch in his plan.

He weighed 9 pounds at birth (3 weeks ago). We go back to the pediatrician next week so we'll get an accurate weight, but I assume he is now between 10-12 pounds (seems a lot bigger to us than he did when he was born).

Should I just keep feeding on demand or should I try to increase the amount he's getting per feeding. Also, he's never been much of a burper. Should I continue to pound on his back while he screams in my ear or should I just cut to the chase and give him the bottle back?

[Jodi AKA BostonTeacher]

VEGASGIRL: I recently had the exact same question. We also use SA w/ Iron. I typically use the powdered, but we've been traveling a lot recently and have used the RTF at that time. We were told by everyone (doctor included) that there is no difference, but we've noticed a big difference with DS when we switch between the two.

He seems to have a harder time with the RTF (crankier, appears squirmy and uncomfortable, and he poops a lot less frequently). I can only assume that he's getting more water with the powder and that helps with digestion. This is just my theory. Like I said, we were told that there is no difference, but we sure do notice one.

[allyray231]

Jodi -2 hrs is fine- my ped said most eat 2-3 hrs-mine eat 4. I think 2.5-3 is more then enough

DS also screams when you burp--does he burp right away? If not give him some more

[myshel]

Should I just keep feeding on demand or should I try to increase the amount he's getting per feeding. Also, he's never been much of a burper. Should I continue to pound on his back while he screams in my ear or should I just cut to the chase and give him the bottle back?

Jodi, DS doesn't always burp and does the same thing as your DS during feedings. I usually keep trying for a good 5 minutes before I give up on the burping. If he hasn't after that time, I go back to the bottle.

As far as the amount per feeding, we've been giving DS 4 oz per feeding during the last week. Again, this was more of a demand because DS wasn't satisfied with 2 or 3 ounces. I think since your DS and my DS are so close in age (2 days between them), maybe you need to increase the amount? My DS isn't nearly as big as yours but we do feed more. Of course, the side effect of this is that DS sleeps much longer after feedings-- 3 to 3 1/2 hours, sometimes even 4. He also sleeps longer at night-- 4 to 5 hours. I'm not sure if this is "the right way" to feed DS but he seems content and is getting bigger. Maybe an increase in ounces would be beneficial for Camden too?

[Jodi AKA BostonTeacher]

Of course, the side effect of this is that DS sleeps much longer after feedings-- 3 to 3 1/2 hours, sometimes even 4. He also sleeps longer at night-- 4 to 5 hours.

Myshel: This actually sounds like a WONDERFUL side effect to me ;)

I think we have the same baby!

[yooper]

My son was born 6/1/05 - was bf from the start w/ a formula bottle at night. so he's now almost 10 weeks and is 16lbs 5oz [he was 8lbs 3 at birth]. we just stopped bf [getting ready to go back to work and don't think pumping will be as easy as planned]

So, i just started measuring his ounces, he had about 40 yesterday and 35 today. we use Enfamil w/ lipil & iron - powder and some leftover rtf from the hospital. Anyway - had a doc appt. today and he said that PJ should be eating about 26oz right now. Wha? That does not at all follow the whole "weight x 2.5oz" I see everywhere. Based on that, 40oz is fine, no? i'm already sad and missing bf - didn't need this stress.

anyway, his weight and height are both above the 97% - so doc just said to keep feeding when he's hungry and we'd assess at his 4 month check up.

oh - should say that PJ goes to bed around 7.30 after a full bath, lotion massage, baby einstein lullaby cd and bottle [w/ a bit of cereal mixed in] and has been sleeping for 9 hours the past 4 nights. Before that [when bf] he was sleeping about 6 hours, feeding then giving us another 3 hours.

love this thread - you guys have answered a lot of my questions in advance!

[catmom]

I have a quick question... should ask the ped about this when I go in next...

DD (5 months) gets 2 bottles of formula/day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. My problem is knowing when she's done. I offer 6 oz at each of the feedings, and she'll take anywhere from 2 oz up to 6. If she only takes a few oz, I will try to burp her and offer the bottle again in a few minutes. It seems like sometimes she just needs a break, and then she's hungry again. Is this okay? I don't want to overfeed her by "making" her take the bottle if she's not hungry (though plenty of times she just won't take it at all, so she's perfectly capable of letting me know she doesn't want it). I don't know a whole lot about dealing with the bottles since we just started doing this a few weeks ago, so I'm worried I'm forcefeeding her when I encourage her to take the bottle (sometimes it is a struggle just to get her to take it at all, so I'm not always sure if the problem is that she's not hungry or just doesn't want the bottle). I guess my question is, should I stop offering the bottle as soon as she spits it out the first time, or is it okay for me to try to get her re-interested? (I should also mention that the reason for giving the formula is because she was having problems gaining weight, so that's part of the reason I would like her to eat more).

[Brady]

Hi Yooper - I have always read and my Dr. also told me the 2-2.5 oz. times body weight. My son is now 5 months and I'm guessing about 16lbs, and he takes anywhere from 25-32oz per day. So, it sort of depends on how hungry he is. It sounds like your son is waking up at around 4am to eat? Probably in the next few weeks he'll start sleeping later and that bottle can be eliminated, bringing you down to 32oz per day. But, like the dr. said, keep feeding him when he is hungry and try your best not to stress. I was in the same situation, I stopped BF'ing when I went back to work and also felt so sad about it.

Catmom- I def. find at the age our DC are at that they will tell you when they are done. My son will sometimes be too interested in everything going on in the room to focus on eating, so we'll take a little break and then he'll take the bottle back in a little bit... if he doesn't want it at all, he def. let's me know by chewing on the nipple or just playing with the bottle instead. If she is only taking 2oz., I would def. try it until she refuses it outright.

l.

[twinnyme]

I guess my question is, should I stop offering the bottle as soon as she spits it out the first time, or is it okay for me to try to get her re-interested?

I think it's definitely okay to try to get your DD re-interested. We have always used formula/bottles from the beginning. In the beginning, I never "force"fed her - i.e. made her finish the bottle, and I let people (such as FIL/MIL) know who tried to that if she didn't want to finish it, she didn't have to finish it. We've also been concerned about weight gain, though, and so in the last couple of months or so (DD is 7 months now) I have tried to encourage her more to finish bottles. But she'll still sometimes take only 2 oz. and she DEFINITELY lets me know when she doesn't want more.... not only does she play with the bottle but also sometimes she'll actually swat it violently away. But I do try 2-3 times for her to take it, until I'm absolutely sure she doesn't want it anymore. And like your DD sometimes she'll take "breaks" and if I try again she'll want it again. (I never give her the same bottle after it's been out for one hour, though.)

DD also takes anywhere between 25-32 oz. a day at this point. From the beginning, she also ate every couple of hours (though it seemed like more because she was such a sloooowwww eater that it seemed like I was feeding her every hour). Now it's mostly 2.5-3 hours between feeding, sometimes 2 hours, sometimes 5 hours - we go by what she wants still and feed on demand.

About burping, my rule of thumb (passed from my mother, who not only raised 4 kids but also is a pediatric nurse) was that if the baby didn't burp after 5 or so minutes to not bother anymore. Mostly that worked but of course there were times when she probably could have used a burp and then spit up when she didn't get to. But 95% of the time if she didn't burp she was fine with it. Now I barely burp her at all - she burps on her own, and it could be hours later after a bottle. Sometimes after her bedtime bottle, I'll hear her an hour later in her crib grumbling and crying a little and I know she's getting gas out, but she's fine, and will get back to sleep on her own. If she DOES need to burp really badly, like with the being-done-with-the-bottle thing, she DEFINITELY lets me know by wiggling around and moving her mouth back and forth.

[yooper]

hi brady! yeah, he's getting up around 4...that makes sense when he's sleeping longer he'll drop that feeding. babies are such a puzzle!

catmom - I agree, your baby will tell you when she's done! there have been times i try to get PJ to eat a bit more to finish [hate throwing out ounces!] and he just yaks it out.

[curlywig]

Hoping someone can put me at ease over here. Strange that I'm posting with this concern, but here goes:

DS is 4 months old and in the 90th percentile for weight and 85th for height. He weighs 17 pounds 4 oz. Up until two weeks ago, we would offer him about 40 oz. a day, and he'd leave about an average of an ounce in each bottle. For the last two weeks, he's been leaving 3-4 ounces in most bottles.

By my math, at 17 pounds, he should be taking 34-42 ounces (2-2.5x weight). Today he took 25 ounces. He will act ravenous, attack the bottle, eat for a couple minutes, then thrash his head from side to side, or sometimes actually push the bottle away with his hands. I usually pause to burp him then, and after he burps, offer the bottle again.

He had a routine check up on Monday and his doc said not to worry about it, but I'm still worried.

Any words of wisdom? Maybe he'd been growing so much for so long that he's taking a breather? I dunno. I'd been concerned that he'd get dehydrated, but he has plenty of wet dipes and the urine isn't concentrated. Still poops once daily, although now the poop is MUCH less abundant.

[EmilyBronte]

I'm new here, but I do formula feed my 7-month old. We breastfed for about 6 weeks, but DS was 8 weeks premature and was on a feeding tube for about 1 week so he had to learn to suck.

Anyway, he is on solids now, 3x per day, and has about 4 oz of formula after each feeding plus anywhere from 4-8 ounces in the afternoon for a snack.

I am responding to curlywig's post....

At around 4 months, my DS started doing the same thing. We don't know for sure, but we think it was related to teething. He would be so hungry and would suck for a few seconds before either crying or pushing the bottle away or both. We figure he was teething even though we saw no evidence of it. I've read and heard that from the time the baby first feels the pain until they get a tooth could be a few months.

So, what we did to remedy the situation was to give him baby orajel when he would reject the bottle. Then we'd wait a few minutes and try again. He HATED the taste of the orajel, but it worked. It got us through many a feedings where he was rejecting the bottle.

I think as long as your DS isn't crying all day, acting hungry all the time, and is wetting enough diapers, I'm sure he's fine. If you do try the orajel trick and it doesn't work and DS keeps doing the same thing for more than a week or so, or if he starts wetting less, I would probably call the pediatrician.

[cgmom313]

Welcome all the new members to the thread!!! This is a great place and a wealth of information.

Yooper - I would read your babies cues and let them have the formula. My doctor always said 2 to 2.5 ounces x body weight, but also she said it is ok to give them more or less. Each child is different. I think it is fine.

Curlywig - My DD is 5mths old and is a big girl. She is almost 20lbs. She was such a big eater and now all of a sudden she only finishes her morning and night bottle about 7oz. I dropped the amount in her other bottles to about 5oz, because I had 7 in them and she was leaving about 2oz for about a week. I figured if she wanted more she would let me know and I could just give it to her. Seems to be doing ok with it. We just started her on cereral. I agree with Emilybronte and chalk it up as teething. It seems after she sucks for a while it hurts her gums and she needs to rest. Just when you think you have it down, they go through another spurt.

[ButterflyJen]

Popping in with a rebate for up to $4 on Enfamil Gentlease LIPIL formula - PM me if you want it and I'll pop it in the mail. :)

ETA - taken!

[jki]

curlywig - My DS used to go on bottle strikes while teething. If you are concerned about your DS's intake, perhaps you could try offering smaller bottles at more frequent intervals? Honestly, since your DS is in the 90th percentile for weight, I wouldn't worry about it!!

[curlywig]

Hey thanks everyone. I wasn't getting updates (maybe b/c we cleared all the cookies from our browser). Anyway, sometimes he seems like he's so hungry but won't eat. Other times he seems like he's trying to say "C'mon Mom! I'm not hungry!"

I totally appreciate all the responses. I guess my days of worrying are really just starting....about oh, a lifetime ahead of me, huh? ;)

[usafwife]

When do you start using the Stage 2 nipples? We have been using the Playtex Vent Aire bottles. We are currently using the stage 1 nipples (slow) but recently bought a 9 oz bottle. It comes with a stage 2 nipple (fast). We haven't started using the 9 oz. bottle and won't for a little while. Just wondering when to use the stage 2 nipples?

[NYKidLib]

Does anyone add a teaspoon of rice cereal to their baby's formula to make it thick and hopefully reduce spit ups. Kevin spits up A LOT, even between feedings and I've read that adding the rice cereal can help prevent that.

[allyray231]

NYkidlibDS has reflux and I was always nervous about the cereal. You can try Efamil AR which is ticker. We had yet to try it-we just keep him upright 30 minutes after eating

[linda_loo]

NYKidLib - I wouldn't do it (again). I tried it with my first child, and it didn't make a bit of difference (she had reflux)... that was before I fully had an understanding that it is actually a choking hazard. Additionally, there is a lot of research recommending that solids not be introduced (including rice) until at least 4 months; for many reasons.

[Sasha]

NYKidlib - I'll be the voice of dissent and say that it did work for us. DD has severe reflux, so her ped. wanted us to thicken it - we mixed it with Nutramigen. We eventually switched to Enfamil AR, which is already thickened, for a few reasons...we felt DD was gaining weight to rapidly due to the cereal and we had the worst time with the nipples and the cereal (you have to basically mutilate the nipple and make it larger for the cereal to get through). I know there is a lot of research that says not to do it, but it did help DD's reflux a lot. The Enfamil AR has been really good though, I would suggest that.

[BAM 9-21-02]

DD will be in daycare in 2 weeks Our very expensive daycare center only provides Parents Choice w/ iron formula (this is the walmart brand). Do any of you have your DC on this formula, or know anyone that does? We currently have DD on Enfimil LIPIL w/ iron. Our Ped said that Parents Choice w/ Iron is A-ok, but I would just like some feed back from those using it. Also, to Mom's that have switched DC's formula how did it go? Was DC fu