Baby feeding question!?

Question

My son is 12 weeks old and eats 30 oz. of breast milk a day. He has 6, 5 ounce bottles. I would like to reduce the amount of feedings and increase his intake per feeding.

Does anyone have an suggestions on how to increase the amount of milk at one feed? Or should I just wait until he demands more at a feed?

Answer 1

Just increase the milk by only 1 oz at every feed.  Try that the day, if he doesn't drink it, his body is not yet ready for more.  How often does your child eat?  I think mine ate around every 3 hrs at that age.

Answer 2

I personally believe you are asking for reflux problems if you try to force him to take more at a feeding then he wants to take. I vote for waiting until he demands more at a feeding.

I also believe that solids are a bad idea at this age. Wait until he is 4 months old to give him rice cereal. That is the recommendation of the AAP. They have said that there is an increased risk of asthma and alergies associated with feeding solids before this age.

Answer 3

I don't have an answer to your question but I want to say that babies have tiny tummies that can only hold 3 to 5 ounces at a time.  If your baby is going 3 hours between feedings then he is actually doing very well.  Breastmilk is digested faster then formula so 2 to 3 hours (some even less), is normal and healthy.  Unlike adults, babies eat when they are hungry, simple as that and you shouldn't try to prevent a hungry baby from eating for your convenience.  At 12 weeks your son is still too young to have cereal.  His tummy isn't ready for that yet.  Relax, your baby is doing great.

Edit: You could give hi formula instead of breastmilk.  It takes longer to digest, but don't give him solids yet.

Answer 4

It looks like you have him on a good schedule and intake. He will increase his intake on his own. Also a comment on the post before. I would not suggest putting cereal in his bottles, you should only feed cereal from a spoon when he can sit in a highchair and hold his head up well.

Always remember your baby knows how much he needs and when he is hungry.  

Answer 5

okay at 12 weeks, and this is just my opinion, and i am not a dr. but i do have 3 healthy childre.. at 12 weeks i started my kids on cereal bottless... start with 4 oz.. and add a little baby cereal, make the hole in the nipple a little bigger and voila!! they will sleep so much better and be fuller longer!!  now, are u pumpin and givin, or does the baby mouth to breast? hope this helps!

Answer 6

If you're doing every three hour feedings and your child gets 9 hours at night, then I'd say that you can try and stretch an extra 15 minutes between feedings (3 hrs. 15 minutes) for a couple days and then move to 3.5 hours from the start of one feeding to another.  You may want to "tank up" the last two feedings by doing a feed then having bath/change/bedtime routine and then offering another feed to "top him off" before putting him down for the night.  That way you're not really eliminating a complete feed (although the second one won't be a full feed).  

If you're already at 3.5 hours and your child isn't sleeping through the night, then I'd work on tanking up for night feed and stretching that night sleep instead of trying to space the day feedings.  Babies aren't usually able to do 4 hours between until 6-8 months when they've started solids (although formula stays in the system longer than breastmilk).  Listen to your pediatrician and the AAP, don't start cereal before 5-6 months.  

Edit:  I exclusively pumped for my oldest between 4-10 months.  It sucks, but it's worth it and the time will pass.  Because I had to pump three times to get enough for two feeds, it was exhausting.  By 10 months, when I finally weaned him, I was pumping 2.5 hours a day to get enough milk!  If this is you too, I strongly recommend supplements to help your milk supply Fenugreek is readily available, but More Milk Plus by Motherlove was the best.  If it's any encouragement, while my son had a horrible latch and teethed early, when my daughter came along, she had a great latch from birth and I finally enjoyed breastfeeding.  Hang in there!