Bigger Feeds, Less Often

S

StareBear

Registered User
Hi All,
Interested in your views as to whether it is possible to train babies to take bigger feeds, less often. My daughter is 4 months old and has always been a difficult feeder. At the moment she is theoretically on a 7am, 11am, 3pm, 6.20pm feed schedule (with a 10.30pm dreamfeed). The 7am and 6.20 feeds are breastfed and the 11am and 3pm are formula. However in reality she only ever takes 80-100ml in the first bottle and then will take another 60-90mls maybe an hour and a half later (we never even get close to the 210mls people suggest a four month old should be drinking). The breastfeeds are similar - she will feed for 8-10 mins and then want another 5-10mins an hour later.
A few people have suggested to me that if I made her wait rather than giving her top ups, she would learn that milk is only offered at those times and would take a larger feed. Has anyone had any success with this kind of approach or should I accept that she is a snacker and live with it?
 
some babies just prefer to space out their feedings. there's not much you can do about it, besides, once you figure this out, it will be time to start introducing solids. i'd just follow baby's cues and continue with what you are doing.

but, then again, i'm a firm believer in following your baby's cues and not what some book tells you your baby should be doing. there are others out there that swear by the likes of Gina Ford, i'm not one of them.

good luck, whatever you decide.
 
i'd agree with carang...i followed by baby's cues and it ended up being very similar to the recommendations of the books...and then they change...books will give you a good idea of what to look out for, but, in my opinion, no need to follow them line by line..

good luck! :)
 
I'm in the middle with this one, I'm a great one for following baby's cues but a bit like lesliefu, it didn't take much effort to get my baby onto a schedule of feeding about every four hours with a dreamy at 10.30 so I didn't feel like I was forcing something on him.

As Carang said I wouldn't loose much sleep over trying to force a routine when it's going to change in a couple of months anyway however I would probably try distraction techniques to see if you can space the feeds out.

I'd give the feed as usual and if she seems like wanting a feed an hour later try going for a walk. It's not going to work if she's super hungry but if she's just a bit peckish then maybe you can play and distract her till closer to the next feeding time where she'll drink more because she is hungrier.

I had success with when I moved to the four hourly feedings and still do it now with naps but I have to emphasise that it wasn't a stressful process for me or The Boy - I really didn't feel like I was forcing him into something he didn't want to do/wasn't ready for. It wouldn't have been worth it just for the sake of a routine!

All babies are different so I'd say it would be worth trying but if distraction doesn't work then maybe accept she is a snacker and look forward to the advent of solids!

Best of luck.
 
just because i followed my babys' cues does not mean we didn't have a "routine"... rather, our routine was not "imposed" by some person who wrote a book and there must know everything there is to know about babies.
our routine was established around our kids' natural schedules.

ex. baby usually woke up between 6-7am, so breakfast was usually about 15 minutes later.

at x months, baby was usually tired about 3 hours after waking, so went down for a nap between 9-10am etc.

it was very flexible and both of my kids were/are able to have naps anywhere. i never used blackout curtains and never maintained a "quiet" household when the kids were sleeping.

my kids have been ok sleepers, not fantastic, but ok. they have also been ok eaters (my daughter has always been awesome, my son more picky).


good luck!
 
Starebear, my son never drank the amount that he "should" have been drinking. Perhaps your daughter's breast feeds are very efficient- so don't pay a lot of attention to the time- it becomes even lesser soon! Do keep an eye on the growth curve though- key is that it should be consistent. But don't get sucked into percentiles. My son has always been in the 25th percentile and he is more healthy than most of the 90th percentile babies I know.
 
Thanks all. Agree it may be best to just bide my time and wait for solids.
Suv - my daughter is on the 9th percentile. Even with the introduction of three bottles of formula a day she just keeps tracking that curve! But she is very happy and alert, so I have learned not to worry about that so much. Hopefully solids will help bulk her up a bit, otherwise I think she is just destined to be on the thin side.
 
As long as she is alert and reaching her milestones!:) My son too has been hugging that line through growth spurts, solids, illnesses, everything. His metabolism is great, eats a lot more than his peers too but no sign of it on his body!
 
My daughter is also on a low percentile and has never been hugely hungry. At 5.5 months she has only just started drinking 180mls at the majority of her milk feeds. She's healthy and happy, and her docto is not at all concerned at her size. She has started solids and is loving it, but when she's full, she's full. As long as your child is healthy and happy I wouldn't worry about any of the other stuff. Our only routine is a lunchtime nap and bedtime, but the mornings are all different. I don't really care.
 
Sorry, I may have got the wrong end of the stick with this one. I was thinking it's the unpredictability of maybe wanting another feed an hour after the first one that was the problem, if that's not a worry and it's just the overall volume then absolutely, as long as they stick around the same percentile then I wouldn't worry about the volume they're taking in.

I reckon if they're smiling and you're smiling its all good :-)
 
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