should i give her more???

[shortcake2386]

Originally Posted by katydid6952 my 20-lb 4.5 month old takes (6) 5.5-6oz bottles of breastmilk a day.

hmmm do you think weight makes a difference? she's half the size of your dd....obviously i dont want to starve her, but i dont want to over feed her either. originally i was told NOT to feed her more than 3 oz every 2.5 hours(what she was eating up until a month ago) bc she was burning more calories trying to suck than she was getting. but she's figured out how to gnaw on the nipple and get the milk down a lot faster, so idk if that still applies:/ this kid needs some sort of external "fullness meter"

[shortcake2386]

i should probably add that after a minute or so of fussing when the bottle is empty she is fine for exactly 3 hours(and not a minute over) if she was hungry she would continue to fuss, right?

[Sarah-B]

Originally Posted by shortcake2386 i should probably add that after a minute or so of fussing when the bottle is empty she is fine for exactly 3 hours(and not a minute over) if she was hungry she would continue to fuss, right?

Yes I think this is correct. I say try 1/2 ounce less if she is spitting up after. Poor baby girl - she can't suck?! This makes me so sad for her. I hope she learns to do it.
Also was she born early? My 4.5 month old dd is 16lbs 5 oz

[shortcake2386]

Originally Posted by Sarah-B Yes I think this is correct. I say try 1/2 ounce less if she is spitting up after. Poor baby girl - she can't suck?! This makes me so sad for her. I hope she learns to do it. Also was she born early? My 4.5 month old dd is 16lbs 5 oz

no she was 2 days late. 6lbs 5oz at birth, just now 10lbs.

[Sweet_Fantasy_Fox]

I'd try 1/2 oz more next feeding and see how she does.
My dd is almost 10 months and 17.5lb, she is bf so no idea how many ounces she takes in but I also nurse on demand.
Start with 1/2 oz more and if she doesn't fuss afterward, the up her feeding, if she just pukes it up afterward, then you know she is getting enough w/o adding to her bottle.
Good luck mama

[HeatherlovesCDs]

I don't think she needs more. I agree with your assessment that if she needed more, she wouldn't stop crying after a few minutes and be fine for 3 hrs and the paci wouldn't satisfy her.

And, her weight sounds normal to me. I have all small kids and they grow slowly. Well...until this 6th baby. He is 11llbs at only 5wks.

[Liadan23]

Originally Posted by shortcake2386 i should probably add that after a minute or so of fussing when the bottle is empty she is fine for exactly 3 hours(and not a minute over) if she was hungry she would continue to fuss, right?

i think you're right. she would continue to fuss if she was still hungry. she calms with the paci right? what i've observed with my kids is, they suck down a bottle a lot faster than they nurse, so a bottle doesn't necessarily fulfill all their "urge to suck" needs when they finish it. even though she can't suck, she still has the urge, and having the paci in her mouth is probably soothing for her. when my kids nurse, they often nurse for a little longer than they are actively getting milk. obviously, more when they were newborns. but even an older baby will want to suck sometimes, just for comfort. i think that's all it is

oh, and i think her weight sounds just fine! both my kids were around that weight at 4.5 months. i'm surprised people find that so smalll since it's just normal to me. but i used to get asked all the time if my kids were preemies too (ds was on time and dd was a week late. they were bigger than your dd at birth, but just grow slowly). ah well, there's just a wide range of "normal" when it comes to babies

[Rossberrie]

My baby is currently 4 months old and weighs 13 pounds.
My mother is usually taking care of her more than me due to my full time school senior year college.
She is currently drinking 4 ounces on demand.
I counted her bottles and she is drinking about 30 - 38 ounces of milk.
I feel that is WAY too much.
My mom gives her a bottle whenever she cries ... but is it possible that she is crying because of a stomach ache? too much milk in her stomach?
And she just needs to suck but shoving a bottle will force milk even more?
I don't know what to do =[

[keen1981]

Originally Posted by Rossberrie My baby is currently 4 months old and weighs 13 pounds. My mother is usually taking care of her more than me due to my full time school senior year college. She is currently drinking 4 ounces on demand. I counted her bottles and she is drinking about 30 - 38 ounces of milk. I feel that is WAY too much. My mom gives her a bottle whenever she cries ... but is it possible that she is crying because of a stomach ache? too much milk in her stomach? And she just needs to suck but shoving a bottle will force milk even more? I don't know what to do =[

That's a massive amount of milk and sadly grandmothers love to feed to soothe. They usually aren't the ones bouncing a baby for two hours because that's what baby needs... The bottle force feeds- so yes, every suck creates a vacuum and more milk enters with each swallow.

And I usually say a baby will drink what's given due to the mechanics. Until they learn that an over stretched tummy isn't comfortable.

I would send her bottles. Inform her no more than a 3 ounce bottle every 2-2.5 hours. Have them pre-made. And send exactly what she should get. I've had a colicky baby and almost always, another method (with effort) can be found.

Grandmas to our kiddies come from a different time though. Where people were feeding kids solids at 4 weeks and forcing food for every cry.

Also- a cry is not a demand. It's ONE of the demands. But babies cry for a plethora of reasons. I would really upset if my baby was being fed the minute they cried, constantly, all day.

[Allelujiah]

Originally Posted by Rossberrie My baby is currently 4 months old and weighs 13 pounds. My mother is usually taking care of her more than me due to my full time school senior year college. She is currently drinking 4 ounces on demand. I counted her bottles and she is drinking about 30 - 38 ounces of milk. I feel that is WAY too much. My mom gives her a bottle whenever she cries ... but is it possible that she is crying because of a stomach ache? too much milk in her stomach? And she just needs to suck but shoving a bottle will force milk even more? I don't know what to do =[

According to an article I read on KellyMom babies eat on average 25 ounces of BM a day after the first month until solids are introduced. Daily the actual amount will fluctuate from say 19 to 30 ounces, but you could use 25 as the benchmark.