STTN and Feeding Amounts During the Day

Hi,

We are doing CIO at night now and even when we weren't, our LO's were barely eating overnight. They are bottle fed, though about 70% of it is expressed breast milk. At one time our doctor had told us to give them 2.5 ounces per pound in a 24 hour period. But now I am confused about how much to feed them during the day, since they are no longer eating over the whole 24 hours. 2.5 ounces per pound is a lot to pack into 12-14 hours! DS is approx 18 pounds and DD is about 15 pounds. On the every-four-hour, 6 feedings in a day schedule they were eating 7 ounces and 5 ounces each. Should I be offering more now? I'm not sure they'll take it, and 8 ounces is all that will fit in the bottles! :unknw: I know this is a normal process and probably shouldn't confuse me so much...I just want to make sure they're eating enough now that we're forcing a schedule change. Thanks!

 

My boys are right around 11lbs now (almost 5 months, one is only a few ounces behind the other).. They get up and eat around 10am (they've been sleeping through the night since they were 3months), then 1pm, then 4pm, then 7pm, then 10pm. So 5 feeds a day. They both take about 5 ounces each time (with 2 scoops of rice cereal in the bottle). Occasionally they'll take 6 ox, but not consistently enough to make always make a 6 oz bottle cause I don't want to be wasting an ounce per bottle that often. They both need around 27.5 ounces/day according to the 2.5 oz per pound rule. They get at least 25oz, but like I said, they take an extra ounce here and there. Oh and some mornings, they get up around 7am, the morning time isn't set in stone.

I've tried switching from every 3 hours to every 4 hours with more in the bottle, but they never make it past 3 hours without being hungry.

I'm not sure how often you feed them, but if it's every 4 hours...
For your DS I'd try feeding at least 7oz each (4 feeds/day) feeding (or 6oz every 3 hours? 5 feeds a day)
For your DD I'd try feeding at least 9oz each feeding (4 feeds/day) (or 8oz every 3 hours? 5 feeds a day)

My boys are only 2 weeks younger than yours, but they were 11 weeks premature. If they were up to par with their actual age, this would be the time I'd introduce some solids once a day to try and get in a few extra calories or what not that they may not consume enough of with their bottles.

I'm new at this so don't hold me to it

 

Thanks! Wow - 10am! That's great!! Mine were 4 weeks early, so the doctor wants us to hold off on solids till 6 months. DD does get 3 scoops rice in her breast milk bottles to make it thicker to reduce reflux. I did the math and if I were to give them 2.5 oz per pound in the 4 feedings they're taking a day, I'd have to give DD 9.5oz and DS 11.25oz at each feeding. A) They'd never take that much; and B) I'd have to use two bottles to do it. So what am I doing wrong here? Does the 2.5oz per pound rule cease at some point? I think I'll call our pedi and ask, since he was the one who insisted they don't need to eat for 10 hours overnight....

 

I have personally never heard of the 2.5 oz per pound rule, I follow my babies cues. If they are consistently finishing a 6 oz bottle, try increasing to 7 oz. 24-32 oz per day is the norm. If they take much more than that you can overfeed them which will cause them to gain weight too fast. If they eat too much less, they won't gain enough weight or have adequate nutrition.

Once they start eating in a more regular schedule (much like yours are, at certain times of the day), I follow the 24-32 oz rule per day. So if they eat 5 times a day, 6 oz bottles each time, they are at roughly 30 oz a day, which is perfect. If they eat 4 times a day, 7oz bottles a day, still fine.

At 6 months my dd's curve no longer "curved", it went vertical. I hadn't changed her feeding habits, she's always taken at the high end of the normal oz per day. My ped suggested adding some water to her bottles, and increasing solids because they have fewer calories. At 9 months she was back to her normal "curve" line. She also started crawling at 8.5 months so that helped!

 

Yeah, I apparently shouldn't do math in the early mornings :-/

I'm sorry I'm not of much help. I don't typically worry about getting the exact 2.5 per pound. My boys tell me when they're hungry and it's typically about every 3 hours. Like I said most of the time it's 5oz, sometimes 4, 6, or 7. I figure if they eat extra one day, then it'll make up for the days they eat a little less. They have been consistently gaining weight so I haven't worried. They gain about 1/2 pound a week.

I was given the go ahead at 4 months to start their solids even though they were 29 weekers, but I know they aren't ready.

 

Oh and personally never gave more than 8oz at a time, any more than that and my kids just puked it back up, I think they make 8oz bottles for a good reason It's too easy to overfeed if you start making 10oz bottles all the time

 

Thanks so much!! I spoke to my pedi and he said that the 2.5oz/pound rule is when they first come home from the hospital and for the first few months, not now. He said 6-8 ounces 4-5 times a day is plenty. He also said that it might take their appetites a while to adjust to STTN, and they might not immediately take increased amounts to make up for the dropped feedings.

 

:good: It's good to know what the 2.5oz per pound rules is for because I really hadn't heard that one yet! Glad you got it figured out!