Formula Questions
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Ok I give up breastfeeding Cameron. After 6 months of virtually no sleep I just can't do it anymore. He's a huge baby, already 20 lbs, he's already out grown his infant car seat and most of Matthew's baby sleepers.
I don't know how to do formula.
I have been giving him 5 tablespoons of cereal by spoon at 6 pm, then 6 ounces of formula at 7 pm. He's asleep by 7:30 pm. I can't keep him up any longer than that and I've tried waking him at 10 pm to give him a bottle but he's too sleepy.
On Monday he woke up every hour. Last night I think he woke up at least 4 times. I'm done.
So Ladies who gave their babies formula I need to know how to do a few things:
1. How often did you give a bottle during the day and how often at night if your babies weren't sleeping thru?
2. When getting up at night what did you do? Did you heat the bottle? If so how? In the microwave, bottle warmer? Did you take the baby with you? If I don't get to Cameron within 3 seconds he's in full blown crying so I'm thinking I will have to get up and take him to the kitchen with me.
3. When out and about, how did you store your formula? Did you just take it from the fridge cold and let it warm up in your diaper bag? How long can you leave formula out of fridge? How did you heat your bottles if you were out for the day or did you? Last Saturday we were out all day looking at houses in another city. I just brought a bottle of breast milk and gave it to him at room temp. but I heard you have to be more careful with formula.
4. How much food were you incorporating during the day when your babies were 6 months? I think I need to increase Cameron's food intake during the day.
That's all I can think of for now.
Please help. 
TIA
I'm sure alot of people wouldn't agree but this is what I did with Timmy and it did fine with him.
I just used warm tap water from wherever I was. When we were out and about I'd have a bottle with the premeasured amount of powdered formula in it. So when he got hungry, I only had to add the water. At night (our bedrooms were upstairs and the kitchen downstairs), I just used water out of the bathroom faucet.
Good luck and I'll be thinking about you. A mommy with a good night's sleep under her is well worth going through this transition.
I never warmed the bottle. I had to buy water since our tap water was not good to drink. I would always just leave the water at room temp. I bought a little storage container made for formula. It had several slots that you could measure out for(I think) up to 3 bottles. I would add the water to the bottles ahead of time. When my ds was ready for a bottle, I would put in the premeasured amount of formula and shake it up. Once you mix the formula with water, it doesn't keep for long, it should say on the container.
I want to say that by 6 months, both of my boys were drinking 8 oz of formula every 4 hours. My oldest slept through the night at 6 weeks, so I didn't have to worry about a night bottle. My youngest woke up once during the night and I would give him a bottle then.
Warm tap water is okay if you have newer pipes and a low meneral count in your water. Otherwise, for my kids, it gave them problems.
I made the formula in a tupperware container - only what I would need for the day. I have filtered water and used that.
I'd pour out what I needed for a bottle in to a measuring cup and warm that in the microwave for 20 seconds or so. then I 'd put it in the bottle and invert the bottle several times to get rid of any hot spots. I'd also check the temp before giving it.
If she needed a night feed, I'd do the same thing, often taking her to the kitchen with me. Once it's made, treat it like milk. If it's out much more than an hour, throw it away.
When I was out, I'd put the formula in a bottle in an insulated pack if I were going to use it within a few hours. If it was going to be longer, I'd just put the water in the bottle and put the formula in a little baggie. Then I'd just mix and shake when I was ready to give it.
Helen was eating real food also by six months, so she took only 16 to 20 ounces a day. She was not a big formula kid. She wanted her meat and veggies. .
It's really very easy, once you get used to it.
Good luck,
Ame
I am getting ready to run out to get a hair cut, but I have a few questions too. Are you feeding him any food through out the day (how much) or just the cereal at night? When he wakes at night, are you feeding him and how much does he take? How much formula is he taking during the day? How much does he sleep during the day? It is my personal opinion at this time (pending more info) that you are looking at more of a habit right now than a need for food. He is used to crying equals mom and food! As long as he is eating well through out the day, it is not necessary for him to be eating at night at this age. I think this is just a habit he is in that you will just have to suck it up and break if you want it to stop. More later....
Thanks everyone!
Vicki, he has one short nap in the morning 1/2-1 hour. In the afternoon usually a 2 hour nap, sometimes only an hour. I don't think this is too much and I can't keep him up anyway he just gets cranky. I think he needs the sleep.
No food during the day just 5 tbls of cereal at 6 pm and 6 oz of formula at 7 pm. Otherwise it's all breast all the time.
He usually wakes 3 times per night. The first time at around 11:30 or 12:30, he's in the pack n play next to me, I roll over and give him a pacifier he usually goes back to sleep. Next wake up is at 2:30 or 3:30, he will not take a pacifier and will cry to the point of screaming if I don't nurse him. If DH takes him he's fine, he cuddles with DH and goes back to sleep. But DH is exhausted and ready to return to the guest room so no help there. Next waking is at 4:30 or 5:30 am, he wants to be nursed or full fledged crying/screaming again.
We went to the doctor yesterday and he suggested I buy some ear plugs and that's great advice if it were just me in the house, but Matthew needs his sleep as well so does DH. The last thing I need is a household full of cranky men.
In the docs opinion you cannot sleep train a baby, he said either put him on formula, nurse him or buy some earplugs. In other words it's just going to take some time.
Anyway, Vicki I would love to hear your suggestion. No books please I have plenty and I'm too tired to read them.
Ditto, Vicki. I would not give him a bottle each time he woke up.
I didn't answer about the food. Once I started food, I would give food first and then the bottle. My oldest ds would eat and still take 8 oz. My youngest ate more food and would take 4-6 oz. of formual. My schedule went something like this. Food and formula in the morning, snack and juice, food and formula for lunch, snack and juice, food and formula for dinner and bottle before bed. I also eventually cut out the night time bottle for my youngest ds. He didn't sleep through the night until he was around 15 months, but I stopped the night bottle around 9 months. You will have to adjust his formula, depending on the amount of food he is eating. I think it is kind of trial and error, every baby is different.
I think your baby is trying to tell you he needs more than liquid. He is a big baby and it sounds to me like he needs baby food and more cereal now.
At six months, both of my kids were large babies. Along with 6 - 8 ounces of formula at each meal, they were getting cereal in the morning, baby food at lunch, baby food at dinner, and a snack before bedtime. If they were hungry in between meals, I gave them a bottle of about 4 ounces. They slept 10 - 11 hours solid most nights, unless DS's ears were hurting. That's a different post.
For formula, we made up 32 ounce container each morning and kept it in the fridge. We did boil the water first, because we found it mixed better that way. I usually heated a cold bottle a little, 10 - 15 seconds I think, and gave it to them.
I also bought travel size formula for the diaper bag. When needed, you just pop the top, pour it in a bottle, and throw the can away. It's room temp and there's no spoiling. It's very convenient.
Forumla is pretty easy. But, before you buy large quantities, see which one works best with his system. I'd try Similac first.
My milk only lasted about 6 months, with both kids. By the time they went on a bottle, both were sleeping through the night, so I never had nightime bottle issues.
Well, it does sound as if you have more of a sleep issue than him actually being hungry at night. The first time he wakes, he is happy and back to sleep if you give him his pacifier. The second time he wakes, you said he will go back to sleep for your dh if he takes him. Then, I bet he is hungry again by 4:30 to 5:30 since he hasn't eaten since about 7pm the night before. The only way you can change sleep habits is by forcing the issue. I agree with your dr that you can't train a baby to sleep. However, you can train them to comfort themselves back to sleep. I won't go into all the ways that you can do that since I am sure you are aware of them if you have the "baby books". What I would try though, is keeping him up a litle later at night. You can maybe do that by changing his afternoon nap time. Maybe push it back by a hour or so, so that he eats his cereal closer to 8pm rather than 7pm. That might help his morning feeding move closer to 5:30 to 6:30 am and be more of a breakfast. I also agree that it might be time to start adding some baby food into his diet. Did your dr mention that to you yet? I know when dd was small, they suggested we start with the veggies first and introduce them one at a time and for a few days at a time to watch for allergies. Like start with green beans and feed only green beans for 3 to 4 days. If it is tollerated well and no reaction, you can add peas and feed peas and green beans for the next 3 to 4 days and so on. After you get through all the veggies, start with the fruits. They suggested the veggies first since the fruit is sweeter. If you start with the fruit, they like that taste and won't eat the veggies. At least that is what we were told about 11 years ago now. LOL That may have changed. I would also give him the cereal again in the morning and feed cereal morning and night with the veggies/fruit for lunch and dinner. But as far as his sleeping through the night, I think you are just going to have to change the way you respond to him at night if you want that to change.
I haven't read all of the posts but to answer your questions:
1. Gave a bottle every 3-4 hrs. during the day, usually it was 4. She had cereal in the morning with a spoon and in her bottle before bed. (I know you're not supposed to do that, but there are a lot things we're not "supposed" to do!) It was just easier to do it that way.
I just checked my baby book ...At 11 wks, Natalie ate around 10pm, then not again until around 5 or 6am. At 18weeks, slept 11hrs. solid at night, so night feedings were completely eliminated by then. She was doing the spoon at 4mths.
2.Getting up at night...I NEVER warmed formula. Always room temp. It was good advice my sister gave me and made life much easier in the middle of the night and really anywhere we went. She woke up crying for food, I got up and went to make the bottle. I never took her with me, never took her out of the room during feedings at night. It did not hurt her to cry for less than 5 minutes IMO. I always had my bottles ready to go with boiled water (we have bad water here), so all I had to do in the middle of the night was add my scoops of formula and shake.
3.Formula care....We never really had any leftover bottles for the fridge. That was rare, and when we did I didn't keep them for long. Just didn't take the chance personally.
Out and about with formula, like I mentioned before, I always had my water ready in my bottles, so I just brought my formula along in a little formula container (they're sectioned off, you can get them in any baby dept.) and scooped it in and shook. Again, that's the bonus for room temp, no worries with heating. Also, once you go to regular milk, she's already at room temp and the cold wasn't such a shock to her. You can check any formula website for handling, time to keep it, etc. I can't remember at the moment!
4. At 6mths.hhmmmm,,,let me check, Natalie was eating quite a bit of solid food. I always gave her the formula first because it's still the main source of nutrition until 1yr. I offered her a baby food fruit and veggie at lunch and dinner, and she ate as much as she wanted. She also had cereal in the morning for breakfast and before bed.
Hope that helps! Sorry I'm long winded
Ditto Vicki on the nighttime response to his crying. We had a brief phase with Natalie about sleeping where we were holding her a lot during the day and during naps. She figured that out REAL quick! So for about a week or two, she was happy as can be until she went to bed. We did CIO and it worked very well for her. I was able to do it because I was confident there was nothing else wrong with her except she wanted Mommy or Daddy. That's just one method, you'll have to do what's best for you.
On kinds of baby foods also, you can give him whatever. There's no pattern to fruits or veggies or colors. You probably know that from Matthew. Food is food!
I am sure it must not really matter, but I did just do a quick google and it seems they are still recommending it be slow and one at a time. This is what I found:
How should I introduce other solid foods?
Gradually, one at a time, waiting at least three days after each new food. Even though it's a good idea to get your baby used to eating a wide variety of foods, it'll take time for him to get used to each new taste and texture. Introducing foods one or two at a time can also give you a heads-up if he has an allergic reaction to one of them (signs of which may include diarrhea, tummy ache, or a rash).
Every baby is different and will have unique food preferences, but the transition should go something like this:
1. Semi-liquid cereals
2. Strained or mashed fruits and vegetables
3. Finely chopped table foods, including meat and other protein sources
Once your baby is ready for more than cereal, offer a few tablespoons of vegetables or fruit in the same meal as a cereal feeding. Good foods to start with include sweet potatoes, squash, applesauce, bananas, carrots, peaches, and pears. All food should be strained or mushy for a 6-month old; at this stage he'll be pressing the food against the top of his mouth and then swallowing. If you're feeding your baby from ready-to-eat jars of baby food, scoop some into a little dish and feed him from that. Otherwise, if you dip his feeding spoon into the jar, you won't be able to save the leftovers because you'll have introduced bacteria from his mouth into the jar.
Some experts recommend introducing yellow fruits and vegetables first because they're easiest to digest, but others advise going green from the get-go so your baby doesn't develop a preference for the sweeter taste of the yellow — it's up to you which route you take. Either way, don't leave any food off his menu simply because you don't like it. Do stay away from foods that might cause an allergic reaction early on, and foods that might cause him to choke.
If your baby turns away from a particular food, don't push. Simply try again in a week or so. He may never like sweet potatoes, or he may change his mind several times and end up loving them.
By the way, don't be surprised if your baby's stools change color and odor when you add solids to his diet. If your baby has been exclusively breastfed up to this point, you'll probably notice a strong odor to his formerly sweet-smelling stools as soon as he starts eating even tiny amounts of solids. This is normal. If his stools seem too firm (rice cereal, bananas, and applesauce may be constipating), switch to other fruits and vegetables and oatmeal or barley cereal.
Thank you all for being so helpful! I'm wavering back and forth on the breastfeeding/formula options. I have to go with my instincts and I think I'm still going to breastfeed him for now. I've been reading my Dr. Sears book this morning and there is some helpful sleep info in there. However, their best advice regarding night time wakings and feedings is to change your perspective and attitude towards them. It's not forever right? I hope not.
Matthew was just so easy going and laid back, Cameron is more high needs so it's been a real adjustment for me. It would have been nice to have the high needs baby first, at least I could have napped during the day.
I will for certian start him on more solids during the day it's time. DH is going to pick up some carrots and sweet potato on the way home. All I have in the fridge is broccoli and cauliflower - too gassy for right now. I'm still going to continue with the 6 oz of formula before bed, this way DH can easily feed him and so can a babysitter if I ever find one.
Thanks for all the great advice, now send me some fairy sleep dust for my cute, cuddley, sweet, wonderful, HIGH NEEDS child.
Oh and I forgot to add that Cameron had his 6 month vaccinations yesterday plus a flu shot, that may be why he woke up so many times last night. But of course I wasn't thinking about that a 4 am.
I have done both nursing and forumla feeding, honestly your issue doens't quite seem related to that. It does sound like your baby needs a little more to eat. I think you can help train your babies habits. Really how long do you go with no liquid or food? I tend to drink water up until 11 at night and then eat no later than 9 am. So about 10 hours. For a baby, I think you really only expect 6-8, the key is getting those 6-8 when you want to be sleeping! My suggestion is to keep pushing back that last bottle. So instead of feeding him at 7, go for 7:25. For me last feeding time was always close to 9, they were asleep by 10 and we all got rest.
People knock schedules, and although I did mostly nurse on demand, I noticed a pretty natural schedule form.
First thing AM, nurse (or give a big bottle...depends on the kids, one of mine a full 8 ounces, one was 6, one was only 4). Then a couple hours later, for us around 9-10, we ate breakfast, cereal or a fruit. Then after I had my lunch at 11-12, we would nurse and take a nap. At 3-4 baby would wake hungry. I would feed a veggie. If still hungry I would nurse, sometimes I did that in reverse order. Then at the dinner table 6 ish, the little one would be at the table with us, having another veggie, or cheerios AS SOON AS he was able..LOL. I would also feed cereal at this time. Then I would nurse before bed, around 9. So if you are counting bottles, it was about 3-4 bottles a day (anywhere from 24-32 ounces a day). One of my kids needed a LOT more than that. And basically until they were eating food, i had bottles instead of food.
My suggestion is this. Write down what you are doing, then look at it. And I think you will be able to clearly see where your issues are. A baby needs a certain amount of calories, but you can't force them all at once. Typically their biggest meal needs to be at breakfast. It will kick start their metabolism and help set their schedule. Think about how well you sleep when you are just stuffed...babies aren't all that different
This is how I did it with Avery, he took 4 to 6 oz. of formula every 3-4 hours.I would always put his formula in a bottle and heat it in a pan of water on the stove. If I had to, I would use the microwave..I got lucky, never got any hot spots.
When I went out, I took bottles of warm/hot water
and took powder formula. Sometimes I would put bottles of formula in a thermal pouch with one of those thingies you heat up in the microwave or can freeze to keep your bottles warm/cold if you need too. Those really helped me out alot.
When he was 10 months, I started doing half formula/half milk. And as the weeks passed I slowly added more milk amd less formula so when he was a year it was a piece of cake when it came time to stop the formula.
He's 22 months now, and the only milk he will drink by itself is chocolate milk. I give him pediasure to make sure he's getting what nutrients he needs, plus he eats lots of yogurt.
All my babies ended up on formula because they all had reflux. I use to have to put rice in their bottles in order to keep the formula down in their tummies. My kids never drank a whole 8 ounces at a time. They usually drank up to 21 ounces a day. I don't like powdered formula because in my experience it made my kids very gassy. I heat the formula in the microwave for 30 seconds. When we go out, I always had a pre-made bottle ready. I would just take it out of the fridge and put in the diaper bag. By taking a cold bottle, I found that it could last up to 1 1/2 to 2 hours at the most.
Maybe you should start giving some additional food during the day. Fruit and vegetables are a good start. Maybe you should let him cry it out a little at night instead of going to him right away, my 10 month old starting doing that around 8 months until I put her down in her crib. I guess the extra elbow room is what she needed. Is Cameron teething?
These are only suggestions; I hope it’s useful to you. Good luck.
I have 9mth triplet boys who are all formula fed.I boil the water at night and prefill there bottles and leave them on the counter so they get there bottles at room temperature and I dont have to worry about warming 3 bottles. I just add the formula when needed.At 6mths this was there schedule
7am-6oz bottle and cereal
8:30-9:30-Nap
9:30-1045-Playtime
11am-6oz bottle and vegetable
11-30-2pm-Nap
2pm-3pm-Playtime
3pm-6oz bottle and fruit
3:30-4:30-Playtime
4:30-5:15-Nap
5:15-5:45-6oz bottle and cereal
6:15-6:45-Pjs and book time
6:45-7am sleep
Try and figure out how many oz Cameron drinks in a 24hr period and see if you can get in all in the daytime so he wont need it at nite.I never instigated feeds. When Baby A woke up then I would wake up the other 2 so they would be on the same schedule.They dropped the 3am feed 1st and them they dropped the 11pm feed.They all sleep 12 hours and its great I still get lots of time with my 7yr old DD- I hope this helps and Good Luck
Sherri
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