How Much Supplement Formula For Newborn

Why Cant I Just Breastfeed More

If breastfeeding has led to your baby not gaining weight, simply doing more of the same, in the same way, is unlikely to help until your baby has more stamina and the reasons for low gain/low milk have been found and addressed. Supplements may be needed to provide enough food, and pumping will help to jump-start your milk supply. There are a couple of situations to be aware of:

• If a baby is only slightly underweight but otherwise healthy or for whom growth faltering is a very recent event, appropriate breastfeeding management measures may be sufficient to increase a mothers breast milk supply. Always be guided by and stay in close contact with your babys doctor or health visitor. If there is no extra weight gain after two to four days, supplements will be needed .
• The newborn baby who has lost more than 10% of their bodyweight after birth, is at risk of dehydration or breastfeeding-associated hypernatremia . This is a serious condition and babies will need to be assessed by a doctor so that their electrolytes can be checked and carefully corrected and supplements provided under medical guidance 567.

When And How To Supplement Your Babys Feedings With Formula

You probably already know that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for at least your babys first 6 month of life, and continuing to use breastmilk as your babys main nutrition for their first year. But that isnt always realistic for every family and there are a host of reasons that you may decide you need to supplement with formula.

Making the decision to supplement can often cause stress on a new mom – it is completely normal to feel that way! But, we encourage you to celebrate every drop of breastmilk your baby gets to have and remind you that both breastmilk and formula will give your baby the nutrition they need to be healthy and happy. It can be hard to know when its time to supplement with formula and how to effectively give your child both breastmilk and formula, so weve put together this guide to help you more easily navigate the process.

How Quickly Will My Baby Gain Weight

It is common for an underweight baby to have a few days of weight gains up to 120g a day while they replenish body fluids . The babys ravenous appetite will settle down again and settle into the normal pattern of weight gain for their age once they have caught up. See Understanding Your Babys Weight Chart and Baby Not Gaining Weight to know what to expect as time goes on and keep a close eye on your babys weight gain as they recover from faltering growth.

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What Should I Know About How Much Formula My Baby Needs

• Understand how to estimate about how much formula your 0 to 6 month old needs per day
• Learn about how formula needs change after 6 months of age
• Know how hunger and fullness cues are an important part of how much formula your baby drinks

When it comes to feeding your baby, responding to your babys hunger cues and feeding on demand is best. But as parents we often want more specific guidance, especially when it comes to how many ounces of formula we should be feeding our baby each day. How much is enough? How much is too much? Lets set the record straight.

How much formula for ages 0 to 6 months?

During the first 6 months when solid foods are not yet in the picture, theres a simple rule of thumb to figure out how much formula your baby needs:

1) Offer 2.5 ounces of formula per pound of body weight each day.1, 7 Remember that your baby may periodically take more or less than this amount depending on their hunger and growth spurts.

Here is an example for a baby who weighs ten pounds: 10 pounds x 2.5 ounces = 25 ounces total per day

2) To figure out the number of ounces per bottle, divide this number by the number of feedings your baby has in a day.

If your baby feeds 8 times per day, you would divide 25 by 8, which comes out to a little over three ounces per feeding: 25 ounces total per day / 8 feeding times per day = 3.12 ounces per feeding

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How much formula for ages 6 to 12 months?

Sources: 5, 6, 8

What’s The Best Way To Introduce A Bottle

If your baby has never taken a bottle before, they may need a bit of coaxing. Here are some tips:

• Mimic breastfeeding by cuddling and providing plenty of skin-to-skin contact. Switch sides, as you would if your baby were breastfeeding.
• Used paced bottle feeding, which is more like breastfeeding: keep the bottle horizontal, use a slow-flow nipple, and pause often during feedings.
• Let someone else give it a go. If your baby refuses the bottle from you, they may be more receptive to taking it from someone else. Some moms find they even need to leave the house so their baby doesn’t smell them for their baby to take a bottle instead of breastfeeding.
• Give your baby the bottle when they’re just hungry but not overly hungry and upset. Try to choose a time of day when they’re usually in a good mood.

Read more about how to introduce your breastfed baby to a bottle.

If your baby is used to taking a bottle of breast milk, they won’t mind the bottle. But they may not like the taste of formula initially. Be patient while your baby gets used to the new taste, and keep trying.

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Understand That Bottle Feeding And Breastfeeding Place Different Demands On Your Baby

To breastfeed effectively, babies must open their mouth wide, latch on to the breast and then coordinate a suck, swallow and breath sequence. Bottle feeding, by contrast, provides a continuous flow of milk instead of working to extract the milk, babies only need to pause the flow of milk in order to breathe.

Because of these differences, some babies will develop a strong preference for the bottle or, less often, for the breast.

Nipple confusion. Women sometimes receive dire warnings that artificial nipples, including pacifiers, can lead to nipple confusion or an inability to latch on to the breast and effectively extract milk.

these concerns can cause significant stress for new mothers who are struggling with breastfeeding, Dr. Chad Hayes, M.D., a pediatrician practicing in Charleston, S.C., wrote on his blog.

For example, La Leche League, a nonprofit focused on breastfeeding advocacy, warns that many mothers have noticed a change in her babys sucking patterns after introducing a bottle or a dummy . Her baby may struggle and cry, find it difficult to latch on, or simply nurse ineffectively at the breast.

Flow preference. While true nipple confusion is rare, a more common cause of a baby fussing at the breast or refusing to latch is flow preference.

Reasons For Supplementing With Formula

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization recommend breastfeeding exclusively for the first four to six months and then continuing to breastfeed up until one yearor longer, along with the introduction of solid food.

For this and other reasons, including emotions and cost, making the decision to supplement with formula may not be an easy one.

While many parents breastfeed their babies and give them formula because they want to, others do so because they have to. Regardless of whether all or none of these reasons for supplementing apply to you, the decision is entirely yours.

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How Do I Know When Baby Is Hungry Or Full

Babies know when they are hungry and how much to eat. Responding to your baby’s cues will ensure proper growth and help them develop a healthy relationship with food.

If you are bottle feeding, never force your baby to empty the bottle. Stop offering when you see the signs of fullness such as decreased sucking or turning away from the bottle.

Signs a baby is hungry include becoming upset when the feeding stops, opening their mouth, and wiggling their arms and legs.

If your baby is still hungry after finishing a bottle, offer your baby another bottle of your milk or formula and let them drink until they show signs of fullness.

How Can I Tell When My Baby Is Hungry

Signs that babies are hungry include:

• moving their heads from side to side
• opening their mouths
• placing their hands, fingers, and fists to their mouths
• puckering their lips as if to suck
• nuzzling again their mothers’ breasts
• showing the rooting reflex

Babies should be fed before they get upset and cry. Crying is a late sign of hunger. But every time your baby cries is not because of hunger. Sometimes babies just need to be cuddled or changed. Or they could be sick, tired, too hot or too cold, in pain, or have colic.

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Will Supplementing With Formula Affect My Milk Supply

Yes, your supply of breast milk depends on your baby’s demand, so the less often you nurse or pump, the less milk your breasts will produce.

If you supplement with one or two bottles of formula a week, the effect on your milk supply should be minimal. But if you supplement with formula regularly and don’t pump, your milk supply will adjust to the reduced demand.

If you need to supplement for medical reasons but would ideally like to breastfeed exclusively at some point, make sure your doctor or lactation consultant know this so they can help you develop a schedule for pumping that will help maintain your milk supply.

Keep in mind that you won’t be able to use nursing as a method of birth control if you’re supplementing. For this method to be effective, your baby must be younger than 6 months old and you must breastfeed very often.

First Weeks And Months

Some babies need additional vitamin D.

Babies who are fed breast milk exclusively or who receive both breast milk and infant formula need extra vitamin D, starting shortly after birth. They can get this through over-the-counter vitamin D drops. Babies receiving only infant formula do not need vitamin D drops. Infant formula is fortified with vitamin D.

• Over the first few weeks and months, the time between feedings will get longerabout every 3 to 4 hours for most infant formula-fed babies. This means you may need to wake your baby to feed. You can try patting, stroking, undressing, or changing the diaper to help wake your baby to feed.
• Some feeding sessions may be long, and other feedings short. That is okay. Babies will generally take what they need at each feeding and stop eating when they are full.

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How Should I Start Solids

When the time is right, start with a single-grain, iron-fortified baby cereal. Rice cereal has traditionally been the first food for babies, but you can start with any you prefer. Start with 1 or 2 tablespoons of cereal mixed with breast milk, formula, or water. Never add cereal to a babys bottle unless your doctor recommends it.

Another good first option is an iron-rich puréed meat. Feed your baby with a small baby spoon.

At this stage, solids should be fed after a nursing session, not before. That way, your baby fills up on breast milk, which should be your babys main source of nutrition until age 1.

When your baby gets the hang of eating the first food, introduce others, such as puréed fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, or yogurt. Wait a few days between introducing new foods to make sure your baby doesnt have an allergic reaction.

Experts recommend introducing common food allergens to babies when theyre 46 months old. This includes babies with a family history of food allergies. In the past, they thought that babies should not get such foods until after the first birthday. But recent studies suggest that waiting that long could make a baby more likely to develop food allergies.

Offer these foods to your baby as soon as your little one starts eating solids. Make sure theyre served in forms that your baby can easily swallow. You can try a small amount of peanut butter mixed into fruit purée or yogurt, for example, or soft scrambled eggs.

How Do I Prepare Formula

Formula comes in three basic forms:

• powders that require mixing with water and cost the least
• concentrates, which are liquids that require diluting with water
• ready-to-use liquids that can be poured right into bottles. These are the most expensive but are convenient if youre traveling or cant get to a clean water supply.

Carefully follow directions on the label when preparing formula. Do not add more water than directed.

Whatever formula you choose, check the expiration date on all cans and bottles of formula, and dont use formula from leaky, dented, or otherwise damaged containers.

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Baby Wont Take The Bottle

Uh-oh, its the scenario you feared: Your baby refuses the bottle altogether. Before you panic, try to keep your cool with a few troubleshooting techniques:

• Wait longer between feedings to increase babys hunger .
• Have your partner or another caretaker do the feeding.
• Offer the bottle at a time of day when baby is usually in a good mood.
• Dribble a little breast milk on the nipple of the bottle.
• Experiment with different temperatures of formula , as well as different bottles and nipples.

Signs That Your Baby’s Getting Enough Formula

Here are signs that your baby’s getting all the formula they need:

• Steady weight gain. They continue to gain weight after their first 10 days and follow a healthy growth curve during their first year.
• Happy baby. They seem relaxed and satisfied after a feeding.
• Wet diapers. They wet two to three diapers a day in the first few days after birth. Over the next few days, the amount should increase to at least five to six wet diapers a day.

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Introduce A Bottle Early But Not Too Early

The sweet spot for introducing bottles for full term babies is usually between 2 and 6 weeks of age, said Rosenfeld. If you do it before you and your baby are in a groove with breastfeeding, she warned, your baby may learn to prefer the faster, easier flow from the bottle and lose interest in the breast.

But even more important than age, according to Dr. Neifert, is whether your baby is latching well, getting full feeds at the breast and gaining well. Some babies get the hang of nursing sooner than others.

Once your baby is nursing effectively and gaining weight, however, dont wait too much longer before introducing the bottle because the baby might reject it. Babies sucking reflexes typically start fading at around 6 to 8 weeks, so its best to introduce a bottle before this reflex has faded so your baby reflexively sucks on the bottle nipple.

When Can I Start Supplementing With Formula

You can start supplementing at any time. However, doctors and lactation consultants recommend waiting until your baby is at least 3 weeks old to start supplementing with formula, so that your milk supply and breastfeeding routine has adequate time to get established.

That way, an occasional bottle won’t be too disruptive for your baby or confusing for your body as it starts producing milk. Also, it’s usually easier to get your milk supply up by exclusively breastfeeding at first, rather than nursing and formula feeding from the start. This will also give your baby the most breast milk when they’re a newborn.

If your baby has a medical issue, such as inadequate weight gain, your doctor or lactation consultant may recommend supplementing earlier.

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Start With One Or Two Formula Bottles A Day

Each day, your body makes breast milk based on the concept of supply and demand. When you start to add formula, it can affect how much breast milk you make.

If you plan on supplementing one or two bottles a week, it shouldn’t affect your breast milk supply. But if you give your child one or two bottles of formula a day, your milk supply will begin to drop.

How Can I Tell If My Baby Is Getting The Right Amount For Growth And Development

Babies may have different needs when it comes to how often and how much they eat. Follow your babys lead. The same hunger cues that you use when breastfeeding also apply to your baby when you offer a bottle. Here are some things to look for:

Follow your babys lead

• Feed when he naturally wants to eat
• Pay attention to hunger cuesrooting for milk, sucking motions, or putting hands to mouth
• Crying can be a late sign of hunger

Measure amounts of breast milk and formula

If you are already bottle-feeding pumped breast milk to your baby, you should have a good idea of how many ounces of formula he will eat at one time. If you are only breastfeeding, its hard to be sure.

As you begin feeding your baby, he will give you cues to let you know if hes getting enough to keep him full. As he gets older, you may find that he is able to eat less often and eat more at each feeding.

To see Similac® formula feeding guidelines for babies from 1 week to 1 year old, download our baby Feeding Tracker.

Tip: You can also track feeding amounts, with Similac Pro-Advance® Ready-to-Feed baby formula. It requires no mixing and comes in premeasured 2-fl-oz and 8-fl-oz bottles.

Count the wet diapers

You can also tell whether baby is getting enough food by counting how many diapers you change each day. Six to eight wet diapers and 1 or 2 passed stools per day is common for babies fed formula. Contact your babys doctor if you have concerns about your babys eating or digestion.

Your baby’s weight gain

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