Help... Is she getting enough?

Ok - I finally found the courage to post.
I feel like such a failure...
Second time mum and I still have no idea!!:redface:

My daughter was born 1 week ago. We tried breastfeeding but my nipples are too flat and in a very awkward position and my breasts too big and saggy - wow, that made me feel great about myself!

We made the decision to put Teaghan on formula the morning after her birth - I was made to make a snap decision on what formula to use and was very rushed about it. When I asked for some advice, I was told to make the decision. So I put her on Karicare as it's apparently easier on the belly...
After making the decision we were left to our own devices - even though they knew there was a 5yr gap between my babies and I had no idea where anything was in the feeding room. (I also never got any pain relief for my second degree tear either after that - it felt like we were completely forgotten about.. She wasn't even given the obs she was meant to have after having had mec stained fluid.) Each feed she would projectile vomit back up and dry reach and then look like she was having heartburn. When I asked the midwife about it she said she probably has some reflux and it should settle down.
We were sent home 24hrs after birth. We battled on with the same routine - feed, vomit, gag and reflux. Finally upon talking to DF, I realised my first born was put on a soy based formula because I had asthma and excema so when the midwife came for her visit that day we brought it up and she was happy for me to change formulas and was shocked that I had had no help in working out the best formula for Teaghan.

With the new soy formula, she stopped projectile vomitting, dry reaching and her reflux went. Yay! However, she is only taking 70-80mls per feed and the midwife said she should be having 90mls at least... We struggle to get that 70-80mls into her and it can take up to an hour to feed.

We have been using the Avent bottles and today we went and got a Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature bottle, a Mam anti-colic bottle and a normal small teat Tommee Tippee bottle. TT CTN was the same as Avent but she took 90mls from the Mam bottle and it only took 40mins to feed... Next feed we are trying the small teat...

My problem is - is 70-80mls enough? How do I encourage her to take more?
Her birthweight was 7lbs 3oz or 3255g. She was 2 weeks early. She only lost 125g when she was weighed 3 days after birth and put on 50g 2 days after that.
Also she tends to sleep all day and has her awake periods during the night. How do I turn that around?

Thanks in advance...:crossfingers:

At 1 week old 50mls is sufficient. Up til 2 weeks actually. From 2 weeks to 1 month up to 100mls is recommended. You can't really go by what they print on the formula tin as they are just encouraging you to buy more formula. I do remember however my MCHN told me the above figures.

I don't think you can really do too much about changing when bubs is awake. At such a young age they will sleep when they feel like it & wake when they feel like it & eventually start to realise they should be sleeping at night.

By the way you are not a failure. I had a lot of trouble because of flat nipples & attachment problems so I understand how difficult it is to BF with those issues. I perservered for 6 weeks before I went fully formula & I've never regretted stopping BFing. We all do the best we can for our bubs & sometimes the best thing we can do is to FF.

An exciting but scary time misbec!!
90mls is a lot for a tiny bub like yours hun so don't worry it should be more like 60mls! So she is doing well. Her tummy is only the size of her fist if that. I had not so great boobs for feeding too. DD was on 60mls of formula every four hours when we left hossy at 7 days. We were trying to flush her jaundice before my supply was enough that I could express full time. Around 10 or 12 days we upped it to 80mls

She will work out night from day soon enough on her own it can take a little while. One thing I did was expose my DD to light during the day and made sure at when it got dark at night we kept it darkish in the house but really not much you can do.

90mls is alot for a bub that little. Remember, its the made up amount, not the amount of water u put in.

Im lucky to get DD to have 90 mls and shes nearly 9 months!

just go with the flow hun, listen to your bub, not the measurements.

It was the midwife at the hospital that told me she should be on 90mls in 6 bottles in a 24hr period...

I really do need to remember she is only a week old.

Satya - thank you. I feel like I should know all this and when I try to ask the professionals, they all treat me like an idiot because I don't know...

ezymay - Teaghan had some jaundice when she was around the 2 days old but it's completely gone now... It's just so hard to know if I am doing the right thing when no one will give me a straight answer...

[M]umma[M]ia - It's 90mls of made up formula... I just worry that I am not going to give her enough and she won't put weight on, iykwim?

from memory (dd was 7lb 12oz) and i think we were on 60 mls. Tho that was breastmilk. But im sure its the same. There is a way to work out how much they are meant to have, but i cant think of it for the life of me atm. Has something to do with their weight.

When we had dd on formula from about 2 & 1/2 weeks, she was only taking 60 mls at most at each feed (that is what we made up cause it was the smallest amount per scoop of that brand).. If she starts drinking that amount and looking for more, make another scoop and judge that way.. She will tell you if she wants more or not..

Jade was having 60ml bottles 6 or 7 times a day at that age hun so if ur getting 90ml into her at a time thats plenty! GL

Thanks girls...

tattmama - hows it going with you? we used to be in the same bellys group before my miscarriage and having Teaghan...

Hey Missbec!

So this is what I found on a website.

(1 week)= 1-2 ounces
(1 week to 1 month)= 2-4 ounces
(1 month to 3 month)= 4-6 ounces

or they say to give your baby 2.5 ounces per pound of formula each day. So if your baby weighs 6 pounds than in a 24 hour period they should drink 15 ounces.

Also it really does depend on your baby. As long as she is eating I would not be worried

missbec: yeah things r ok now, im a single mum now which is going really well surprisingly!!

FF shouldn't be looked at any differently than breastfeeding, feed your baby until they are full and when they are hungry. If they are taking half the amount every 2 hours, that is no different than taking the full amount every 4. I wouldn't like to have food shoved down my throat when I am full :)

That is MY opinion of course :)

Hi there,

It can be really shocking the lack of attention and support women are given in hospital, I'm glad your home visit went better.

Re: the amount of feedings - don't worry too much about what the tin says the tin info can vary even from brand to brand:rolleyes:. There is actually a generally accepted 'formula' for formula feeding as a guide for babies up till solids. That is 150mls of formula per kg of body weight / number of feeds. So as an example, if you baby is 3.5kg and one week old she roughly needs 3.5 x 150ml = 525ml in a 24 hour period. If she is having say 8 feeds a day, that is roughly 65ml per feed.

BUT, some babies drink a lot more formula (always feed baby until they are full) and some drink a lot less (maybe they want to be fed more frequently go by baby as a guide, or maybe they just don't have big appetite). So, it is just a GUIDE. You will feel more reassured if you take your baby to be weighed regularly that your baby is drinking enough for HER. Plus, her stomach will expand - she might start drinking more as she gets bigger. HTH.

hi missbec

it's all so confusing, isn't it? When I start getting upset about feeding Zac I just keep reminding myself that he is happy and healthy. He doesn't follow the 'rules' that the midwives and the LC and MCHN told me (all of which were slightly different, of course), but he's not hungry - follow your bub's cues, that's all you can really do. If you were BF that would be everyone's advice as you can't tell how much they're getting then!

I'm so glad you got some better help once you got home and were able to switch formula - I can't imagine what those first few days must have been like for you.

Cate - they were horrible! I felt like the worse mother on earth because it didn't matter how I fed her or burped her, it would all still happen... Nasty.
It's all heaps better now - she is still holding onto a lot of wind but I just have to perservere with burping her mid way through the bottle.

Update - Had our MCHN appointment yesterday and Teaghan has put on 225gms in 7 days and grown 1.5cms in 2 weeks! So I guess we are doing something right!!!

that's good news - it's great to be able to see 'results' like weight gain. I find I have to burp Zac at least once during a bottle - even with the low flow newborn teats they seem to just get so much so fast that you can't avoid wind. I'm always impressed at the volume of his burps though - in comparison to the size of his body, I reckon he can out-burp his daddy! :lol: