10 week old, new to formula - how often?

My sister has just been hospitalised, and must be kept away from her beautiful children until she can get a place in a MBU :(

Given that DH & I both work fulltime, we can't take her 20 month old, but I have offered to take her 10 week old, as he sleeps most of the day, and doesn't move around, so I can take him to work if necessary.

My question is - how often should I be giving him formula? Do I wait until he cries and make sure he's not wet/dirty/tired before giving him a bottle? Or should he still be feeding every 2-3 hours?

Oh no :( I hope she is OK. Are you able to find out what sort of timetable he is already feeding to? You pretty much just follow their cues, but seeing as how you've been thrown in the deep end, you may not pick them up so if you had a rough idea it would make it easier for you to know when he needs a feed. By this age, he would be going every 3ish hours, sometimes more sometimes less. You usually rule out wet/dirty nappies first and then offer a feed. I hope she can get a place soon so she can be with her babies again :hug:

Thanks Trill :) I kinda don't wanna ask what timetable he's on - Mum's in hospital and Dad's a mess, understandably. As you say, it should be fairly easy to follow the cues, I've looked after him before for a couple of days so it shouldn't be too bad.

WRT getting a place soon - I kinda hope she doesn't, which I know is going to sound awful. But I just want her to have a decent rest and break, without having to look after anyone except herself, and if she goes into a MBU, she'll still have bub, who I know she's been struggling with anyway. He's so clingy, which she just can't handle, being a fairly standoffish person. So I'm hoping she has to wait for a few days at least, hopefully a week. Does that make sense?

Yep, it makes sense :hug: I'm sure that you will be able to get through just fine not knowing, but it would have made the transition for you a bit easier. Expect that he may be a bit unsettled for a little while because he will be away from Mum and he will sense that something isn't right. It might be a good idea if you could get a hold of a carrier to keep him close to you if he's a bub that likes to be held and it will help with any unsettledness. I know you're supposed to be on a break from here, but if you have any questions make sure you ask :)

:hug: I hope she's ok.
What a wonderful thing you are doing for your sister.
What Trillian said in regard to feeding, you can still demand feed with formula.
GL

LOL, I was gonna say that Trill, about being on a break - but this is a BB emergency! (I'm secretly glad, I don't like these withdrawals!)

That's nice of you to say Pandora, but its kind of selfish too, I get to play Mummy for a little while :) The only problem is gonna be giving him back...

hey babe is she going to KEMH MBU? thats where i was and it was freakin awesome.... does she know she will only be able to take her youngest with her (they dont allow children over 12 months in there to stay).... MBU nurses will put bubs on a 3-4 hourly feeding routine so best to start that at home. at 10 weeks DD was having feeds every 3-4 hours, then usually 2 x 5 hr stretches overnight between bottles.

i hope she is ok and im sure the MBU will help, the first week is the hardest but they do take the babies into the nursery the first 2 nights so mums get a good sleep. if you want any info on MBU contact me x

I don't know TM, I'm thinking they're just gonna put her wherevers available first, y'know? Yeah, she knows she can only take her youngest, I think its a relief for her :)

Thanks for the info about the feeding, good to know! :hug:

KEMH is the only MBu in perth, i just wasnt sure if your sis was in perth or not (im guessing so caus ur lookin after her little one, der!!) they are building one at the new fiona stanley hospital too. it sucks theres only 8 beds in the whole of perth xx

Oh, LOL, I didn't realise :) Wow, only 8 beds in the whole of Perth?! Thats insane!