My baby drank 46 ounces yesterday. Is that too much?

Question

Yesterday was the first day that I kept track of how much formula my 4 month old baby drank. (First time in awhile at least). I can't believe she drank over 46 ounces! I quit feeding her cereal because I thought it was distrupting her sleep, but I think I better start feeding her cereal again. She is a big baby. She's not obese though, but just looks about the size of a 6 month old. She's tall also. I'll take any advice on the cereal or solid food thing. I just don't know how much and how often to feed her. I assumed I should stick with cereal for a week. It must have not been the cereal disrupting her sleep because she still woke up even when I didn't feed her.

Answer 1

I don't think cereal is recommended unless your doctor told you to do that. I waited until 6 months with both my kids. Babies go thru lots of growth spurts especially during the first year. They will eat as much formula as they need. That is about 6 - 8oz bottles. That doesn't seem like too much, especially for a big baby.

Answer 2

By cereal i,m guessing you mean the powdered stuff that you mix with the baby milk ?

I would,nt argue with giving her that. If she,s a hungry baby and she sounds like she is then she,ll need it to fill her up.

I started to wean my son at 4 months, the health visitors will all tell you to wait till they reach the 6 month mark.But you are her mum and you know her best. As for the milk 46 ounces does seem rather a lot but when you consider that,s only like 5 9oz bottles it,s not a lot. I don,t know what baby formula you use but i have cow and gate and on the back of the box is a guide to how many bottles/ounces your baby should need a day. Like i said though if she,s a hungry baby she will need more than they recommend.

If you are a bit worried at the amount though i would go and have a word with your health visitor. They will more than likely tell you she should only be on 4 7oz bottles a day, they did this with me. But you will know if she,s still hungry or not and as long as she meets the criteria on the growth chart and is a healthy little girl i really would,nt worry.

Answer 3

Your baby will drink whtever she needs as a general rule but maybe it would be worthwhile trying foods such as pureed vegetables as cereal can be quite hard for little tummies to digest. Also, when my boy was young i found he was filling up on milk and it made his appetite for food less so try offering the food before the milk instead of after. As for how often, try offering some food each time she is due a milk feed during the day. If she is a healthy weight and happy though, just let her guide you on what she needs.

Answer 4

I think you should seek the advice of a doctor. In my experience, you are setting your child up for obesity. I was told my doctors and family that you should NEVER feed a baby cereal before 6 months of age. What you are doing in my opinon, is substituting feeding for good parenting. Do you play with your child? Read with your child? Is your child able to self soothe themself out of your presence? A child's need for sucking is more than what they should eat. That's why pacifiers were invented. A nursing mother can nurse all day, doesn't mean that the baby is actually eating, a baby can be simply soothing itself with the sucking. The pacifiers are a convience for the mothers not to be incapacitated all day with a baby on the breast. Because that's natural and what nature intended.

Answer 5

my son was like that a very hungry baby i use to put crushed farleys rusk in with his milk and he use to drink around the same every day but he turned out fine he is 5 years old this year and still eats well. when ur baby starts to walk she will lose alot of her weight.its were she is just still a baby if u feel giving her cereal is helping then continue im sure its not doing any harm. have u tried SMA for hungry baby that might help. hope the info helps you

Answer 6

i think of if she's getting 4 ozdown each and every 4 hours then it relatively is 24 oza day, which could be lots for her. while my daughter replaced into 8 weeks she might have between 2-4 ozevery 2-3 hours for the duration of the day, and she or he might decide for about 4 hours between bottles at night. If she's gaining weight and having a minimum of 6-8 moist diapers an afternoon, then she's probable getting relatively some milk.

Answer 7

I feed my daughter whenever she wants her bottle. she's 5 month old and started eating solids now. she is one of these really hungry babies too. changed her milk from sma gold to sma white when she was 2 month old because she wanted a bottle every two hours.
does she wake up because she's hungry? my daughter used to wake up at 3 just to drink an ounce and then fall asleep with the bottle in her mouth. she wasn't really hungry.just much nicer sleeping on my belly :) started ignoring her for about 5minutes and most of the time she fell asleep again.

Answer 8

According to babycenter.com, there is a formula to determine how much formula your baby needs.

"If your baby isn't eating any solids (as he shouldn't before 4 to 6 months of age), the general rule of thumb is to offer him 2.5 ounces of formula per pound of body weight each day. So if your baby weighs 6 pounds, you'll give him about 15 ounces of formula in a 24-hour period. If he weighs 10 pounds, he should drink 25 ounces in a 24-hour period."

Without knowing your baby's weight, I can't determine for sure if it's too much. However, the amount fluctuates over a few days, so if this is an isolated day then she could be just very hungry.

As for solid foods, you should follow the cues from your baby. If she is showing signs of readiness. Only you know your baby. These are:

• Head control. Your baby needs to be able to keep his head in a steady, upright position.

• Losing the "extrusion reflex." To keep solid food in his mouth and then swallow it, your baby needs to stop using his tongue to push food out of his mouth.

• Sitting well when supported. Even if he's not quite ready for a highchair, your baby needs to be able to sit upright to swallow well.

• Chewing motions. Your baby's mouth and tongue develop in sync with his digestive system. To start solids, he should be able to move food to the back of his mouth and swallow. As he learns to swallow efficiently, you may notice less drooling. He may also be teething around the same time.

• Significant weight gain. Most babies are ready to eat solids when they've doubled their birth weight (or weigh about 15 pounds) and are at least 4 months old.

• Growing appetite. He seems hungry — even with eight to ten feedings of breast milk or formula a day.

• Curiosity about what you're eating. Your baby may begin eyeing your bowl of rice or reaching for a forkful of fettuccine as it travels from your plate to your mouth.


Also check with your pediatrician on whether your baby is ready.

Answer 9

Try giving her cereal before bed that way shes filled up before bed and "should" start sleeping through.
Also id start to introduce fruit at dinner times, your baby now needs other nutrients in other foods, and milk now isn't enough, thats propably why shes drinking so much, as it isn't filling her up enough!
If your unsure what to feed her then i think its best to see your doctor as they will give you a diet list with every thing she can and carn't eat.
Good luck , and don't worry, the time to worry is when they don't eat!

Answer 10

Don't worry about it...I always did...and then I realized if she is hungry she will eat if she isn't she won't ... I would give her baby cereal and then start some baby food...but my daughter for months ate 40 oz or more almost every day even while eating baby food. She is fine...and an overweight baby