Feeding question for 6 day old baby?

Question

Hi I had my beautiful baby girl 6 days ago, she is absolutlely perfect! But my question is she is eating ALOT, I have been giving her 2 ounces of formula every 2 hours or so, but she is starting to want more. So when she still acts hungry I am fixing her another bottle, which she then takes just a little bit of, and stops. I don't want to leave her hungry (and she'll sceam till she gets that little bit more) but I also don't want to keep wasting all that formula. Do you think it would be ok to add just a little bit more water to the bottle with the 2 oz amount of formula? Or should I just continue with what I have been doing? Any suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance.

I use a pacifier, and she spits it out if she is still hungry. Also it would be really hard to make a 3 oz bottle since you use one scoop for every 2 oz.

She is a really great baby it is easy to figure out what she wants. I know she wants more.

Answer 1

Yeah... that is fine... If you want to give her 2.5 ouces of water and however much formula for 2oz of water. It's not going to hurt her, my mother and I did this with my son for the same reason... we didn't want to continue wasting formula. If you're really not sure.. consult your peditrician. Good LUck!

Answer 2

Why don't you try giving her 3oz of formula, not just watered down formula. In giving her this she might be satisfied longer than 2 hours also (she might want to eat everything 3 hours). And you can always make another bottle and refrigerate the "left overs" for a period of time. Check the instructions of the formula for just how long it will keep. My daughter was eating 3 oz at 3 days old, but continued this for a least 2 months, so its not that unheard of for her to be wanting that much.

Answer 3

Please do not add more water. Its not good for the baby. The formula itself has enough water in it. I have a 7 week old baby girl and she is now drinking 4oz. I also use powdered formula. When she was drinking 3 oz. all I did was put 1 1/2 scoops. When she gets to drinking 5oz. just use 2 1/2 scoops. You see how it works?Just add that extra ounce and you'll see that she'll be satisfied. If you want to contact me my e-mail address is [e-mail] I also have another daughter who is 2 1/2 years old, so I've been thru this twice already. Good Luck

Answer 4

If she is hungry feed her....What I did was make up like a six oz bottle....fed my son until he didn't want anymore....and put the rest in the fridge.....it worked out because it gave us 2 feedings in one bottle....3 oz each and that seemed to satisfy him for a while. Don't just add more water, that will dilute the formula, taking away some of the nutrition.....

Answer 5

i wouldnt put more water in her formula... it's supposed to be made the way they tell you. and if you don't want to do a half a scoop, just make a day's worth at once. The can tells you you can store it in the refrigirator for up to 24 hours. They make special pitchers for storing formula (Babies'R Us), that way you can give her 3oz. I've used that method with my son after i stopped breastfeeding, it's a little faster, he's very demanding, that way i get him what he wants before the wailing.... Anyways, Good Luck, and congrats on the new baby!

i'm glad you're listening to your baby.. keep doing that and forget about the "scheduling" a routine is okay, but not by the clock, by your baby.. Give her more when she wants more, and don't let her cry just to spread away her feedings.. how would you like it if someone did that to you? Enjoy your baby, love your baby and she'll love you back :)

Answer 6

Check the label on your formula for directions to make a big batch of formula. I know with Similac Advanced you can mix 1C of powdered formula with 23 oz. of water and you can keep it in the fridge for 24 hours (this is especially helpful as your child gets older). I did this in a blender to avoid lumps.

I got tripped up on the odd number of ounces too. If you don't want to make that big of a batch you can always make a 6oz. bottle and split it in half for two feedings.

I was overwhelmed at how often I had to feed my newborn, it's so hard to know what they need/want. Trust me though, you'll get the hang of it! She'll let you know! Hope this helps! Congratulations on your new bundle of joy!

Answer 7

why not make up 3 oz bottles instead of a 2oz bottle.

do NOT add more water or more formula unless you are making up equal quantities - for eg 2oz water > 2 scoops, as this can cause your baby problems.

maybe the baby isnt hungry, have you tried a dummy?

if these things do not work, speak to your HV or MW

Answer 8

I had this same problem with my now 5 month old. I had to make him hold out. Say Ok its 12:00 now and I am going to make her wait until 3:00 to eat. This way she will eat more when her feeding time comes and it will hold her off longer for another feeding. It will seem cruel because she is going to cry. Try taking her for a walk or rocking her to sleep. But then at 3:00 she should eat well. Again, this may seem mean but you have got to get her on a schedule. It will take about a day or two but then she will catch on. Then you can even try spreading them out to every 4 hours. My son now is like a clock, every 4 hours on the nose he is hungry.
Good luck.

Answer 9

If you add more water you are just going to dilute the food she is eating. Mix a bottle of 3 ounces and then you won't be wasting anything.
I used to have the bottles all ready in the refrigerator ready to go so that I just had to add the water.
Congratulations on the new baby girl.! :-)

Answer 10

I would up it to 3 ozs. You cant feed her too much, my baby girl is 8 weeks, She left the hospitol eating 3 ozs every 2-3 hours. You do not wnat to add more water. They dont need that much. Your fine feeding her what she wants as long as its not 8 ozs. If she wants 3 ozs go for it. She is good. Your doing fine , just relax and enjoy it. Congradulations!!

Answer 11

try 3oz and she may eventually move feedings to every 3 hrs. When my son was born the women in the NICU gave him 3 oz of formula AND I BF'd him on top of that.

There is no need for extra water. the formula has a lot of water anyway and you dont want her to fill up on water you want the nutrition of the formula.