Frequency of bottles 6-8 month olds

How often to you give a bottle to baby and how many oz?
I am finding my girls (8 months, but 6.5 adjusted) are eating less and less per feed and I am wasting tons of formula! I have been feeding every 3-4 hours through the day, and every 2 hours in the evening just before bed. They sleep through the night.

DS at that age had 6oz every 4 hours. 1 8oz bottle before bed.

They might want to eat less, more often during a growth spurt. Make smaller bottles?

make smaller bottles.
are they on solids? that could be why, too.

or growth spurts.. or teething..

Quoting κατι:" DS at that age had 6oz every 4 hours. 1 8oz bottle before bed."

Does he finish those bottles?

Quoting A is Me:" They might want to eat less, more often during a growth spurt. Make smaller bottles?"

Ya, that's the obvious thing to do. I've been reluctant to in case they do happen to finish the bigger amount. I think I will try that though!

Quoting JiLLiAN.:" make smaller bottles. are they on solids? that could be why, too. or growth spurts.. or teething.."

Yes, they are on solids. I don't give them a whole lot though and it seems to be the same whether or not I give them a meal.

Have you introduced solids yet? That might help.

Ooo sometimes my son would waste formula,Like someone else said I would give them a smaller amount.

Quoting κατι:" Ooo sometimes my son would waste formula,Like someone else said I would give them a smaller amount."

Thanks! I just worry so much when they don't eat enough through the day. I have had days lately that they have had less than 20 oz all day long! I suppose they could be going through a phase (teething or something), but it's been like this for a couple weeks now.

They were eating almost 30 oz per day about a month ago. Maybe that was a growth spurt?

Quoting twingals:" They were eating almost 30 oz per day about a month ago. Maybe that was a growth spurt?"

hi
mine do the same thing. they're 8.5 mos, 6.5 adjusted
they go through stages, eating a ton for a few weeks, then falling off for a few weeks.
we feed every four hours; we offer 8 ounce bottles as first and last bottles of the day. 7 ounce bottles as the other two meals.
a few weeks ago, they were polishing these off. but lately they've slowed down quite a lot. maybe 5.5. - 6 ounce feedings. i know what you mean about wasted formula!
i don't make smaller bottles tho, in the hopes that they do finish. i figure, what's another coupla ounces, you know? in light of a whole year or more of this stuff....

anyways, i'm not worried about it. they're a good size and healthy.

we also do solids. i think solids actually help them eat more because they poop more often. makes room!

Quoting regina_margot:" hi mine do the same thing. they're 8.5 mos, 6.5 adjusted they go through stages, eating a ton for a ... [snip!] ... size and healthy. we also do solids. i think solids actually help them eat more because they poop more often. makes room!"

Thanks for your input!
Ya, mine are only taking 3-5 oz per feed these days. They do 7 oz just before bed though. They used to take 7 oz in the morning too, but now it's only 4 or 5.
I was just thinking about changing up their schedule to see if that might help... maybe eliminate a bottle and stretch out the feeds further (if they'll let me!).
It's not so much about the waste... although it does get expensive! They are on Nutramigen pre-mix so it is like $25 per day of formula. Oh well!!

Quoting twingals:" Thanks for your input! Ya, mine are only taking 3-5 oz per feed these days. They do 7 oz just before ... [snip!] ... the waste... although it does get expensive! They are on Nutramigen pre-mix so it is like $25 per day of formula. Oh well!!"

woah! mine are on similac sensitive, so it's more like $15 per day

for what it's worth, we've learnt to be v delicate in switching any part of their schedule. for starters, everything with them is always a phase, quickly reverts or develops into something else.
also, if anything does bother them (e.g., teething) sticking on schedule at least offers something steady for them in a changing world.
also, if you do change feeding schedule, there is a good chance sleeping schedule will also change. do you necessarily want that? kwim?

we also had a phase where they were eating a lot less, and so we had the same thought of moving to 3 times a day, our pedi said not to, to keep at four. she said it's just not done. that's not much a reason, i know!

lastly, maybe pre-pour a bunch of smaller bottles, and keep in fridge on hand? for example, make a coupla sets of 4-ouncers, and a coupla sets of 3-ounces, so that you can start w. the 4-ouncer, and quickly grab the pre-poured 3-ounce bottle if there seems to be interest?

<blockquote><b>Quoting twingals:</b>" Ya, that's the obvious thing to do. I've been reluctant to in case they do happen to finish the bigger amount. I think I will try that though!"</blockquote>




You can always make more. I know that's not easy when you have two hungry babies though, so maybe making like three or four ounce bottles ahead of time and keeping them in the fridge will make it easier.