How Much Formula Should My BF Son Get?

I'm with the feed when hungry group. I would start with about 4 oz at a time. Let him eat until full. Once you do this a few times, you should be able to see how much eats at one time and estimate that he needs 2 or three 4 oz bottles a day to make it through. Kind of trial and error. HTH!

At his age I believe he should be getting 20-24 ounces of breastmilk or formula or a combination of both. If he's getting about 10 oz from you then I would try to give him about 10 oz of formula during the day. He will let you know if he needs more or less. I would combine your breastmilk with the formula so he can get used to the formula. Giving him straight formula could shock his system and make him constipated. Same thing for when you transition him from breastmilk/formula to regular milk. Good luck.

I'd ask your pediatrician - they continually change guidelines on exact amounts, but from recall, I remember it being 24-36 oz of milk/formula per day.

Here's what the American Academy of Pediatrics says on their parenting website (their sample menu is at 32 oz)
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/f...

I would talk to your peditrician about the possiblity of starting whole milk a little early instead of introducing formula at that late age. My daughter is 10 months old and has weaned herself from 4 to 3 nursings daily and really wants only the morning and, sometimes, the nighttime nursings. Besides breastmilk, she's only ever had water and I don't want to give her formula, but wanted her to have something more nutritious if we go down to only 2 nursings daily. I'm not pumping enough to give her breastmilk in her cup during the day. Her doctor told me to just start giving her whole cow's milk in her sippy cup at meal-time instead of water and try to keep nursing at least twice a day. That way, she can drink what she wants during the day and I don't have to worry about her not getting enough nutrients. If your doctor isn't keen on cow's milk before 12 months, ask about soy or rice milk to supplement the nursings for the next month and a half. Good luck!

I would talk with your doctor first.

That being said, my daughter at 10 months was getting 5-6 5 ounce bottles per day. I think around 25-32 ounces is what they recommend for bm or formula.

My 6 month old son (who eats 3 meals a day) has about 25-30 ounces per day with both bm and formula.

i always used the rule if they are hungry feed them. They eat more during growth spurts and less when not growing. So their appetites will vary. That may satisfy him most of the time but not during a growth spurt.

Hi S.,
First and foremost, I would like to commend you on exclusively breastfeeding your son for 10.5 months, while pumping. I'm a SAHM and have never had to pump for long periods of time but I do know that pumping is a job in itself.

Secondly, as a mom that has exclusively breastfed all my babies up until their first year, gradually introduced solids and then allowed them to self wean, I consider myself a breastfeeding advocate and would like to share my opinion here.

To answer your question, how much formula do you need to give your son? I say, NONE! Our bodies are amazing and as you know your breastmilk has provided all the nutrients that your son needs up until now. There is no reason to think it won't continue to do that. Breastfeeding is supply and demand, meaning that your body will produce what you son is eating. You have been successful at pumping 2 oz when you pump daily, which, imo, is alot from pumping.

If you are nursing your son morning, after work and at night, your body is making the milk he needs at that time...it is highly possible that the 2oz you're getting while pumping is the most the pump can get so your body continues to make 2 oz during that time period, no more or less. By allowing your son to suckle longer at your breast when you nurse him, your body will meet his demand and make more milk.

Oatmeal, fenugreek and mother's milk tea are some products you can use to aid milk production. I am confident you can continue this nursing relationship up until his first year, if you're willing to continue pumping. Feel free to email me if you would like more information.

Best of luck with your decision,
Peace,
J.

I agree with checking with the pediatrician first. You might need to do a little trial and error with how much he wants/needs.

The 3 meals a day and snacks in between is great and what an awesome napping/sleeping schedule - nicely done mama! I'd use that as your framework for decision making. Each kid is different but when my kid was 10 1/2 months he took a 7-8 ounce bottle of formula at each meal along with his table foods. It is important to note that he was a bigger baby (prob in the 75%ile for weight) and could chow down food like you would not believe!

When you say he gets 10 ounces total, do you mean 10 ounces for the entire day or 10 ounces each times he nurses?

Also, do you leave bottles of expressed milk for the daytime feeds? If so, then you may wish to have formula bottles of about the same quantity. The good thing is that you can always have more powder formula available and quickly mix it in a bottle if what you've given him has not satiated him.

Finally when would he be getting the formula? Is he going to go breast milk as long as possible until you run out of frozen reserve or are you going to start introducing formula as a means to stretch out the milk as long as possible? If he's going to have like one bottle, start out with maybe 3-4 ounces and see how he does with that, adjusting accordingly.

Good luck - hope this hasn't been too all over the place! Nutritional changes, like everything else, are a lot of times trial and error but eventually the two of you will figure it out and he'll be just fine. Good luck with this (and remember, your summer break will be here soon, right?).