Is a routine easier to set up and maintain when bottle-feeding?

[fludo]

I'm currently breastfeeding with no real issues but was just wondering if it's easier to get into a routine with formula feeding? Meaning, on formula there is a set amount that they're supposed to have and how often, whereas with breastfeeding all babies seem to be different and some days she wants it more often than others and wants to feed for different lengths of time. It's also hard to know when she cries an hour after a feed if she's just tired or she really wants more food or just a suck.

I'm not considering switching just yet, but was just wondering if others had experiences of a more settled routine / lifestyle on formula.

[growingbelly]

for me bottle feeding has made it easier to establish a routine. i know how much to offer her and when. i suffer from anxiey disorder so having a routine and some 'rules' (as in how many mls however many times a day) is realy helpful to me :).

[mum2bubba]

I have found it easier with a routine. :yes:

[Ana Gram]

I didn't find it that much easier to be honest. I still demand fed with formula.

[SorenLorensen]

I didn't find it that much easier to be honest. I still demand fed with formula.
thats what i do....still
DD2 is 5 months and we have no routine. when she wants to be fed she gets fed. sometimes she will go 4 - 5 hours sometimes she will go 2. over night she will go about 12.
i have a friend who's bub is the same age is DD2 and they are both pretty much the same, she is BF.

[kady1978]

My bubs was breast fed until 5 months... then we made the transition over to formula feeding.

The only difference is she sleeps better through the night, but this could also be with the introduction of solid foods?

I demand feed formula. I have tried every three hourly, and generally that is pretty much what she wants. But, like me, some days she is hungrier than others, and can have 10 bottles instead of her usual 8. So now I more demand feed. I just take bottles out with me everywhere, it works a charm.

[threechooks]

My DS is 5 months and I am breastfeeding and on a strict routine,he has 6 feeds in a 24 hour period but I wouldn't reccommend a routine for breastfed babies under 4 months or so as you need to demand feed to establish your supply when they are that age. It works for me he knows when its feed time and knows when its sleep time!!! this took us some practice to develop :D

[Leisa21]

DS is 8 months old and breastfed. It took 6 months and feeding him 3 solid meals a day before I could get him into a routine but I'm glad now as things are pretty simple. he puts himself to sleep. I pull out the boob 4 times a day for 15 mins max a time. its convenient, DS loves it and if he is extra hungry one day I can feed him more without worrying if I'm giving him too much!!! I dont think it matters what you feed them, some babies fight a routine, mine did but he came around when he was ready.

[delirium]

I demand fed both my kids who are ff. So I don't think it makes an easier routine. Although the fact that other people can feed the baby can be an advantage.

[moonke]

DD was demand fed. It worked out to be about every 4 hours.
It obviously changed when she had a growth spurt.

[Mahjong]

I don't and didn't (with DS1) find it easier IMO, my boys had/have a habit of changing the rules every week, so I just go with the flow.

Some days Deek is smack bang on 4 hourly feeds, other days when he is having a growing day (like yesterday) he fed every 2.5-3 hours.

I demand feed him as well.

[becca022]

We demand fed DS when he was on formula. If he was hungry he got it. We didn't really set up a routine til he was on solids 3 times a day & we gave him a bottle between that.

[threechooks]

My DS is 5 months and I am breastfeeding and on a strict routine,he has 6 feeds in a 24 hour period but I wouldn't reccommend a routine for breastfed babies under 4 months or so as you need to demand feed to establish your supply when they are that age. It works for me he knows when its feed time and knows when its sleep time!!! this took us some practice to develop :D

:ecomcity: sorry I did not answer the question... Obviously I can't compare as I have only BF

[Love is all you need]

I agree with Delirum the fact that we can get others to feed bubs with a bottle is fantastic.

We don't have a routine I demand feed her when she is hungry, I'm not going to let her scream it out just as bf mums wouldn't if they are hungry you feed them so no we haven't got a strict routine but she roughly wants a feed every 3 - 4 hours so we are on full alert around that time, it was the same when she was being bf too!

[NibbleCurlynBub]

No.. For me it was harder.

Every feed needed to be made directly before it was drunk and bottles needed washing.
It was more work. It really was.

I am a fan of letting babies slot into their OWN routine as far as their needs go. Every baby will need a different amount of sleep and so they should be allowed to listen to their bodies and be encouraged that way. JMO.

BFing has not been work for me AT ALL to be honest. I have had thrush and the onset of mastitis twice.. But still, it hasn't been work.
It is easier if you just don't think about it. At all.

I mean it. Just DO breastfeeding and don't think about it. Don't think about the alternatives, the problems, the 'what-ifs'.
I have found it easier this way.

[Cheeky Little Monkey]

I honestly don't think it makes a difference. All babies (IMO) should be demand fed regardless of being FF or BF. The only real difference I see is that you see how much formula is going to waste or being consumed. Breastfeeding (if you are able to do it) is quicker and no bottles to clean, sterilise and prepare. I breast fed (not very sucessfully I will add ;) and formula fed my first child and FF my second child. If anything my second child took longer to establish a good routine with FF.

[the dargonfly faery]

We demand fed DD it works out to be every 4 hrs give or take. I found i was able to get someone else to feed her if i needed to which is a advantage. But it is a lot more work to do, cleaning, making the bottels, ect. I found over time she had different cries and now i can work out what she wants though her cries, which helps. Plus i know 1 hr after her bottel she is not hungry as she is on 3 soilds a day plus milk feed unless she drinks only 100mils then she might be if so i give her a feed.

[fludo]

Thanks for all the responses. I'm not wanting a strict routine but I think for me I struggle with not knowing if she's had enough to eat (not knowing what her cries mean) so I thought if she was on formula it would be easier to know and then I could structure her day better.

I'll keep going with bf for now as it's still early days, but is interesting to hear all your experiences with both types of feeding.

[cja]

Just wanted to add that I think it depends on the baby....with DS on formula he stuck to a strict routine that he set and stuck to every day.....but DD has been very different no routine at all will drink different amounts at different times every day.....

[Funkychicken]

I haven't bottle fed a baby, only breastfed, but watching my SIL lug around this huge bag with all her bottle paraphernalia and having to get out of bed to mix and warm each bottle always seemed like a lot of extra work to me.

Then having to wash, sterilise and refill the bottles daily seemed to take her as much time as it took me to actually get through a breastfeed, without me having to get out of my seat! :D

More specifically on your OP, we as adults sometimes feel hungry a lot and some days we aren't as hungry, so I imagine babies are the same, which his why it is recommended that all babies, breast or formula, be fed on demand, not on set times as they were in the old days. :)

[Littletreasures]

hmmm i FF fed my son and it was so easy to put a routine in place ( 3 Months)
however i BF my DD and i did finally get a routine in place but that was only once i started FF and i regret every minute of it... i wish i had of just persisted with rocking and letting her suck to sleep rather then switching to FF it really wasnt that bad it made me sit and think whicg is time i just cant seem to find now.. it was the worst mistake i have ever made, i had such a special bond with my DD and now it seems to have just dissapeared... if i could turn back time i would have continued BF and just dealt with it...

[~Temet Nosce~]

It was easier for me yes :yes: but then Ive never breastfed longer than 3 days, so I dont really have anything to compare it with.

Guess we will see if/when another bub comes along.. :detective: