Sometimes achieving a full feeding with your baby is easier said than done.
We are constantly asked what is a full feed for my baby? To us, a full feed is whatever amount of milk your baby will eat in a 30 minute period, including burping. We want your feed to take 30-minutes so if your baby likes to eat quickly we recommend pacing them over 30-minutes. This applies to bottle fed and breastfed infants, 6 months of age and younger. At 6 months, we see infants start to become more efficient at eating and we see the time spent taking a full feed start to lessen. Establishing and maintaining full feeds through your baby’s infancy and into toddlerhood is some of the most important work we can do as parents!
So, how can we begin to work towards full feedings?
- Start the feed almost immediately upon waking. This gives our babies enough time and enough energy to take a full feed.
- Do not feed for longer than 30 minutes! This can cause over tiredness which can lead to more difficult feeds.
- Get a nap in between full feeds. Tired babies don’t eat well, and hungry babies don’t sleep well! Working towards a full feeding between all sleeps can really help support baby feeding fully in other cycles.
- If your baby is over 12 weeks old and not feeding fully upon waking, you can offer a feed again (before their nap) to increase feed amounts. Just make sure the feed is over and they are asleep by their age-appropriate Optimal Wake Time (OWT).
We know that sometimes achieving full feeds can be difficult, but there are things we can do to troubleshoot:
- Burp well throughout the feed. This expels trapped gas to make room for more milk in your baby’s tummy. We find trapped gas can often mask a full and lead babies to stop eating. Stopping to burp more frequently (we recommend feeding for 5 minutes, burping for up to 5 minutes, and continuing for the length of the feed) can really help to ensure baby can consume their maximum amount.
- Heat the milk if you are bottle feeding! There is no medical reason to heat your baby’s milk but if they aren’t taking a full feeding, we would highly recommend trying to warm their milk to see if it encourages a fuller feeding.
- If you are using a a formula maker, try hand mixing your bottles! Sometimes formula makers can over / under concentrate formula if they are old or not maintained well. Hand mixing formula can help keep the formula mixed well and is something to try if your baby is not taking a full feeding.
- Use the age appropriate nipple level. Using too slow of a bottle flow can often lead to a bottle aversion. We recommended these sizes (based on Dr. Browns bottles):
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- 2 months old = Level 2
- 5 months old = Level 3
- 8 months old = Level 4
- 9+ months old = Level Y
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- Try a different bottle systems. Nipples with a gradual slope tend to work better for most babies instead of bottles that are more breast like in shape. Try different ones to see which one your baby prefers.
Establishing and maintaining full feeds is our first step in consistent nighttime sleep, which sets the stage for the rest of our day. Full feeds create less work for parents while also working to maintain supply of breastmilk in nursing parents. We are all about lightening the work load and we would love to show you how you can!
If you are already a member, here’s some helpful content from The Full Feedings Method Infant Online Sleep Program OTHER INGREDIENTS section to help with troubleshooting and maintaining full feedings:
OTHER INGREDIENTS > EAT > HOW TO KEEP BABY AWAKE & FOCUSED WHILE EATING
OTHER INGREDIENTS > EAT > MY BABY REFUSES TO EAT MORE
OTHER INGREDIENTS > EAT > MY BABY WAS EATING WELL AND SUDDENLY STOPPED
OTHER INGREDIENTS > EAT > BIRTH TO 4.5 WEEKS OLD
OTHER INGREDIENTS > BOTTLE FEEDING > PACE FEEDING
OTHER INGREDIENTS > BOTTLE FEEDING > EAT PLAY EAT SLEEP FOR THE BOTTLE FED BABY
OTHER INGREDIENTS > BOTTLE FEEDING > WAYS TO BOTTLE FEED
OTHER INGREDIENTS > BOTTLE FEEDING > BOTTLE FEEDING BY AGE – QUICK REFERENCE
OTHER INGREDIENTS > METHOD CONCEPTS > ALL FEEDS SHOULD BE FULL FEEDS
OTHER INGREDIENTS > METHOD CONCEPTS > WHY FEEDS SHOULD TAKE 30 MINUTES
OTHER INGREDIENTS > METHOD CONCEPTS > HUNGRY BABIES DON’T SLEEP WELL
If you are still having trouble accomplishing full feeds after following the suggestions above, reach out to us and we can try to help troubleshoot this with you further via 1:1 consulting.
P.S. If you’re not yet a member, you can learn more about the Infant program HERE. Let’s make today the beginning of the end of your sleepless nights, mama!