Feeding FAQ: 3-4 months – Formula Feeding

My 3 month baby is distraught during her bath time. Should I split the 5/6pm feed?

Should I split the 6.15pm feed so my daughter gets a proportion of it at 5.15pm, as she becomes very grumpy at around 5.50pm(bath time) then starts whinging and crying non-stop until she becomes hysterical at 6.10pm! She was born with clubbed feet and wears boots with a bar for 23 out of 24 hours a day. They come off at 5.10pm for an hour (to have a bath and exercise) and I don’t know whether she is getting hysterical prior to them being put back on or whether I’m being ridiculous and she’s too young to know any different, as she’s had them on since she was 6 weeks old. The only thing that calms her is her 6.15pm feed and she takes this so greedily in fact the 220ml bottle is drained within 5 minutes – no exaggeration! If I split the feed will it have a negative impact in other ways? She is taking 180ml of formula at 7.15am, 10.30am, 2.30pm and at 6.15 she takes 220ml followed by 180ml at 10.30pm. She presently weighs 13lbs
Also, our house is being refurbished and we are away for a whole month staying in Surrey for 1 week, Isle of man for 2 weeks and Spain for a further week. I am dreading the effect this will have on the routines as it could be very disruptive with flights etc. Please help!
The routines have been my salvation and my daughter has been a CLB sleeping through until 7am from 10.15pm for 3 weeks.

To help your daughter through this time of day better, by all means split the feed between 5 and 6pm. A lot of babies cannot wait until after their bath, even at this age. Your daughter is probably not that aware of her time without her boots coming to an end but having had a feed at 5pm she will be able to enjoy this time of day better. Taking a slightly bigger feed at this time should not affect the rest of her day adversely. Get her into this new routine now, before you begin to travel.

The time difference to Spain is only one hour, so there should not be too much disruption to her routine. Ask for bulk head seats and most airlines will let you board either first or last, many of them allowing buggy’s to be taken to the door of the plane.

Offer her a bottle of milk or water to suck, on take-off and landing which will help her ears get used to the change in pressure. Once you land in Spain and you are aware how much she may have slept on the flight, you may need to give her a short nap followed by a slightly later bedtime on the first night. The next morning start the day at 7am local time. Giving her feeds at the usual times should help her to stay pretty contented and happy, despite all the moving around you will be doing in the next few weeks. Babies of your daughter’s age are usually pretty adaptable when in different surroundings, providing the same daily routine is kept too as much as possible. Take any familiar toys with you to help her to adjust to sleeping in different rooms. Some mothers like to take bed linen from home which has a familiar smell to put in the cot at night time. Try to keep her nap times in place for most days, as an overtired baby will be harder to settle, especially when away from home.