Babies can drink cold formula and there's no need to warm up formula for babies unless they get fussy and will only drink the warm formula.
Cold or room temperature formula will not harm your baby and whether you heat it or feed the formula to your baby cold or room temperature is okay.
A baby can drink both breast milk and formula and you can either alternate between breast milk and formula through the day or even add some breast milk with the formula in the same bottle.
To combo feed with breastmilk and formula you can mix some breastmilk in the same bottle with the formula or you can feed your baby formula and then the next feeding simply feed them breastmilk and then formula again and repeat.
Many parents will alternate breast milk feedings with formula feedings through the day.
When transitioning your baby to formula it can take your baby's stomach 1 to 2 weeks to adjust to formula.
Switching between breast milk and formula can upset baby's stomach and cause side effects such as gas, constipation and stomach upset.
When switching between breast milk and formula you should wait at least 3 weeks to 4 weeks before you supplement or switch from breast milk to formula.
You should wean your baby from the breast milk gradually so that their body has time to adjust.
You should stop waking your baby to feed at night between 3 to 6 months of age depending on the baby.
Sometime around when the baby is 3 months to 6 months of age babies can usually sleep through the night or at least up to 6 hours without waking to eat.
You should feed your baby every time he or she wakes up at night and is hungry.
Most babies wake up at night hungry and need feeding although sometimes they wake up and need a diaper change.
But if the baby is hungry when he or she wakes up you should feed them.
The formula that is recommended by pediatricians is Enfamil and Enfamil Enspire formula that is the closest formula to breast milk.
The formula that makes babies gain weight is cow based baby formula as well as Similac NeoSure Infant Formula.
Babies that are fed with cow milk based baby formula are more likely to put on weight more rapidly than babies that feed on formula that contains predigested proteins.
The amount of weight that a baby should gain per week is 5 to 7 ounces per week at 5 days to 4 months of age.
By 4 months of age to 6 months of age the baby should gain 4 to 6 ounces of weight per week and by 6 months to 12 months of age the baby should gain 2 to 4 ounces of weight per week.
The most common cause of failure to thrive is not getting enough calories and poor nutrition.
For formula fed babies you must make sure the formula is mixed correctly so it's not too weak as it can cause malnourishment in babies.
In children not getting enough calories is also a cause of a failure to thrive.
Common causes of failure to thrive include.
Not enough calories provided.
The child eats too little.
Health problems involving the digestive system.
Food intolerance.
An ongoing medical condition.
Infections.
Metabolic disorders.
If your baby has a failure to thrive they will have poor growth and have a height, weight and head circumference that do not match standard growth charts.
Other signs of failure to thrive in babies include.
Poor sucking (does not feed well)
Hard to feed.
Vomiting or diarrhea.
Sleeps too much or not enough.
Fussiness.
Weak cry.
Loses weight or does not gain enough weight.
Stiff or "floppy" muscles.
Signs that your baby is malnourished are weight loss or not gaining weight, not growing, getting skinnier, eating less, vomiting, becoming less active and less playful and less energetic.
Symptoms of malnutrition in a child can include: not growing or putting on weight at the expected rate (faltering growth) changes in behavior, such as being unusually irritable, slow or anxious. low energy levels and tiring more easily than other children.
If you think your baby or child is malnourished you should see a doctor for treatment.
Malabsorption poop in babies will look like loose watery poop and also have food particles in the poop if the baby is eating solids.
Malabsorption in babies and people can be caused by disease; intolerance to milk proteins; lactose intolerance; intestinal parasites; or weight loss, stomach, intestinal, or bowel surgeries.
Diseases that can lead to malabsorption include: Celiac disease.
Babies do gain some weight when starting solids although there may be a lull with weight gain in babies when starting solids.
However after the baby starts solids they should begin to gain more weight faster than they would on milk.
Some babies do gain weight slower than others which is normal.
Babies should be gaining between 1 to 2 lbs of weight per month.
In some babies weight gain does slow down at 3 months of age.
Especially for breastfed babies they tend to slow down in weight gain between 3 to 4 months of age which is normal.
Healthy and properly nourished babies should gain between 1 to 2 lbs of weight per month.
As long as your baby is gaining at least 1 lb of weight per month then they are okay but if the baby is gaining less than 1 lb of weight per month then they could have some health issues and should see a doctor.
Healthy breastfed infants typically put on weight more slowly than formula fed infants in the first year of life.
Formula fed infants typically gain weight more quickly after about 3 months of age.
Slow weight gain could be a problem if your newborn doesn't regain their birth weight within 10 to 14 days after their birth or your baby up to 3 months old gains less than an ounce a day, your infant between 3 and 6 months gains less than 0.67 ounces a day.
Failure to thrive in babies and children is defined as decelerated or arrested physical growth (height and weight measurements fall below the third or fifth percentile, or a downward change in growth across two major growth percentiles) and is associated with abnormal growth and development.
There are three reasons why babies do not gain weight which include not taking in enough calories, not absorbing calories or burning too many calories.
Full-term newborn infants should take in about 1.5 to 2 ounces of breast milk or formula about every 3 hours.
Premature infants need more calories than term babies.
Expect your baby to double his or her birth weight by about age 5 months.
From ages 6 to 12 months, a baby might grow 3/8 inch (about 1 centimeter) a month and gain 3 to 5 ounces (about 85 to 140 grams) a week.
Expect your baby to triple his or her birth weight by about age 1 year.
Poor weight gain is defined as gaining weight at a slower rate than other children who are the same age and sex.
"Normal" ranges for weight are based upon the weight of thousands of children.
“Poor feeding in infants” is a term used to describe an infant with little interest in feeding.
It can also refer to an infant who is not feeding enough to receive the necessary nutrition required for adequate growth.
Poor growth associated with lack of feeding can lead to a separate condition called failure to thrive.