Inconsistent, "snacky" eating

[u/iamchrysanthemum]

My baby is 3 months old and I still feel like I haven't gotten the hang of bottle feeding. Basically, I find it very hard to know if she is hungry, to predict when she'll be hungry, and how much she'll be hungry for.

For example, for her first bottle of the day after 9+ hours, I'll always propose 150ml but she'll often only take like 90ml. But then later in the day, when she's been fed consistently 120ml every couple of hours, she'll suddenly demand like 180ml and I have to go back and make more. Sometimes she'll go only 2 hours before screaming her head off for milk and sometimes she'll go several hours and then only lackadaisically take that bottle.

My doctor + the back of the formula box seems to suggest that by this age, babies should be pretty well-regulated to have X bottles of Y quantity per day, and I feel so far from that.

Is this normal? Part of me is telling myself that adults have varying appetites throughout the day so why should we expect babies to be robots? My concern is mostly (1) logistics—lots of making milk she doesn't eat and/or having to go back and make more (2) feeling bad that I'm maybe bad at reading her cues (3) my doctor is pushing pretty hard that I shouldn't let her "snack" and hold to at least 3 hours between bottles and push for 150ml per bottle.

[u/Actual-Tangerine5686]

Honestly I think your pedestrian fell out of time… Feeding every three hours used to be a thing 50 years back… You should always be feeding your baby on demand. I also always prep 3oz and then go back and make more if demanded. You’re fine! Don’t let your doctor or the freaking back of a Formular box mess with your head!

[u/iamchrysanthemum → u/Actual-Tangerine5686]

haha thanks for this! I'm reassured by your response and this thread, my pediatrician had me feeling like I was doing something wrong and I was like, "so if my baby is screaming their head off, I'm just supposed to wait till 3 hours pass?"