For work or any reason, how much does your baby eat per bottle, and how many bottles per day? Everything I find online is either formula in a bottle or breastfeeding from a breast. My DS has 3 bottles while I'm at work (10am, 1pm, 4 pm) and they are 6oz each. He's 4 months old and pretty big - around 18lbs. Is there a guide I should be following for how much to give him?
Are you generally able to pump 18 oz while you're away? Likely, your baby is eating as much as he ever will. Some do go bigger, but most level off and stay there for months. 6 oz bottles are on the big side for breastmilk (many babies stay at 3-4 oz).
Mine are almost 10 mos old and get 5 5oz bottles a day. They increased from 6 4 oz bottles once we did solids 3x a day. They could never eat 6 oz. But my kids are tiny.
If I remember right, the guideline is 20-30 oz/day TOTAL, so including nursing sessions. Divide that by the number of feedings, and then figure out how many feedings he would miss with you away. There's your number.
I was away from 7am - 6pm when I was working, and he usually took 4 4 oz bottles. I nursed twice in the morning and twice at night.
DS has had 3-4oz bottles since I went back to work when he was 9 weeks. He is now 17 weeks. He'll occasionally have a 5oz bottle, but it isn't typical. He eats every 3 hours.
DS has been taking 6 oz bottles since he was 3 or 4 months old and never really increased the amount. Every once in a long while, he would need to be topped off with an additional ounce or two, but this hasn't happened in a while. He is now 12 months old. The overall number of bottles he needs when I am away from him has decreased, but he still drinks 6oz at a time.
My daughter took 5 oz bottles from the time she started daycare at 18 weeks. It never changed. She would typically have 2 5 oz bottles while there from 7-3. I nursed right before we got there and as soon as I picked up, as well as 2x in the evenings and MOTN.
DS went from 3oz (@3months) to 4.75oz (@~5months) per bottle. He takes 3 or 4 of those 4.75oz bottles now for 15-19oz total while I'm away. I generally pump somewhere in that range so I've been able to keep up.
He's a heavy kid - he was ~90th percentile until I went back to work and has dropped a bit to ~75th now at 8mo.
Also, I just want to say that I nearly drove myself crazy looking for good data on bottle sizes and how much they should be consuming...
Ultimately, we just kept the slower flow nipples and gave more when the teachers said he needed more and hoped for the best. But I can commiserate re: the uncertainty.
DD settled on 4 oz bottles around 3 months. She drank about 6 a day and went up to 7.5 bottles by 6 months until we stared some food and then we switched to formula. She was a small baby though. She stayed at 4 oz and still drinks 4 oz of WCM. Those BM recommendations and math formulas drove me nuts and didn't really apply.
Ha so at least I'm not alone in driving myself crazy. He finishes the 6oz and seems ok, but it's good to know there is a plateau because I don't think I can pump anymore than I am. How have I forgotten everything in the 5 years since DD was a baby?!
Post by badtzmaru22 on Aug 6, 2015 19:34:51 GMT -5
Average size DD drank 4x4oz bottles and sometimes a 2oz extra.
Giant bebe DS drank 3x4oz bottles and maaaybe a 4th 4oz. He also never spat up, while DD did all the time, so I think some of it was she would eat for comfort, and he would better let you know when he was done.
My 4 month old eats three 4oz bottles a day while I'm at work. I feed him a 6oz bottle for breakfast and before bed and he usually eats one more 4oz bottle between coming home and bedtime.
s/o... DS drinks about 15oz while I'm at work now, but I still only pump 12.
How do I increase my output? Is my body just used to the pump? Will I maturally make more? Do I need to pump longer?
How long are you pumping? Is he STTN at all? I do a pump before I go to bed which usually yields the little bit I need to put me over the top for the day. Also ensures I'm not engorged because DS *usually* STTN.
s/o... DS drinks about 15oz while I'm at work now, but I still only pump 12.
How do I increase my output? Is my body just used to the pump? Will I maturally make more? Do I need to pump longer?
How long are you pumping? Is he STTN at all? I do a pump before I go to bed which usually yields the little bit I need to put me over the top for the day. Also ensures I'm not engorged because DS *usually* STTN.
I pump 15 min, and usually get a (weak) second let down in there. He sleeps like 11 hours, so in the morning I pump 8oz. He gets 4 of that when he wakes up, and 4 bw the "home from work" and "bed" nursing sessions bc I just don't have enough at night. So he ends up getting 3-6oz of formula a day. I'm ok with it, but just curious if my day supply will eventually increase?
spankswife you might be able to get more during the day if you pump longer. I usually try for at least 20 minutes. It might work, it might not. Not helpful, I know.
How long are you pumping? Is he STTN at all? I do a pump before I go to bed which usually yields the little bit I need to put me over the top for the day. Also ensures I'm not engorged because DS *usually* STTN.
I pump 15 min, and usually get a (weak) second let down in there. He sleeps like 11 hours, so in the morning I pump 8oz. He gets 4 of that when he wakes up, and 4 bw the "home from work" and "bed" nursing sessions bc I just don't have enough at night. So he ends up getting 3-6oz of formula a day. I'm ok with it, but just curious if my day supply will eventually increase?
I pump for a good 20 mins, which I know isn't always possible while working. I also pump before bed, and fenugreek has helped to keep my supply up.
I pump 20-25min each session at work. Sometimes I even try 3 sessions depending on my schedule. It will get harder when kids come back (I'm asst principal at a school so don't have classes at least). Someone on here have the tip of using the letdown button a few times to see if it reestablishes my flow and it often (but not always) does.
I've found that watching iTunes shows helps me relax and pass time. I also get vastly different amounts sometimes. Yesterday in two sessions I pumped 16, but another day recently I pumped 13 in 3. Drinking a ton helps! I also have been taking the go lacta supplement someone rec'd on here and since then my output has slightly increased.
To get supply to increase, you'd probably need to add a pumping session or cut out the evening bottles and just camp out on the couch nursing. It's normal to have a slower supply in the evening; if you want to increase supply, I'd nurse as much as the baby will tolerate, just offering each side again and again all evening. It's like power pumping, but with a baby.
This may or may not be a thing you want to pursue. It's fine either way.
My kids were very different from each other in terms of eating habits at daycare. DD only ever took 3 bottles (10/1/4) and she took 5.5 oz from 5 mos to 1 yr.
DS took 5 4 oz bottles the very first day of daycare at 3 mos and stayed at that level for several months. He eventually went to 4 5 oz bottles, but he never dropped that 4th bottle even with tons of solids. He was just a hungry kid.