Am I Pumping Enough?
wini77
member
I'm in my fifth week back at work, and suddenly my nanny thinks I'm not leaving enough milk (unfortunately, my freezer stash is all gone).
I pump 3x a day and get about 10.5-11 ounces. I then pump 1-2 ounces before I go to bed (2-3 hours after DD's last feeding). So a total of 11.5 - 13 ounces per day.
DD eats 6-7 times a day. She nurses in the morning, has 3-4 bottles while I'm at work, nurses when I get home and then again before she goes to sleep.
When I first started working, my nanny was giving her 3 or 4 ounce bottles three times a day. I checked Kellymom.com's calculator, and this seems accurate. However, now my nanny says it's not enough milk and she's giving her an extra 2 ounces later in the day. Or sometimes she splits the third bottle into three 2 ounce feedings (which doesn't seem right to me).
I guess I'm just looking for reassurance. I really want to make it to four months without supplementing. Truthfully, I'd love to make it to six months without supplementing, but I'm trying to set short term, reasonable goals. However, I'm getting worried that I'm leaving my baby hungry.
What do you think? Overall, she's a really good-natured baby. She has tummy aches/gas almost every day, though mylicon seems to help. And she's been STTN since she was two months old (I know, I'm very lucky!)
TIA for your thoughts and opinions.
Re: Am I Pumping Enough?
Many BF babies will eat as much as they are given bc it's easier to drink from a bottle. Is your nanny reading your LO's cues correctly? Is she really tired (or bored, etc) & it's being mistaken for hungry? Does LO seem satisfied when you nurse?
i agree with the previous post. babies tend to eat as much as they're being fed. i only leave 12-14 oz of milk for my daughter for the eleven hours that im gone. it is in 2.5-3 oz increments which is being fed to her on demand. it seems to be enough. she's 5 months now and is gaining 1.1 pounds every month which pedi says is perfectly normal. i asked the pedi if i should increase the pumped milk hat i leave fore her and she just said that if baby seems hungry, then i should give but if not, 10-12 oz is enough for the 11-12 hours that im gone.
IMHO maybe your nanny is misreading your LOs cues or probably you should use a slow flow nipple or something. that's just me though. FWIW we use breastflow bottles.
Kind Regards
Thank you for the advice. I started a new log today, specifying how much to give in the first three bottles, and marking how long it takes her to eat, so hopefully that will help. My husband is also working from home today, so he is going to try and pay attention to see if the nanny is following DD's cues correctly.
armywife - I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble, too, and that he doesn't want the breast! That would make me so sad; I love nursing, especially now that I'm back to work. What kind of bottles/nipples are you using? Maybe you should switch to a slower flow? We use Dr. Brown's stage 1 (although I don't know enough about bottles & nipples to know how that compares to others).
It sounds like you're doing fine...from everything I've pulled up, babies tend to average roughly an ounce an hour. Normal eating (for breastmilk) is 19-30 ounces per day, with 25 being average. That is assuming that all they get is bottles, no nursing. If she's still hungry, she'll start reverse-cycling, and sleep more with your nanny, and nurse more once you're home.
I'm in my second week back at work, my son is 7 weeks old.
Right now, my son is having latch issues (was a premie and put on the bottle before I was even out of the recovery room), so I'm exclusively pumping (still working on nursing...he'll use me for comfort nursing but not for a meal), and I get between 20-25 oz per day total. When I make his bottles for daycare, I make 5 2-oz bottles, and then send one 5-oz bottle that is capped instead of having a nipple, so he can get more as needed. He eats anywhere from 1 to 4 oz at a time. Sometimes he eats all of it, but so far, I usually bring home at least 3-4 oz, which becomes his first feeding once we're home. Yesterday, I brought home 7oz because he slept almost all day. I guess he prefers Daddy to give him his bottles? Since he won't take one from me without going to sleep, but won't nurse either?
Sorry I am just now replying to this - DH and I both have gastroenteritis! We've both been at the doc all day. I use Dr. Brown's and recently changed to preemie flow hoping that would help. No improvement so far, and with my supply tanking from being sick, I'm really shooting through my freezer stash. It does make me super sad that I can't nurse, and now the doc is trying to tell me the only way for me to get well is to take a bunch of antibiotics I can't bf with. I'm trying to hold out and hope my stomach issues go away on their own, but, if the dehydration gets much worse, I may have to go with the meds.
Good luck to you, and post how the log goes! I'm thinking of making a written log for my DCP too. I told her verbally today, but I'm still getting a lot of resistance and a lot of "He's hungry and fussy because he's getting so little." I sent 5 3oz bottles today, and they only used 4.