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Leaving bottles while at work and MIL comments...
My baby is 13 weeks and I go back to work on Monday. Since I will be gone from 9:30 to about 6:30 pm how many bottles do you think I should leave for MIL to feed her? (I was thinking 4 to be safe, since I'll feed her before I leave) Also, how many oz should I put in each bottle? I feel pressured to put at least 4 to 5 oz in each one since my mil has watched her once or twice for a few hours for me and both times she commented that she didn't think I was leaving enough in each bottle. (the bottles have had between 3-4 oz in them) I tried explaining that breastfed babies don't drink as many oz as ff babies (and her other grand babies were BIG eaters and ff) but both times when I came back she commented how she ate everything in the bottle and probably would have liked more... Blah blah. So am I just being frugal with my precious milk or should I be leaving more than 4 oz in a bottle? I'm just worried I won't keep up with that amt by pumping at work. Sorry this is so long!!! Tia!
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Re: Leaving bottles while at work and MIL comments...
Can you do some weighed feedings during the times you would be gone and see how much your little one is taking for those feeds?
My 9 week old takes between 2.5-3oz every 2 hrs. I did the officially weighed feedings with the LC a few weeks back. When my little one suddenly shortened her feed time last week I was wondering if she just got more efficient or if she was taking less so I used our luggage weigher and did a weighed feeding at home! I strapped her into the car seat and used the luggage scale to lift the car seat by it's handle. Not sure if it 100% accurate but it seemed to work.
I plan to do that again shortly before I leave my then 12 week old with my mom and SIL for 24 hrs in a few weeks. I'll do a few feeds to find her average and leave a bit more in the bottles for while I am away.
Have your MIL read this:
https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/feeding-tools/bottle-feeding/
This is helpful for figuring out how many ounces to give in a bottle:
https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/
DD1: allergic to eggs & dairy
c/p 4/1/11
DD2: milk and soy protein intolerant, allergic to eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, bananas
MSPI Moms Check-In Blog
Okay, the people saying that it's too much because of how much their own kid eats...every kid is different. That is all.
I agree that every child is different.
My experience: When I went back (DD was 7.5 weeks), she took 3oz. Shortly after beginning DC, they asked me to bump it to 4oz and she's been there since this past week. She usually took a bottle every 2-3 hours but lately she's been wanting it sooner than that so when DH had her last Friday, we did a trial run for 5oz bottles and it seemed to keep her satisfied longer.