? re: feedings at daycare for 12 week old

KatieBride06

Hi, DS will be starting daycare at 12 weeks old (he's 10 weeks now). Curious on the amount & quantities that other babies are taking by that point. I'm exclusively pumping/bottle feeding if that matters. Here's a rough estimate on his current eating habits.

4-5 ounces:

5:00 AM (almost sleeping through the night!)

9:00 AM

12:00 PM

3:00 PM

6:00 PM

9:00 PM (bed time)

cecilyandgautam

How much to send and in what size bottles really varies, especially based on whether your child is STTN or still waking to feed BUT here's what was typical amongst the 30+ working moms using the lactation room in my building: 

12-16 oz/day for a 8-10 hour day @ daycare

3-4 oz bottles for a baby without major reflux & spit up problems

If daycare came back asking for more than 16-18 oz in a given day, usually that meant that daycare was relying on bottles to provide comfort, so then the mom would divvy up the same amount of milk into smaller 2 oz bottles for more frequent feedings. 

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ashleysbf

At that age we were doing four 3oz bottles. She now takes one 3 oz, then two 6 oz bottles. Kind of weird I think, but girlfriend does what she wants.

NavyMom77

DD is 6mo and started DC at 14 weeks. I make sure they have enough pumped milk for 5 feedings. Usually 4 are used during the day, and the 5th stays in the freezer as an emergency backup (gets used once every 2-3 weeks). When she started, these were 3oz servings. Now they are 4oz. Since she is BF at home I can't count how much she is eating at a meal, but figure if my body has adjusted to feed her what she needs while nursing, then this about the same as what I'll produce during a pumping session. So far all had been fine with the above amounts, and now she's added solids, too. DD eats every 2-3 hours and is nursed about 45 min before I drop her at DC. Good luck!

KatieBride06

wow! now i feel like i'm over feeding. we had weight gain issues in the very beginning, but the pediatrician was pleased at our 8 week check up.

QueSrah

You might consider sending a bunch of 2 oz. bottles (or at least, smaller than usual) for the first few weeks to see what works for your DS.  Most daycares can only have a bottle out for so long without tossing the rest, and it would be a shame to lose milk if he gets thrown off by all the new sights and sounds.

I think my DD started off with five 4 oz. bottles per day (she had her first bottle of the day at her DCPs, which a lot of people do at home) and eventually consolidated to four slightly larger bottles per day.