How much milk???!

oregonmommy-2

As I'm preparing to head back to work I'm questioning how much milk per feeding I should have prepared for baby? 

how old is your baby? And how much milk per feeding is baby eating? And how often does baby eat? 

Baby is EBF and I can't tell how much he is eating.. I used the kellymom website and it calculated about 3.5 ounces per feeding. I'm just so nervous baby won't be getting enough or will over eat! 

Oh the stresses of going back to work......

vppittman

It's been awhile since I've posted! But I've been back at work since LO was 6 weeks and pumping everyday. She is now 12 weeks and we are doing just fine. The general rule is 1-1.5oz per every hour you are going to be away from baby. So that's 8-12oz for an 8hr work day. Some days I pump more than others, but the key is to be consistent. I pump every 2 hours for 15-20 minutes and by the end of the day I get 11-12oz. Just make a routine that works for you and stick with it. Going back to work and beginning a pumping routine is like establishing a supply for a newborn. It's important to be consist be in those first few weeks.

vppittman

Also, talk to your caregiver about paced feeding. Babies will naturally take more from the bottle than the boob because it's easier. Especially at the beginning. Make sure they stop halfway through the bottle to burp and pay attention to the cues he sends. I have also found success in feeding my daughter before going to work and adding a pumping session after that. Whatever I pump after her morning feed goes into the freezer stash and what I pump throughout the day goes with her the next day. 

andreaAL11

katielwells said:

As I'm preparing to head back to work I'm questioning how much milk per feeding I should have prepared for baby? 

how old is your baby? And how much milk per feeding is baby eating? And how often does baby eat? 

Baby is EBF and I can't tell how much he is eating.. I used the kellymom website and it calculated about 3.5 ounces per feeding. I'm just so nervous baby won't be getting enough or will over eat! 

Oh the stresses of going back to work......

Do you have the link to the calculator?? I can't find it, maybe I'm challenged 

angelicac06

andreaAL11 said:

katielwells said:

As I'm preparing to head back to work I'm questioning how much milk per feeding I should have prepared for baby? 

how old is your baby? And how much milk per feeding is baby eating? And how often does baby eat? 

Baby is EBF and I can't tell how much he is eating.. I used the kellymom website and it calculated about 3.5 ounces per feeding. I'm just so nervous baby won't be getting enough or will over eat! 

Oh the stresses of going back to work......

Do you have the link to the calculator?? I can't find it, maybe I'm challenged 

This.

oregonmommy-2

https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/

andreaAL11

Thank you so much! So I calculated the same, 3.6 oz is what she usually eats per feeding. DD is 11 weeks and eats maybe 5-6 times a day. We run on her schedule.
10:30am wake up
11:30 eat
12:30nap until 2:30 
wake up eat play 
4:30/5 nap 
wake up eat play 
7/8 nap 
wake up eat play 
bed time is around 12-1 and she's out. Maybe eats once at night. 

4 oz I think would be fine! Maybe have a couple oz just in case...? Sorry I'm not much help, I'm a SAHM. 

 

mltarrio

I just went back to work at 8 weeks and struggled with this too. My 8 week old weighs 14 pounds and I used the weight guidelines to ballpark what she would eat.

Then we did a trial run day where I made 4 6oz bottles and she ate from those all day while I pumped when I was still at home. Turns out she only drinks about 4oz at a time, 3 times in 8 hours, so 12oz total. Now I leave 4 4oz bottles and one with 2oz in case she is still hungry at a feeding. I usually have 1 4oz bottle left over.

during the day I pump 2 or 3 times and I get about 12-14oz, and another 4oz when I pump overnight, so I am making enough to keep adding to my freezer stash. My biggest concern is not pumping enough milk at work to keep up with her, but so far we are right on track

oregonmommy-2

Thank you for the feed back! This helps!

I will do 4 ounce bottles and leave an extra couple of ounces in case baby is still hungry like you suggested! @mltarrio

thatgirlree24

I also started a thread called 'for those who went back to work' and it talks about this as well.

Court11152325

I would caution against starting with 4 oz bottles. If you over feed baby then their tummies stretch out. I would prepare 3 oz bottles and provide extra ounces just in case the 3 isn't enough. Also pace feeding is really important!

lcorey

I'm back to work and have an 11 week old weighing about 11 pounds. He eats 4 oz every 3.5-4 hours. Sometimes a little more so I keep a 1 oz bottle in the freezer. I only pump about 10 oz at work total (pumping when I feel a let down and feel full, about every 3 hours). Because I'm not pumping enough to keep up with him, I pump at night after he eats and get another 2-3 ounces. He is doing great and I have enough milk for the day.

mltarrio

Good point @Court11152325

My (giant) daughter drank 4oz when we did a weighed feeding with the LC, so that is where we started. And even she sometimes will only drink 3oz from a bottle. 

grkgdss00

I'm not back to work but prepare pumped milk for bottles for DH or my mom. My babe is 8w and 13lb. She'll eat a 4oz bottle no prob. I was making 3oz but my pediatrician asked if she finishes them, I said yes, she said prepare more then. 

mperotti220

My LO is 9 weeks and 11.5 lbs...today she ate about 9 oz in an 8 hr period.  It was our first day with the nanny.  I was expecting way more...I had 4 x 4 oz bottles of EBM ready plus some small bottles because sometimes she snacks in between large feeds.  

breezypip

This is my third day in daycare and so far DD has taken 14oz in 9 1/2 hours away from me. She's 12 weeks and 12+ lbs. Its going to be tough for me to keep up with that since I only get about 11 oz from my 3 pumping sessions at work. I have to add another at night or the morning and wow it's exhausting already.

dmendo01

I've been back to work for 3 weeks now. I am gone for about 8-9 hours. This is typically how the day goes for my 9 week almost 12lb daughter - 

7am- I pump and prepare 4-5 ounce bottle. We wake DD around 7:15 and offer her the bottle. What she doesn't finish we take to the sitter. 

10am- I pump at work and get 5 ounces

1pm- I pump at work and get 4 ounces 

4pm- I pump at work and get 5 ounces. 

4:30- pick DD up from sitter. This has been pretty standard that she has used the rest of the bottle we took and 10 more ounces. So basically she's offered 15 ounces from the time I wake up at 7 to the time I pick her up. 

Then we nurse off and on until she goes to bed because she missed her mommy  


i haven't questioned my sitter bc it seems to all be working out. I usually take 25-26 ounces because I'm paranoid. But I take two 8 ounce medela bottles and two 5 ounce. So I know my sitter uses the 5 ounce first so everyday I put the older milk in the 5 ounce containers and what I pumped during that day goes in the 8 ounce. This way I don't have to worry about the 24 hour rule on thawing milk from the freezer and that can be saved for special occasions. 

ETA - at the end of the work week I freeze any leftovers.

groovylocks

So preparing milk is a good idea. But i decided to always pump only a day or two in advance if i can get away with it. The reason is that it is now believed that when baby nurses, her saliva gets into the breast and acts as an almost chemical checklist that tailors the milk to the baby's current needs. I am not so delusional as to think that i can yield enough milk the day before it's needed to sustain my baby while i'm at work, but i can probably manage to always stay two days in front of her. 

Obviously ANY milk will do as long as it hasn't spoiled. But this idea that current milk is best as it's tailored to baby's current needs actually takes the pressure off a bit about building up a supply. Provided you can manage to pump enough a day or two ahead. 

JulieK79

I take my DD to an at home sitter and she luckily lets me bring a stack of frozen milk to keep in her freezer. Then she can just unfreeze the milk throughout the day as DD needs it.