Breastfeeding Moms - how do you know how much milk to put in a bottle?

misses625

Since you can't measure how much milk the baby is getting from the breast, how do you know how much to put in a bottle?

winery

I would do it, in the beginning, by how much I could pump per one boob for a session.  So, for you baby's age, it was around 2-3 oz.

As they get older, they drink more, so it's a sliding scale.  But try small amounts first.

Snowbride02

You just have to guess.  I always start with 2 ounces and go up half an ounce from there.  If they scream like crazy when you take the bottle out of their mouth, they probably need more.

Susie2005

Trial and error!  I started with 2-3 oz bottles around 3 weeks. Sometimes she took it all, sometime she didn't. At about 3 months she would take 3 or 4.  At about 5 months she started taking 5.  Now she's up to 6 oz per bottle.  I probably won't go up from there.  I stuck to 6 with my DS until he went to whole milk at 12 months.

Kapalua

I always just do whatever I can pump-which is usually between 3-4 oz.  sometimes closer to 5. 

StarryEyedBride

LOL - with both my boys I had such a crazy supply that if I were away for a few hours, I could fill an 8 oz. bottle to overflowing...from each side. Just needed to share that.