XP: How much BM to send to daycare?

meetmow

Hi All!  I start back to work on Nov. 7th so LO is going to be heading to daycare fulltime.  I have only left her once, and she was with DH.  When I returned my husband told me that while I was gone she ate 6 oz!!  That was her 5th bottle ever, and the other bottles that she's had have been 4oz, but I usually "top her off" after them, but I think that's more comfort feeding.I guess that my question is, do you think this 6oz at a time is normal?  I yelled at him for overfeeding her, but he said that after the 4oz she screamed her lungs out.  How much BM do I bring to daycare for her to eat while I'm at work?  They want me to bring premade bottles.  She'll be there for 8 hours, do I assume that she's going to eat 4oz 3 times?  Do I bring extra in case she's still hungry? As you can tell, I'm completely puzzled by this and any light on this would be great!  TIA!

jlsimon56

According to kellymom, average is 25oz in a 24 hour period.  My LO ate 8x per day, so she was getting 3oz bottles.  Daycare really tires her out so she is going to bed earlier, and now only eating 7x, so now she gets 3.5oz per bottle.  She is there 7.5 hours, and I send four bottles - the 4th is a backup in case one spills or she's extra hungry.  Yesterday was the first time she got the 4th bottle b/c of the hungries.  They have dipped into it before when our bottles leaked.  For 8 hours, I'd send at least 4 bottles.  If your daycare knows you are BFing, they will distract your LO if she appears hungry towards the end of the day, so you can nurse her vs. taking another bottle.  Or, they can feed an oz at a time until you arrive.  

b55c

my lo takes 4 3oz. bottles while i'm gone.  i also send an extra ounce or so that she sometimes takes after a  bottle.  like pp said, sometimes she needs to just be walked or distracted for a minute after the bottle.  she whips through it so much faster than a nursing session with me, i don't think it's registered yet that she's not really hungry anymore. 

twohniyt

My daughter is a good eater.  I send her to daycare with 4 5 1/2 oz bottles.  She usually just eats 3 of those bottles, but we always take a 4th just in case.  Some days she will take the 4th.  When she first started we sent her with just 4 oz.  Daycare did a good job tell us that she still seemed hungry after eating.  It took us a few weeks to get the amount right since she didn't have too many bottles before she started and we were sure how much she was getting from nursing.  We did increase the amount of bottles we gave her before she went to daycare so she would get used to taking them.  The daycare we use also required us to send an emergency bottle.  Since she take BM we just sent a frozen bag that they keep in their freezer.

everam01

My boys have been taking 4-4oz bottles at daycare since 4 months.

DaisyJanie

I sent him with 24 ounces the first day because I am a paranoid crazy person. He usually eats either 3 or 4 4-oz bottles. I still send him with a 5th just in case. He went through a couple weeks where he wanted to eat 5-6 ounces at a time, but he went back down to 4-4.5 ounces and has stayed that way for a couple months now.

MrsSparklesMcGee

I send 4 - 4 oz. bottles and leave an emergency back-up 3 oz. in the freezer.  She usually only goes through 3 of the bottles.

ksulli

I send 3 bottles of 4-5oz that is defrosted from the freezer since I know she'll eat that much, then I send a big bottle with 8 oz or so that is fresh (pumped that morning or the day before, never frozen) so that if she needs more it's there, and if she doesn't I can still freeze it for later when we get home.

MelissaS5338

I send 4 5oz bottles for DD. She usually only eats 3 of them, but I like to have that extra in case. I also have 1 5oz. frozen bag in the freezer in the infant room with her name on it in case they need extra for her.

I went through the same thing as you. I just wasn't sure since I only nursed her. I started with 4 3oz. bottles and they said she was still hungry so I then began with the 5oz and that works great. Just bring a little extra the first few days and then ask the caregiver how it is going. They should be able to tell you if you are not bringing enough.