did you ever increase the amount in lo's bottles?

b55c · October 2011

when i'm at work, she takes 4 3oz. bottles. i also leave about an ounce extra if it's needed (and if i was able to pump it!). my husband and mom both asked recently 'when does she get more in her bottles?' i explained to them that the calories have changed to meet her needs. lo can get fussy and needs to be distracted for a minute after her bottles. i'm assuming this is b/c it hasn't really registered yet that she's not hungry anymore. diapers are fine. she's gaining fine.

do i really need to up the amount or tell them to keep distracting her and that she's getting as much as she needs? did you ever increase the amount of your lo's bottles? i'm nervous about doing that b/c i'm pumping just enough to give her and really don't want to do a nighttime pumping!!

katie4253 · October 2011

My LO is younger than yours, but I highly doubt he'll ever go more than 4oz bottles. In fact, we often make a couple of 2oz bottles because he likes to eat often, but can't handle the entire 4oz.

maddiemoon43 · October 2011

DS was eating about 2.5oz bottles at a month, 3/3.5oz by 2 months, and 4/4.5oz at around 3 months. I am not sure we'll go much higher than 4.5oz. Very rarely does DS take more or want another bottle soon after. I gradually increased by 0.5oz for morning and bedtime bottles (I EP), and then eventually throughout the day. Part of the reason I increased the bottle size is that DS is sleeping so long at night I felt like we would be rushing the feedings to squeeze in enough milk for the day.

If you wanted to try making a slightly larger bottle one day, your LO will either not finish it, take it well, or spit up anything extra they didn't need.

ladybugpjb · October 2011

The only time I think about giving DS bigger bottles is right before bed or right after he wakes up. He's often hungrier first thing in the morning IF he's slept well.

During the day, he almost always is done after 3.5-4 oz every 3 hours or so, and he's been taking that amount since he was about 3 weeks old. I was really surprised. Like you, I pump just enough for him, so I'm glad to know that I hopefully won't need to worry about increasing my supply to keep up with demand.

pepomntpat · October 2011

Nope. DD still only drinks 2-4 ounces from a bottle at one sitting. I'd ask your providers to make sure they are feeding slowly, giving lots of breaks-a burp break after each ounce- and offering other sources of comfort than the bottle.

riley0218 · October 2011

I must be in the minority here. My daughter always drinks 5-6oz every 3-4 hours.

jlsimon56 · October 2011

We upped from 3oz to 3.5oz when she went from 8 feedings per day to 7 feedings. If she goes to 6 feedings, we might go to 4oz bottles. I'd rather feed her smaller amounts more often than larger amounts less often. I'd rather not go higher than 4oz. Pumping sucks. :-)