Starting to pump
Hi All. On the recommendation of our ped, we are starting to give E a bottle a day so the transition back to work in January will be smoother. At 5 weeks, how many ounces can we expect her to take from the bottle? I've read 3-5, so we did 4oz today, but she didn't seem completely sat. The other thing is that our doctor has said that E is an overeating (even though they say breastfed babies can't overeat, I have one! Her weight is the 80-90th per. and she spits up milk after nearly every feeding because she's so stuffed). So, we're trying to find a good balance with the bottle since we don't know what she was taking from the breast.
On another note, how do you all store your breastmilk? In the fridge or freezer and in what amounts? 4oz? 2oz? or more? Remember E is 5 weeks.
Thanks!
Re: Starting to pump
Congrats on baby and welcome to pumping!
you can store BM in freezer bags both in the fridge or freezer. I usually store in the amounts i need. She now drinks six oz bottles so that is what i store in. you can combine milk pumped in a 24hr period. fresh pumped milk can last a week in the fridge- so its up to you if you want to start a freezer stash or just keep it fresh in the fridge.
i wouldn't worry about weight being in that percentile. as soon as they start walking/crawling they burn it right off.
when she eats does she gobble? and drink fast from the bottle/breast?
Congrats! At 1 month, my DS ate 4 ozs at a time every 4 hours. It's steadily increased from there to about 6-8 ozs/feed and he now STTN.
You might try a slower flowing nipple for the bottle feed. That might help her realize she's full. Dr. Brown's bottles have a slower flow, and they make nipples for preemies that are much slower. Avents are really fast and overwhelmed DS at first. But, if she wants 5, I'd give her 5... and burp after every ounce because that will also help her realize she's full.
As for storing, freshly pumped milk can stay out at room temp for 8-10 hours (when in doubt, do a sniff test as it gets close to that time frame). Because you're BFing, you'll want to serve it warm so it's near the same temp as when she feeds at the breast. The bonus is if you leave it out, you don't have to spend time warming it up. I store my EBM in quantities of 3-6 ozs in the lansinoh bags if I'm running low on pumping bottles. If I'm not low, then I usually just keep it in the bottle I pump into. Also, I'll usually combine the 2 bottles from that same pump together so I have an extra bottle ready. You can combine milk when it's the same temp (don't combine chilled with room temp, etc...). Also, you might let DH or someone else do the bottle feeds at first so you don't cause too much confusion.