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May 2011 Moms
SC1977
member
Bottles for daycare if you're breastfeeding
SC1977
member
I know, this question is probably asked a million times. So here's a million + 1.
Fred is in daycare for no more than 10 hours a day. I send four 4-ounce bottles and keep an extra bag of milk in their freezer, just in case. He eats all 4 ounces, but has yet to touch the extra bag. A few weeks ago, they took some leftover milk from the day before and made him some 5 ounce bottles since he was hungry for it. I think it was his growth spurt. He ate the 5 ounce bottles, but he also crapped out of his diaper every day they fed him that much. They asked me to send 5 ounce bottles, but I ignored them and kept sending 4.
Yesterday they asked me again to send 5 ounces, or to send an extra bag of milk so they can make it for him. They also suggested supplementing with formula. I asked if he was fussy for more milk after the feedings and they said "no, he just keeps sucking." I mean, he could be sucking because babies like to suck right? When I hesitated she told me to ask my pediatrician.
There's no way I can send 20 ounces of milk to daycare each day and keep up with that demand by pumping. I'm barely squeaking out 16 ounces and have to pump like a hundred times a day to get that much. It also seems wasteful to me if he's just crapping all the breastmilk out in record time.
Am I starving my baby? How many bottles and how many ounces do you send to daycare? How long is your baby there?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Bottles for daycare if you're breastfeeding
LO eats 5oz at 7am (home).
Daycare: 10= 5oz, 1pm= 5oz, 4pm= 5oz
home: 6:30pm- nurse, 8:30= 6-8 ounces, depending on how much she got from nursing.
She's right around 30 ounces, but she wants it, and even though it's on the higher end of the scale, it's still within the norm. My production is starting to slow, so her mid-day bottle and sometimes one other is now formula to supplement what I'm not producing. HTH~
My babies eat about 30oz a day each.
I send 5 3oz bottles for one because he likes to eat more frequently and 4 4oz bottles for the other because he likes to eat more at one time. I also send an extra bottle they can use for either one just in case he's hungry.
ETA: They are in daycare 9 hours.
Thanks for the responses!
I've used the milk calculator before and it told me the bottle size should be 3-4 ounces given how many times he eats a day.
I didn't know if 5 ounces was just too much for a breastfed baby to digest at once, but I suppose we could try again so long as they are only feeding him 3 times a day and not 4 5-ounce bottles.
He's not the best at taking pacis, but I'll suggest it.
Thanks again!
My LO is a BF baby and when I pump and give him bottles, he takes 5.5 ounces at a time, sometimes more. He seems to digest it fine. I have just always let him eat until he stops, like I would do if he were at the breast. He eats about every 2-3 hours during the day and sleeps through the night.
This was all so much easier when I was just feeding him on demand on the boob. I feel like I'm being way too methodical and mathematical for my own good. Maybe if I give them 3 5-ounce bottles, that will keep him satisfied while he's at daycare and I don't have to worry about not getting enough milk from my sad excuse for milk producing boobs.
I am having the same issue with my childcare provider. She insists he needs more than 4 oz every 3 hours, but that's all he gets when he's at home with me on the weekends and he is fine. Yesterday she sent home a note that said: "the three bottles aren't quite filled all the way to 4oz. Please make sure they are all the way full." I laughed and said, "I'm doing the best I can!" She told me this morning I needed to start giving him formula. He has a super sensitive stomach and we have FINALLY gotten so he feels good, so I really hate to introduce something else right now - especially since he's about to start on cereal.
I feel bad because I am not with him during the week, so I feel like she knows best, but it's strange that he doesn't eat like that when he's with me.... I suppose we will be supplementing soon and my poor little guy's going to suffer for a while until he gets used to it.
I send two fresh pumped 4 oz bottles and two bags of frozen daily. They usually have a bag in the freezer left over at the end of the day. I have found that sometimes other people try to over feed her but I know that if she takes more than 4 oz, she is going to throw it up. (She is at DC 10 hours).
I wouldn't send more because I found in the beginning that they threw out a lot of the breastmilk because she might take 2 oz and get distracted or tired and not finish the bottle, they would throw it out and then make a new bottle an hour later when she decided that she was hungry. I quickly put a stop to that.
Bottom line is that YOU know your child and what they will eat (and keep down). I always make sure that there is a bag of milk on reserve but they rarely use it and will send it home at the end of the week. Babies do like to suck and if there is a bottle in their mouth, they are going to suck on it even if they are not hungry... I would push the pacifier.
30 oz. per day seems pretty typical at this age. I was just looking at what my DS ate (EBF) at this age and it was 30oz avg. My formula fed DD takes about the same.