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November 2011 Moms
gigglez82
member
Does this sound normal?
gigglez82
member
Today is my second day at work, and the daycare called me yesterday to tell me LO was going to run out of milk for his end of day feeding. I sent 6, 2oz bottles b/c I dont' know how much he takes from a bottle. They had been feeding him 2 bottles at each feeding every two hours (4 oz). Today I sent 5, 3oz bottles (3 oz more than yesterday) and they said he is drinking 1.5 bottles at each feeding, that's 4.5 ounces! And now I need to bring him 9 more ounces before the end of the day. Yesterday I pumped 14 ounces and so far today I've only pumped 9 ounces. Does this sound normal? I even asked them to try soothing him with the pacifier before giving him another bottle. I'm not going to be able to keep up with pumping for him at this rate. They suggested maybe a growth spurt, but after I got him home last night he didn't feed from me very much. I may pump in the middle of the night to keep my supply going. Any thoughts?
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Re: Does this sound normal?
How much does he weigh?
With formula they say they need 2.5 ounces for each pound of weight. So my LO at 10 lbs should take 25 ounces a day.
When I was EPing, my LO regularly took 4 oz bottles...and I stopped at around six or seven weeks maybe. I would say it's probably very normal.
ETA: Generally speaking, you won't express as much milk with a pump as with a baby, so how much you pump is not a good indicator of how much baby eats.
A normal infant should be drinking between 24-32 ounces per day (32 ounces max) so divide that between a 24 hour day it's around 1-1.5oz per hour. If your LO is in daycare for 9 hours your LO should only be drinking 9-15oz while you're gone. I'm guessing your daycare is overfeeding your LO and not trying other ways to soothe them. I would talk to them and set some rules.
Also, I've heard that breastfed babies typically don't exceed drinking 4oz at a time even as they get older. I don't know how true that is, but I've read about it multiple times on the BF board.
My daughter drinks between 8-12oz while she's at daycare. Do you send your LO to the CDC? If I remember correctly, you are in the military. My FI is also in the AF and I refuse to send my daughter to the CDC because I haven't heard the most positive experiences.
DD1 never went over 4 oz of bf at daycare. Is your lo finishing the bottles or are they tossing some?
I suggest asking them not to feed her past a certain time, so I'd you pick her up at 5:30, ask that they feed her at 2:30 and then not after 4:30. That way shell be hungry when you pick her up and you can nurse right away. I founs that to keep my supply up, I had to nurse once in the morning and twice in the evening at a minimum. And then all weekend, no bottles at home
As for pumping, make sure you massage your breasts when you pump, drink more water than you think you need to and possibly try turning down your suction. You may have turned it up out of frustration but I found that to be counter productive and got less milk.
You may also want to add in a pimping session once a day over the weekend. That souls help too. Do it in the morning when your supply is greatest and you lo will help bring up your supply by nursing.
My DS is in "day care" with my mother from 730 a.m. - 530 p.m. I usually send 4 4-oz bottles and give her frozen milk in case she needs extra. Some days he has been hungrier and she has to break into the frozen stash. She is a pro at soothing, so if she is feeding him I know it is because he really needs it.
I do pump at night - DS usually wakes at 1 and I nurse one side and then pump the other, same thing at 5 a.m. Then I pump 3 times at work and nurse him when I get home in the evening (he usually nurses twice then before bed). My DH gives him a bottle most nights around 9 so I can go to bed and get a good stretch of sleep.
I get the most milk when I pump at night, so that really helps (usually about 3 oz out of one breast). I do take Fenugreek.
One other tip that helps me is to be sure you pump through 2 letdowns. The way your body produces milk there is milk in the breast and once that is emptied it signals your body to produce and push down more milk - this takes a little bit of time. If you keep pumping through that you'll usually get another ounce or more. I also do breast compressions (squeezing the breast) the entire time I pump (rather than just sitting and letting the pump work).
Good luck!
My LO eats between 4 - 6 ounces at a time while at daycare and usually has 3 bottles while there (8 hours). He also has a few bags of BM frozen just in case he wants more. I don't think my daycare over-feeds him because DH watches Phin on Fridays and that is usually what he eats then also (DH knows to try other methods of soothing prior to feeding).
I'd definitely add in a few extra pumping sessions to get more milk and try what the other posters said about pumping during let downs and massage.
Today I sent 15 oz, which I figured would be enough. They feed him on a 2 hr schedule. However when I stopped by after lunch they said he only took in 1.5 ounces at his last feeding. His belly was sooo full, I could feel how tight it was, but he definitely was a happy lil guy. They said he is most happy when he's full. I also read they shouldn't be exceeding 4 oz at a time, that's why I was concerned. I had asked them to soothe him with his pacifier or rocking him. It's a 1:4 ratio with 8 babies max in the room.
Yes my LO goes to the CDC, unfortunately being overseas it is our only option. I'm not concerned about the care they give him, they are actually really great here, just more concerned with his breast milk consumption and me keeipng up. I think I'm going to try Fenugreek. The care givers mentioned one of the other babies gets a 1:1 mix of breastmilk/formula, but I really want to avoid that.
I would not jump to this conclusion.
Our LO has had the exact same pattern as you, OP. Whether he's at daycare, with his grandmother, or when we bottle fed him while we had the flu, he was taking the same amounts during the day - and we were not all overfeeding him.
I thought I was going to have to supplement. But I've been able to keep up so far. Here's what I do...
Feed LO before he leaves for daycare. He will eat there about 4 times, anywhere from 16-18 ounces total. I pump at 10 am, get about 1.5 bottles; lunch time and get about 1-1.5 bottles, 2pm and get about 1 bottle. I also try to pump right before I pick him up at 4:30 because usually the daycare has given him a bottle closer to 4. (I they don't feed him at this hour, he is SCREAMING when I pick him up and immediately wants to be fed.)
So, throughout the day I pump about 4, 4 ounce bottles...sometimes an extra to go into the freezer stash if I pump right before I pick him up.
He will eat about 2 more times before bed at 10:30. The he wakes at about 5:30 to eat again, and we start all over.
So, as you see he seems to be eating mostly during the day. He is sleeping through the night, and this pattern is working for us!
Have you found the Fenugreek to help? I'm thinking about trying that.
Sometimes I have been able to pump through 2 letdowns, I'm thinking night time pumping is in my future.
I could keep up if he took 4.5 oz every 3 hrs, but he's been taking 4.5 oz every 2 hours. It seems he is taking more in the mornings then the afternoons, so I'm hoping to have some breastmilk left to take home at the end of the day today. I have a small freezer stash, but nothing huge.
I wasn't assuming anything by providing her that information. Obviously I don't know how much her child eats in the mornings and evenings, but I was trying to give her a baseline as to what I read most infants should be taking in each day.
I know, but you suggested that they were overfeeding and that she needs to set ground rules. I'm just saying from my experience, my LO is genuinely hungry for 16-18ounces of milk during the day. And if I just went on the assumption that they must be overfeeding him, and told them not to give him the bottles, he would be hungry.
I know that's not what you were telling her to do at all, but that was the same advice I got when I asked this exact same question about 2 weeks ago and it made me worried. Only by having him bottle fed at home when we were sick, at at his Nana's house, did we see for ourselves that he is genuinely that hungry and just eats more during the day than what seems to be average.
I've never been to an overseas base, but do you have the option to send your LO to daycare with an FCC provider? We have that option in the states, so I'm wondering if it applies overseas too? I'm currently not using any form of military daycare because I was able to find a Navy Officer's wife who was looking to watch a child during the day so luckily we found her, but I might have to move my LO into military daycare in the future.
As for different ways to increase supply, you can drink Mother's Milk tea. The box says to drink like 6-8 cups per day which is outrageous, but maybe that's the only way it will increase. I only drink 1 per day. Also, I take Fenugreek (only 2 pills per day) because that's what the bottle indicates. But I've read some people take 3-6 pills per day. If you decide to take Fenugreek, you'll be able to tell if you're taking the right amount of pills based on if your pee smells like maple syrup. Also, you can always do a power pumping session at night or on the weekend. All you do is pump 10 minutes on 10 minutes off for 1-2 hours that will trigger your body to produce more milk. I hope that helps! Also, feel free to post on the breastfeeding board...there are alot of knowledge women on there who can provide you some more insight.
Here's what I've been doing so far. Today he took in 20 ounces.
I feed LO at 0530, we leave for daycare at 0600 (he spends 10 hours in daycare)
I pump at 0830, 1130, 1500, and 1700 when I get home.
He nurses for a little bit, but then pretty much the rest of the evening he's been sleepy, and last night he pretty much STTN but maybe ate a lil around 0100.
The DCP told me he tends to eat more in the morning and then slows down in the afternoon. Maybe my LO is on the same kind of eating schedule as your LO.
Unfortunately in Italy FCC's are not allowed, and with being dual military we both have to be at work pretty early for PT and one of the off base childcare places doesn't open til after 0730.
A friend of mine has some Fenugreek and Mother's Milk tea, she is going to bring it to work tomorrow for me to try. Thanks!
This could be...just morning eaters! I also noticed in your siggy that he's around 2 months? He may be having a growth period right now. I noticed that my LO has been able to take less at day care over the last couple of weeks. I have been able to get away with sending two 4oz and two 3 oz bottles...and today for the first time, there is a 3 oz left over.
Makes me wonder if maybe he was just hungrier around the 2 month mark because he was growing? I don't know, but maybe your LO's pattern will change a bit in a couple of weeks too....