Bottles: 5oz vs. 9oz

Linnea503 · March 2012

So, I just stocked up on 5oz bottles for when DS starts daycare next month. I washed and sterilized everything and am now wondering if I messed up. Should I have gotten the larger 9oz bottles instead?

He is 3 months old and exclusively breastfed. I can't imagine him taking more than 4-5oz at a time but maybe I should have gotten the larger size.

Thoughts? What size bottles does your breastfed LO need for daycare?

michelle142 · March 2012

From what I've been told, and what I've read, the majority of BF babies generally don't take more than 5oz at a feeding. But every baby is different.

DS is 3mo and never takes more than 3 or 4oz at a time. At DC he takes 3-4oz bottles and he's there from 7:45 to 4:15.

MsCrispy · March 2012

I think you are fine. My baby is six months and we don't have or use any of the larger ones. All of our bottles are 4-5 ounces. She drinks three 4-4.5 ounce bottles a day. That hasn't changed since she was your baby's age.

jlsimon56 · March 2012

We bought 9oz bottles but only b/c we didn't want to have to buy all new bottles if we switched to FF. I wish we had the smaller bottles b/c my daycare was taking the four 4oz bottles and making three 5/5.5oz bottles so they could feed LO less often....if we had the smaller bottles they wouldn't have been able to do that...

Jen4033 · March 2012

I have the 6 oz Playtex Vent-aire ones, but we haven't started Day Care quite yet. Will be tomorrow or Wed before we do cuz cay care lady got sick. While DS has been home with DH last week he's been eating 6-7 oz at a time, but I honestly think DH was over-doing it. I'll get a better idea with Day Care. I would expect more like 4-5 OZ at a time since that is my typical output when I pump during the day. Maybe a 6 oz bottle if he just had a really long nap.

From what I heard, a BF baby won't necessarily need to eat larger amounts as they get older. Your milk automatically changes to his needs. I'm hoping that is true & I can stick with these 6 oz bottles so I don't have to buy more!

JessJ222 · March 2012

My 9.5 month old still has never had more than 5oz bottle and typically only has 4.5oz at a time.

The smaller ones are nice too for when they are able to feed themselves.

ebp913 · March 2012

Jen4033:

I have the 6 oz Playtex Vent-aire ones, but we haven't started Day Care quite yet. Will be tomorrow or Wed before we do cuz cay care lady got sick. While DS has been home with DH last week he's been eating 6-7 oz at a time, but I honestly think DH was over-doing it. I'll get a better idea with Day Care. I would expect more like 4-5 OZ at a time since that is my typical output when I pump during the day. Maybe a 6 oz bottle if he just had a really long nap.

From what I heard, a BF baby won't necessarily need to eat larger amounts as they get older. Your milk automatically changes to his needs. I'm hoping that is true & I can stick with these 6 oz bottles so I don't have to buy more!

That's exactly right. This link can be helpful also.

https://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html

Your baby eats about the same amount from 1 to 6 months and then around 6 months or with the introduction of solids, that amount may start to decrease. You shouldn't really need the larger bottles until you wean if you start using formula.

walkercpa · March 2012

When LO started at DC (at 3 mo), he had four 4-oz bottles to get through a full day. Now that he's eating a lot more solids, he takes three 4-oz bottles. The only time we have used a larger bottle is when DH and I went out for the night and someone else put him to bed; he will take about 6 oz at his bedtime feeding.

wenniezoo · March 2012

It really depends on the baby, different babies eat different amounts and number of times through a day. The Medela chart gives a huge range for total intake for a 6month old, it ranges from 24 to 40oz in different babies. My LO started eating 8oz in a sitting at 2months, but he's a piggy, and he has stuck with 8oz/feeding since then.

You could always double up, and if LO is eating more just take 2 bottles instead of one. It's a good reminder to the caretaker to burp LO in the middle anyway!