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6 month old: Breastmilk and Daycare

TLizzyTLizzy
in Breastfeeding

How much breastmilk do you send to daycare with your 6 month old daily?

DS just started daycare this week and we are still trying to figure out how much he needs. Today I sent him with two 5.5oz bottles and one 3 oz bottle.

He was at daycare from 8am to 1pm and he ate all three. This seems like a lot of milk to me, but I obviously do not want him to be hungry. He nursed before he went and has nursed twice since he has been home. I will nurse him once more before bed at 7pm. He sleeps through the night with no nightime feedings.

We do solids once a day at home around 5ish. Eventually we will start sending a solids "meal" to daycare with him, but not yet. We just started solids last week.

Any advice?

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Re: 6 month old: Breastmilk and Daycare

  • aglennaglenn member

    That sounds like way too much to me for a half day.  DS is 6 months and is at daycare from 7:30ish (usually closer to 8) to 5:30ish.  He takes between 12-16 oz depending on the day.  I send 4 4-oz bottles and he usually doesn't finish all of them.  DD never took more than 12 oz in a day. 

    He could have been looking for comfort since it's a new situation, but I would talk to the day care about not overfeeding him.  They can try to comfort him in other ways first before offering a bottle if it's not been very long since the last feeding.  Good luck!

    ETA:  We just started solids, too, so DS is not getting any solids at day care yet.

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  • tokenhosertokenhoser member

    https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/

    At 7 feeds per day, it should be around 3.5-4 oz per feed. He will eat more in daycare than a baby that is still eating overnight.

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  • sooner1981sooner1981 member
    My DD is 6 months old and eats between 14 to 17 from 8 AM to 5:30 PM, but she eats at 4:30 AM, 7 AM, 5:30 PM and 7 PM still--so she still gets about 4-5 ounces in a middle of the night feed that your LO doesn't get.
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  • JWSchwarzJWSchwarz member
    Mine eats about 3 5oz bottles, but he still eats once at night.
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  • MichelleL1118MichelleL1118 member
    At 6 months, DS was nursing (or taking a bottle) every 3 hours when awake, and STTN.  He was taking 3, 3.5oz bottles at that point, and nursing 3 additional times each day.  There's no way your DS should have taken 14oz in 5 hours at daycare - how often are they feeding him?  Is he accustomed to taking bottles?  Are you using the slowest-flow nipples possible on the bottle so he can't overeat?
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  • SMaskSMask

    My 5 1/2 month old is at daycare 7-4 and drinks 3 bottles 3.5 oz each.  No solids yet.  That seems like a lot.  This seems dumb, but do they know its breast milk and not formula? I"m sure they do... maybe they overfed because he was fussy? Hmm

    ETA: He STTN and nurses a lot in the evenings 

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  • sadsadiesadsadie
    imageaglenn:


    He could have been looking for comfort since it's a new situation

    This! Also, I don't really think a baby can "overeat," so I wouldn't get too concerned about it right away. If he was home nursing on demand you probably wouldn't question it, right? So I wouldn't sweat it here. Once he gets used to the new environment his eating habits may well level out. 

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  • KatieAnne918KatieAnne918
    At 6 mo. DD would take that much milk in that time frame. She would take 2 7oz bottles from 82. She was nursing or bottle at 7, 10, 1, 4, 7 and STTN.
    It is possible that that is how many ounces baby needs/wants. Were you able to pump that much during that time? I always could match that demand.
    I do agree that they may have mistaken sleepy cues for hunger, but both DD and DS ate that much consistently. GL!
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  • 92405bride92405bride
    My 5.5 month old takes three 5-6oz bottles (so 15-18oz) in the 8.5 hours he's at daycare. I can match that pumping (actually a bit more) so it doesn't seem absurd to me. He also nurses 4 additional times in a 24 hour period. That's about what my daughter was doing at that age as well but she was sleeping through the night. Both are average sized.
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  • natsgirl12natsgirl12 member

    i have a 6.5 month old. she is in daycare from 8a to 4p. i send 4 4oz bottles. she eats 3 of them. i was sending 5 3oz bottles and she ate 2-4 of them. but lately she's been hungry after finishing a 3oz bottle, so we upped them to 3. i send the extra bottle(s) because i commute by train and any day i could break down and be late and i don't want her to be hungry.

    we are doing solids once a day (dinner) at home...just started recently, so no solids at daycare yet.

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