(Untitled)

Jacqui105 · June 2013

OhSewCrafty · June 2013

TexasAggie06:
My LO is 2.5 mo (just shy of 10 weeks), weighs 13 lbs, and he has taken a 4.5 oz bottle a few times. Usually 4 oz makes him happy.
Is she still showing signs of being hungry, or do they just want her to pass out after she eats?

This would be my question. Just because a baby is awake at the end of a bottle doesn't mean they aren't full. I'd talk to them about realistic expectations of an EBF baby and how you'd like them to manage her feedings.

bartkj03 · June 2013

Is she still going the same length of time between bottles? If she is then I wouldn't think that she hungry. But if she is getting fussy early and fussy after the bottle then I would up the amount. If she is just fussing after eating but still making it the same amount of time between feedings she just might need to be distracted right after eating.

maybebride · June 2013

I know conventional wisdom on this board is that babies do not need that much, but some just do. My DS rarely took only 4 oz at a feeding when away from me. When I finally went up to three 6 oz. bottles on the days he's away from me, he's had no issues. He will be 7 months old on Monday and he weighs somewhere between 17 and 18 lbs. (he would probably be at 18, but we had a tummy bug last week and he was keeping nothing down). He does get solids (or did before the tummy bug) twice a day and eats those like a champ too.

I fought it, thinking he was being overfed (DH keeps him two days and my mother one). But, after lengthy discussions, we realized that was not the case. DS easily takes a pacifier - unless he's still hungry. And generally eats when he gets up from a nap, so it wasn't a matter of trying to get him to go to sleep. I just have an eater. And my doctor said as long as he's taking that much, not gaining too much weight (he's not at all), and doesn't have excessive spit up (he never spits up).

There is a good possibility that your LO is being overfed and the DC provider(s) doesn't know how to correctly bottle feed a breastfed baby, so obviously address that first. But, don't discount the need for more BM. Also, I do have to pump before bed to meet demands and even that is getting difficult these days. Some days I might be short an ounce, so I just make sure that is the last bottle given since I nurse as soon as I get to him.

Sarelnad · June 2013

I went through a similar situation with daycare but as soon as he started eating solids he didn't need any additional milk than what I was sending. I think that some daycares just want to make sure you are aware of the situation. They may not understand how stressful making a few more ounces really is.

cchill01 · June 2013

She might be going through a growth spurt. DD#1 took 6oz bottles for a couple of week right around 6months. Then she went back to more normal 4oz bottles.

I would start solids now and see if you can start the transition.

shlittertoots · June 2013

I would tell them to offer her a paci and see what happens. If she takes one. My LO will cry sometimes when her bottle is gone, but usually it's because she's tired and giving her a paci calms her right down. The most she eats is 5 oz in a bottle and she's almost 8 months. Many times she's satisfied with 4oz.

Wild_flower25 · June 2013

I went through this too. I told them to give her a paci after the bottles. I also increased one bottle to 5 ozs and that seemed to help.

But at 6 mos, I would start solids and that should help a lot because I know how hard it would be to pump that much more.

lizenfrancais · June 2013

I wanted to put another voice behind the idea that some BF babies do take more than 4 oz. I EP and DS takes 5 6oz bottles a day.

At first when his sitter recommended upping the number of ounces, I told her about all the websites saying that breastfed babies don't need that much. I literally got laughed at. Since she's had way more years caring for lots of BF babies, I decided to give it a try. I found that DS is much happier with the larger bottles even at home. He is also always in the 50th percentile of weight, so he's not being overfed.

Some kids just have a high metabolism and need more to eat than others. You just need to figure out what is right for your baby and not worry about what is right for someone else's baby.

welly01 · June 2013

Its tough when DC wants more milk that you can't pump. I've gone through the same thing. You should definitely play with the size and timing of the bottles to make sure she isn't being overfed, but what also helped me is pumping a few times on the weekend.

So I freeze what I pump on Friday and then use what I pump on Saturday and Sunday as extra milk for the upcoming week. Its such a relief to have a little extra in case I run short one day. I also usually pump after LO goes to bed. Also, if you go to bigger bottles, she might take them less frequently so you might occasionally have one left over, which is always nice.

Good luck!

Jacqui105 · June 2013

Thank you everyone for the input. She has been nursing more once I pick her up from DC this week when I think about so I need to accept the posibility she may really want 6oz or maybe temporarily anyway for a growth spurt. First though, I'm going to make sure this isn't due to overfeeding, etc. I sent the regular 5 oz bottles today plus one bottle with only 1 oz in it. I told them a half hour after her first bottle to offer her the one oz bottle. I think that will help see if she is really still hungry or if she is eating too fast and just needs time for her tummy to play catch up. I'm going to get a few different bottles this weekend to see if anything is a slower flow. Then I want to go in when her main teacher is free to see how long the bottle feeding takes, her behavior, position she is fed in, etc. I also plan to start solids next week on her 6 mo birthday and maybe that will help. If nothing indicates she isn't truly hungry, I will do what I can to pump more. Thanks again!

cmhicklin · June 2013

My DS usually only goes up a 1/2 oz at a time. You could try sending 5 1/2 oz bottles to see how your LO does. If you haven't had a problem with overfeeding before, it seems weird they would start now. Unless it has been a problem, but I don't remember reading that. My DD was eating 6 oz bottles at 6 months. Just because one person or even most peoples kids don't, doesn't mean yours won't. So if your LO does fine with 5 1/2 oz, then that will save you an oz or more you have to make a day.

fusionbride · June 2013

Jacqui105:
Thank you everyone for the input. She has been nursing more once I pick her up from DC this week when I think about so I need to accept the posibility she may really want 6oz or maybe temporarily anyway for a growth spurt. First though, I'm going to make sure this isn't due to overfeeding, etc. I sent the regular 5 oz bottles today plus one bottle with only 1 oz in it. I told them a half hour after her first bottle to offer her the one oz bottle. I think that will help see if she is really still hungry or if she is eating too fast and just needs time for her tummy to play catch up. I'm going to get a few different bottles this weekend to see if anything is a slower flow. Then I want to go in when her main teacher is free to see how long the bottle feeding takes, her behavior, position she is fed in, etc. I also plan to start solids next week on her 6 mo birthday and maybe that will help. If nothing indicates she isn't truly hungry, I will do what I can to pump more. Thanks again!

sounds like you have a perfect plan. I just wanted to add that when we faced a similar scenario, I was able to pump more by pumping first thing in the morning-- I try to pump on my way to work and again 2 hours later then space it farther in the afternoon, and I only pump one side my last pump of the day so my other side is ready for LO to chow down. I also put 6oz in LOs morning bottles at DC but she slows down by the end of the day, so her afternoon bottle is just 4oz. So playing around with the timing might also help. GL!

Kingston54 · June 2013

I think she is fine. You are her mom, you'd know. If they continue to bug you tell them your doctor said 5oz. is plenty (and you could even ask the doctor too).

RJM050705 · June 2013

I'm so glad you asked this and that many shared that their LOs eat more... My girl is only 4 months, but for the past few weeks she's been eating 6-7oz 4x/day (I EP and still have to supplement). She's in the 7th percentile for weight and only gains about 1lb/month. She'd been eating 3.5-4oz bottles and would still be hungry, so we started increasing. She's also great about stopping when she's full, so I'm confident we're not overfeeding her. I chatted about it with our pedi/nurse and they said it was fine.

Want a personalized experience?

(Untitled)

Re: (Untitled)

Choose Another Board

Search Boards