BM for daycare

LokiLahve · November 2013

Sorry for all the pumping/milking posts...it's my current obsession/nightmare.

How many bottles do you take to daycare and how full are they?
Also, how many hours is your LO at daycare?

I've never had a supply issue...LO has nursed just fine and gained weight since birth. I'm on day 3 of pumping and I'm not able to keep up with her. Her provider has already given her 2 bottles at 5oz each today...I've only pumped 7oz. I'm going to talk to DC and explain those are large bottles compared to what we have given at home. LO is a chugger and can take 5oz but she usually slows way down around 3.5/4oz and is satisfied if you stop there. I feel like DC is encouraging her to finish maybe.

carrotcake06 · November 2013

5 oz is way too much. Look at the kellymom page on how to bottle feed a BF baby. Explain that oz of BM don't increase like oz of formula. That BF babies will eat what's offered to them regardless of amount. That there are other ways to soothe a baby besides offering a bottle.

I'm at work 8a-6pm roughly. They get 3 bottles while I'm gone with between 3.5-4oz in each bottle. I pump once in the am before I go to work and 3 times at work. I pump 18-20oz at work and make up the difference w my morning pump (usually 1-2oz). I am able to freeze MAYBE 8oz a week.

alexkylee · November 2013

We do four bottles, but she normally only needs three (every 2.5 to 3 hours). She's at DC for 8 hours. She gets 4 oz based on recent weighed feedings at the lactation clinic. Our DC requires bottles be made ahead of time so I can't give them frozen bags to have on hand.

LokiLahve · November 2013

@carrotcake06 ok that makes me feel better. Your hours are about the same as mine and that is the amount I was envisioning for bottles. It also matches about what I am pumping. (It's also how I took the bottles in, but she must have mixed them together to get the 5oz amounts)

V&G101808 · November 2013

LO usually drinks 3-4 bottles while I'm at work... If 4, the last bottle is generally around 5 when I'm headed home. Each bottle is 4oz.

EDIT: Some people don't understand how to bottle feed breastfed babies, so they continue to try and give them more milk. You may need to talk to your childcare provider so they understand how to properly feed your baby and not waste BM.

silvercamaro77 · November 2013

Most breast milk babies don't ever take more than 3-4 oz at a time although you will find some that hit 5 oz. At this age 5 oz bottles seem like entirely too much BM.

DS is 3 months and usually takes 4 3.5 oz bottles over about 10 hours. He just bumped up from 3 oz last week.

With DD we started with a care provider that seriously overfed. As in she routinely gave DD 12 oz in 6 hours. We stayed with the provider less than 2 weeks and I kept her home for half of that. The provider swore DD was hungry and that BM just wasn't enough for her. This was at 3 months old.

We found a center that is familiar with bottle feeding breastfed babies. We started out with 3 oz bottles and increased by half an oz per bottle if she wasn't satisfied with them. I think she was around 5 months or so when she settled into 5 oz bottles and she didn't increase anymore from there.

silvercamaro77 · November 2013

Forgot to add that she took 3 5 oz bottles per day at the peak.

LokiLahve · November 2013

Do any of you have the Calma nipple by medela? It's supposed to better mimic breast feeding and only disperse milk when LO sucks. They're expensive, but I would buy a couple if I thought it would help LO slow down (we slow her down at home...I can't control it when she is at DC though)

This lady says she is familiar with using breast milk (she's been running her home center for 17 years). I briefly went over 'how to bottle feed the breasted baby' points from Kelly mom and she said "yep, yep" to everything. I feel like I need to have a more in depth convo about it thought. I don't want to insult her, at the same time I don't want my milk waisted and my baby over fed!

nittanygirl28 · November 2013

My little guy eats A Lot! He eats 4oz every two hours during the day and sleeps through the night. I give DC three BM and two formula and they alternate. They usually use four bottles, the fifth is an extra just in case. I'm struggling to keep up with his demands which is why he gets two formula each day. The DC wanted me to increase the amount because he often cries the second the bottle is empty but our pedi told us his belly can only hold 5oz max and told us to give him 4oz unless he seems to really need more. I'm taking fenugreek, power pumping, eating oatmeal, hummus & spinach because I read those may help with supply too. Desperately hoping my supply will continue to increase so he won't need formula.

LokiLahve · November 2013

Wow @nittanygirl28 that seems like a lot! How long is your LO at DC each day? Do you know how much LO is usually taking total in 24 hrs?

magdalina.h · November 2013

Alexis takes 3 sometimes 3.5 oz bottles. I send 5 3 oz bottles and 1 usually comes home with me. If I were you, I'd send 4 oz instead of 5.

MitsB707 · November 2013

DS usually has 4-5 bottles at daycare depending on when he ate last. If he got a good feeding in before I bring him, it's only 4 feedings, typically every two hours. Each bottle he takes ranges between 2.5-3 oz of BM, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less depending on him and how hungry he is. He's there from 7:30-4:45 when I pick him up. I usually bring 6 bottles of 2.5 oz each, which totals 15 oz, and he has some formula stored there in case he somehow goes through all his BM. Whatever is not used each day will be used first the next day (they keep it in the storage tubes until he's ready to use it and can measure partial tubes), then on Fridays I take all the unused tubes of milk and freeze them. It helps build my freezer stash slightly by trying to keep it consistent with the 6 tubes each day.

girlmama83 · November 2013

H is with my aunt for 6 hours a day. I will be sending 2 4oz bottles. I will also leave some extra milk in her freezer just incase.

I'm only on day 2 of pumping at work but I think we are going to be okay. I pump about 10oz when I wake up and 5-6oz at work.

katiedid0907 · November 2013

I am worried about what to take to dc as well. I have been EPing for the past couple of weeks so I have plenty of bottle feeding experience but DS is so hard to predict! He could take anywhere from 2-4 ounces depending on the time of day and how hungry he is but usually no more than 3 oz. So I think the first day I will take 4 4 oz bottles just to make sure he has enough and let them know that he will likely not need all of it. I hate to waste any milk but I don't know what else to do.

NikkiD522 · November 2013

I am giving 4 3 ounce bottles during a 10 hour period.. but LO normally doesn't need the last one, but I give it to him once we get home because I still need to pump one more time that day.

LokiLahve · November 2013

Thank you all for your replies. After reading so many of your amounts there is no doubt in my mind she's getting over fed.

I spoke to DC about it when I picked her up and she told me 'if she's still acting hungry I'm not going to not feed her'
I'm trying to remain calm here....I hope we can get it worked out but at this moment I don't feel great about the situation. DC recommended I ask my pedi about it...I don't think she was trying to be combative but anyone telling me they know better about my LO is going to put me on the defensive.
She is knowledgable about the recs on Kelly mom...I guess I'm worried bc she is our mothers' age that her views are outdated.
When I left dc the provider told me she was just getting ready to feed LO again and that she would probably sleep after that. It was 2 hours later before I fed her...she was just tired.

MitsB707 · November 2013

That sounds weird. Can you look into another provider? I know how hard it is, but there's definitely a disconnect there.

Today Tyler got one bottle that was more than his usual 3 oz. they actually wrote a note on his daily sheet that she tried giving him his binky, but he kept eating his hands and wouldn't take it. She gave him another ounce and he was fine.

LokiLahve · November 2013

@maritza707 I'm trying not to jump the gun on finding a new place...it is only the second day. I talked to dh about it all tonight and he thinks we need to give it a little more time. (I don't have any other issues with this place aside from the feeding so I'm ok with giving it some time). Dh is going to have a convo with the provider at drop off tomorrow so we'll see how that goes. Maybe I was being combative today and out her on the defense....it'll be interesting to see what he gets from his approach.

MitsB707 · November 2013

Good luck. Hope it works out after he talks to them tomorrow!

J&Jaggies06 · November 2013

Wow that's a lot! I send 5 bottles with 2-2.5oz each. She eats every 2 hours and us at DC 9-10 hours. The last two days I've pumped 15oz and only sending 11oz of it to DC.

Critter015 · November 2013

DD was at daycare 11 hours and I sent 4 bottles of 3.5 oz each. She would usually only drink 3 of them. When she got to where she consistently finished the 3.5 oz I upped it to 4 and eventually 4.5 oz but she never drank more than 4 bottles at 4.5 oz each. DS only will drink 3 oz at a time but he also eats more often than DD did. With DD I would normally only get 3-4 oz per pumping session but I always pumped 4 times during the day so I often had extra when she only drank 3 bottles.

nittanygirl28 · November 2013

LokiLahve said:
Wow @nittanygirl28 that seems like a lot! How long is your LO at DC each day?
Do you know how much LO is usually taking total in 24 hrs?

He eats between 24 and 32oz total for the day. It just depends on his day. I thought this was worrysome but pedi assured us he is ok and his size is around the 50th percentile. Believe me, I wish he'd take less so I wasn't so stressed about pumping enough but this is apparently what he needs.

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