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4 Month Old, Breastmilk, Quantity of Ounces

loweco1loweco1 member
in Babies: 3 - 6 Months

I have just returned to work and put my sweet baby girl in daycare. I solely nursed for the first four months (and pumped and froze to begin a supply). I did of course make sure she would take the bottle before returning to work, however never worked on bottle feeding her to learn her amounts of eating. Now that she is in daycare, I am relying on them to tell me amounts to send. In retrospect, I should have mastered it myself before sending her. The first few days I sent four 4 oz bottles, but they told me she gulped them and asked me to start sending 6oz bottles. That seems like a lot! They tell me she is finishing them, and even seems like she might want more. She is there from 9am to 5pm and is having 3-4 bottles (6oz) through the day. Does this sound like a lot to anyone? I know all babies are different, but can you share what your LO's at this age are consuming of breastmilk??

I am not pumping enough to keep up for the next day to send with her. My freezer supply will diminish quickly!

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Re: 4 Month Old, Breastmilk, Quantity of Ounces

  • carrotcake06carrotcake06 member
    That's too much.

    Do you use Kellymom? Look on their website for how to bottle feed a BF baby as well as amounts.

    It's very common for a dcp to over feed a bf baby. Often, they are used to formula where you increase the ounces as LO gets older. This isn't the case for BM - your BM will change to meet your baby's needs, so an ever increasing amount isn't necessary.

    The general rule of thumb is one oz per hour. I have twins and they have 3 4oz bottles each while I'm at work (8am-6pm). So 12oz in 10hrs. It's plenty for them.
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  • ILMommaILMomma member
    My 5 month old has been eating 4 oz for over a month now. The DC probably does not know how to pace bottle feed. A baby should take an entire bottle the same amount of time it takes them to nurse. You need to tell your DC how much she eats. Don't expect them to tell you the right amount.
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  • snookums2013snookums2013 member
    I think it depends on her weight too, but I am also having the same issue with daycare and I think this is pretty common.  My daughter is small, but we were giving her 4 x 3oz bottles and they have asked me a few times to increase to 4oz.  She's 5 mos now.  So this week I started giving her 4oz in two of them.  The thing that concerns me is that what the amount they claim she is eating/ needs doesn't match her behavior at home.  I asked them if they are pace feeding and they claim they are, but I think I need to observe one day and see what they are actually doing.  I was already barely producing enough for her 3oz bottles so it's stressing me out that they are requiring me to send more.  I'm trying to hold out on adding any formula until she's 6 mos, but it's becoming increasingly harder.
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  • PrimRoseMamaPrimRoseMama member
    Sounds like she is guzzling. 6oz is too much IMHO. You might consider a slower flow nipple.


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  • kwreckskwrecks member
    Check your local hospital to see if there is any way that you can weigh your baby, nurse, then weigh again so you can see how much she is eating. That way you know exactly how much to give.

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  • EricaLee2013EricaLee2013 member
    Maybe my baby is a chunker, but she took 4-5 bottles at 4.5 oz each from 8am-4pm when she was four months. She was also sleeping 12-13 hours a night, so she has to eat a lot during the day. She's now taking 4.75 oz bottles, same number of bottles, and she's just over five months.

    6 oz bottles is definitely too much, but maybe more bottles with less BM would be your answer.
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  • carrotcake06carrotcake06 member
    edited January 2014
    https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/

    https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/feeding-tools/bottle-feeding/
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  • MarinowskiMarinowski member
    My daughter takes 4 oz -4.5 oz bottles about every 3-4 hours in the evening when I am at work from my husband. She is fine with 3.5 during the day if I bottle feed her (mostly breast when I am home). She is not sleeping through the night yet. I made the mistake of giving 6 oz one time because I misread her cues and the next few hours were miserable. She will just continue to suck on a bottle forever if I let her. Maybe daycare can give her 4 oz paced feeds and if she still needs to suck try a pacifier for 10 mins or so (it takes that long to feel full). Then only give her more if she truly is hungry.
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  • magdalina.hmagdalina.h member
    Talk to them about pace feeding. My MIL does a modified by stopping Alexis at 2 oz to burp her. She'll scream for more and my MIL gives her the binky, if that doesn't make her happy, then she'll add a little extra to the bottle.
    Books say breastfed babies don't need more than 4 oz ever, but your mom and you know your baby best. Also my pedi said it's hard to base it on how much she'll drink for you compared to how much she'll drink for daycare. You are mom, you are comfort and it's normal for her to take less from you. At daycare, while they are sweet, they have other babies so they are trying to get them fed.
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  • cwhitloccwhitloc member
    My oldest guzzled down a lot first day of daycare. She was missing me and probably comfort nursing.  I would check out kelly mom and calculate what you should be sending.  Also, send another 4 oz bottle rather than upping her bottles to 6 oz.  Don't depend on daycare to know what to do since they are probably used to formula feeding.  My oldest never took over at 5 oz bottle. 

    After the first few days, she stopped "needing" as much bottles.  I actually switched her from 3 5 oz bottles to 5 3oz bottles since she was spitting up a lot getting used to mostly bottle drinking.  Hang in there and good luck. 
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  • slh6363slh6363 member
    4 oz and he eats every 2-3 hours
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