Question/vent regarding BM and daycare

psychdoc12 · March 2014

LO gets 3oz bottles at daycare, about every 2 hours, then nurses at demand at home.

The teachers at daycare have started dropping hints that she "sucks the bottle down" and "seems to want more." Mind you, this was a day I sent 4 bottles and she only ate three. They also keep asking if she's going to start solids. I've talked to them about paced bottle feeding and even provided the handout from Kellymom.

I think one issue is that one of my colleagues recently started in the same room as my daughter and for whatever reason her BF LO drinks 7oz bottles. So now the teachers probably think I'm starving my daughter and they're making me doubt myself and feel guilty about it. Doesn't help when I try to weigh LO at home and she doesn't seem to have gained in the past week ( I know a lot of factors can affect this, such as time of day weighed, etc. but it doesn't help my anxiety. Pediatrician was happy with her weight gain at 4mo appt).

So, should I say anything to the teachers? Just keep sending what I'm sending? If I should say something, what?

sweettwilight16 · March 2014

My daycare is family, but they were saying the same thing. I did go up to 3.5 oz per bottle, and eventually to 4 since I pump enough. They haven't said anything else, and I'm fine with giving her 4. I wouldn't do more though. I get questioned about solids too, but we are only 3 weeks away from 6 mo, so I just say we'll be starting soon.

psychdoc12 · March 2014

I don't really pump enough to add any more to her bottles, but I guess if she is unsatisfied I will need to supplement. Maybe I will wait and see if they mention this again before making a decision in case it was just an isolated thing.

We are starting solids soon, too. Probably in about two weeks.

Welshgirl12 · March 2014

Holy moley 7oz????? Amelia gets 4.5oz 3 times a day while with her grandparents for about 8- 9 hours. My MIL kept saying A wanted more but she had not increased her demand art home so I took that as a sign that she was getting enough. Maybe increase by 0.5oz if you can, and make sure the DC staff are doing the paced feedings.

manders726 · March 2014

When DS started DC in January, I sent him with four 4oz bottles. He did fine with that until about a month ago when I noticed that he started eating from both sides at home and then his teachers said the same things- he was chugging the bottles and seemed to want more. I increased his bottles to 5oz each, and told them it was OK to supplement with formula if the bottles ran out (they have the Parents Choice brand that's comparable to Similac Sensitive, which is one of the brands we used with DD).

He's been doing fine with that and it's turned out to be a blessing in disguise because my supply is dropping and I've had to dip into my freezer stash a few times a week. I'd dried up completely by the time DD was 4 months old, so the fact we've gotten this far before having supply issues is a victory for me! DS is also a big guy and a good eater, so supplementing with formula has taken some pressure off of me.

They asked about solids a couple weeks ago and I told them that we were waiting until 6 months. In actuality, we started about a week ago but I prefer to do them at home so I can control the amounts for now. I've seen what they give to the slightly older kids and it's too much- they're using solids to replace a feeding, not supplement.

hartsl01 · March 2014

I give DC 12oz a day. I only send milk on Mondays and include an extra ounce or two each week. Sometimes he has leftovers at the end of the week and sometimes he doesn't. They have told me that it really depends on his mood, if he's tired etc. on how much he eats at one time.

They have also asked me about solids and after I shut down cereal, they have learned not to push it. In our contact it says that she will not start any food until the parent does, so we should be fine there.

kimbo1216 · March 2014

7oz bottles for a bf baby is pretty high. I would not let them make you use that as the bar. If possible, you might try sending 4oz bottles. But I'd cap it there. A baby downing a bottle quickly does not necessarily mean extreme hunger. Are you still using the slowest flow nipple possible? If not, go back down.

Also. I wouldn't recommend trying to weigh at home. Unless you have an accurate infant scale, this will not be necessarily give you a good idea of weight gain. Also, after a few months, bf babies generally start to plateau. So it's normal for weight to slow the older they get.

But honestly, you are paying them. So you are the boss. Please don't let them pressure you if you generally feel good about the amount you are sending.

And remember: most DCs are probably used to ff where baby gets more and more ounces as time goes on. This is not the case for bf babies. An ounce per hour away should be good. And if you are not feeding her right before leave and as soon as you pick her up, you might try to when you can as much as possible.

Good luck. You're doing great mama!

psychdoc12 · March 2014

jgslr said:

I don't really pump enough to add any more to her bottles, but I guess if she is unsatisfied I will need to supplement. Maybe I will wait and see if they mention this again before making a decision in case it was just an isolated thing.

We are starting solids soon, too. Probably in about two weeks.
It might be a gs, they still have those hungry gs days while at dc. Has the fenugreek helped any?

My output doesn't seem to have changed, but I've also been spotting.

psychdoc12 · March 2014

Thanks everyone for the advice. I feel reassured.

slh6363 · March 2014

I have the same issue, but not with daycare but with my MIL. She said she was surprised he's still only getting 4 oz bottles and drops hints like he guzzled it down.

casey820 · March 2014

I'm posting as an example of the other side of the spectrum. I was sending four 4 oz bottles with DS to DC for a 10 hr day. He wasn't able to go very long between feedings so they told me he needed another bottle. So I started sending a total of 20 oz (five 4 oz bottles). I swore to DH they were over feeding him. I just couldn't believe it.....Until I fed him a bottle myself at home. The kid can eat. He eats the same amount when he's with my mom and I know she is doing paced feeding and doesn't over feed.

psychdoc12 · March 2014

My plan is to send some homemade purees to DC so they can feed her at lunchtime, once I start. I think that it will allow them to feel more comfortable with the amount of milk I send.

emmylou78 · March 2014

jgslr said:
I would add another .5 oz and see if that helps. That's an extra 1.5 oz total. I don't think most bf babies drink larger than a 4oz bottle at a time (with a few rare exceptions). Dd wouldn't drink a drop over 3oz..ever..so I know sending big 7oz bottles would be a waste.

As for solids, I'd recommend mentioning that AAP recommends waiting till six months. I think a lot of dc are slow with getting the information about changing recommendations. Give them that printout too.

Over 4oz ever? I was under te inpression too that the milk just got higher in calories. But I asked a girl at work this who had bf'd before and is breastfeeding her 8 month old now, and she said no. That they'd go up to 6-8 oz bottles. Not sure i could ever pump that! Is that true or no?

My mom does five 4 oz bottles, sometimes with an extra 2 oz before bed, while I'm gone 12 hours. I was doing 3oz bottles but she said LO was still hungry so I upped them.

MissLauraPants · March 2014

I send 4 4 ounce BM bottles to daycare and he is there 8.5 hours. He varies though with sometimes going through all fast and sometimes only taking 3 and being fine. I chalk it up to how actives versus sleeping he is. He is EP so I guess he is used to the intake of bottles and maybe if you are BF at home that us why yours is taking the bottles quickly? Maybe like PP try to add half an ounce per bottle and see if he us actually hungrier or just going through them fast because of it being a bottle....

psychdoc12 · March 2014

AmyG* said:

They don't increase the siE of bottles exponentially like formula. They will increase some a number of feeds a day goes down and they Sleep longer at night. They don't usually go over 4oz bottles much til number of feeds goes below 6 a day. And they really should stay at 6 a day even after solids are introduced. However a lot of moms move up bottle sizes with faster flow nipples because that it what they think they should do. And if they can pump a lot of milk easily with oversupply that's ok. They'll still make a day's worth of nutrition in whatever oz they give baby the problem comes when mom can't pump really high amts but is pressured to keep increasing bottle size and they can't keep up and add formula.

Definitely no OS here.

sooner1981 · March 2014

I am gone from 8:30 to 5:30 every day. With my daughter, she never ate more than 4 ounces at a time, and generally ate 12 to no more than 14 ounces a day.

My son (who is a pound skinnier than my daughter was at four months--only 21st percentile) kills 18-20 ounces a day and has consistently eaten 5 ounce bottles for the last 4 weeks. My nanny breastfed her kiddos for over a year each and knows all about pacing bottles, but my son just loves to eat and needs a lot of food--I have no idea what he does with it all.

But he gets super pissed if he gets to the end of a smaller bottle and he realizes someone is trying to stop mealtime before he is full...

Maybe just add a little bit to the bottles and see how it goes?

jennlin · March 2014

Look up "reverse cycling". My dd was a reverse cycler which means she never took bottles more than 4oz, ever. She would "hold it" until I got home, then nurse all day/night.

sfshorter · March 2014

My ds is reverse cycling as well. I've never had supply issues and was feeding on demand before he went to daycare. I started by sending four 3 oz. bottles, but that just wasn't enough per bottle. He was getting way more than that per feed at home, which I should have known. I upped his bottles to just over 4 oz. and only send three now, since he normally only has time for three while there. He still isn't eating as much as he was during the day with me, so he stays up all night nursing and then comfort nursing. I'm not sleeping much. As much as I love this baby stage, I'm ready for a sleep through the night baby.

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