How many oz is your 5-month-old taking in each bottle?

*sparky* · September 2014

DD is with a new sitter and I really love her but today she increased the oz she's giving DD per bottle and it seems like a lot to me.

We started with 4 oz per bottle a few weeks ago but that was obviously too low so we went to 5. That seemed to be working ok and she was taking just two of those in the 8.5 hours she was there. I feed her right before I take her and right when we get home.

I have also been sending a 3rd bottle with 3-4 oz in it just in case DD gets hungry late in the day before I get there. Well today the sitter split that and gave DD an extra 1.5 oz after each bottle. So that's 6.5 oz at a time.

I am only able to pump 9-10 oz while I am at work so I will definitely be running a deficit if she is going to take that much each day.

Jennpjc414 · September 2014

DD takes three 5 oz bottles while at daycare (she's there from about 6:45-3:15). It is definitely hard to pump 15 oz a day, but sometimes I can make it there before her last bottle, which gives me some extra ounces incase I'm low another day.

ksulli · September 2014

She takes slightly less than 4oz bottles. She has 4, sometimes 5 while I'm at work (9hrs), plus maybe 2oz of food. 5.5 mos & 17.2lbs.

6.5 oz per bottle is a lot for a BF baby, but if she's only taking two, it could be fine... Maybe push the sitter to do smaller bottles, possibly more often?

*sparky* · September 2014

She is a big girl so she probably is hungry. On days that I am nursing her all day she seems hungry and annoyed at my boobs at the end of the day. We haven't started food yet but I probably should try it soon as she has some of the signs of readiness.

I will suggest splitting up the bottles so she gets smaller bottles more often. I agree that 6.5 oz just seems like a lot at once.

Teresa1896 · September 2014

Lil dude has 2 or 3/ 4 oz bottles in the 9 hrs he's at daycare. ILs usually give him all 3, and daycare typically only gives him 2. I feed him right before i drop him off and right when i pick him up. I could probably up the ounces, but he spits up so much already, I feel like he'd just boof them right back up.

Fwiw, BF babies should be taking 1-1.25 oz/hr away from you, but almost all babies I know take more than that.

Dixon813 · September 2014

Liam is 5 months - not sure his weight (but was only 12.6 at his 4 month appt) and takes 3 four ounce bottles at daycare from 7-4. I pump three times at work and get 3-3.5 ounces, so I have to pump before bed to keep enough, but I would definitely say something and ask that smaller amounts be given more frequently.

A LC explained it to me once that babies, just like adults, don't need to be stuffed/full, they need to be satisfied, and sometimes that takes a minute or two (and possibly a distraction) to realize.

Teresa1896 · September 2014

^^^ Along those lines, sometimes LO is still fussy after a bottle until his tummy figures out it's full.

Sisimama10 · September 2014

4-5 oz

*sparky* · September 2014

Thanks everyone. I thought that wa a lot. We are on vacation for a few days so I have a few days to figure out how to adjust her to eating less but more often. Then I just have to get my supply up or add some solids.

Laroo0220 · September 2014

3-4 4.5 oz bottles. LO is 5.5 months and is away from me 9 hrs. I feed right bf and after and then usually pump at night if she decides to actually sleep in order to keep up.

mooncusp22 · September 2014

7oz, 4 bottles a day

baileymama3 · September 2014

4.5 months and 4-5 oz bottles for 8 hrs. Sometimes he only eats 3 of them.

Rrrrrachel · September 2014

If you are breastfeeding fit should be about 1-1.5 ounces per hour since the last time you fed. The volume of breastmilk should NOT change much at this point, except to very slowly go down once you start solids. The composition of breastmilk changes so you don't need to feed more to meet babies needs. This is different than formula and confuses a lot of care givers.

Rrrrrachel · September 2014

Paced feeding, which is basically stopping frequently to let them burp take a break or whatever, can help too.

nicole mackenzie · September 2014

I don't think my LO eats enough at her new day care. She is there from 7:30-4 ( 3 days ) then DH has her until 7:30pm.

Today she ate 12oz for daycare so 3 ounces every 2.5 hours.

When she gets home she drinks 6ounces in one go from DH.

When I get home she nurses to sleep. I think she makes up for drinking q little less at daycare.

Maybe just ask that she feed smaller quantities more frequently

Jenn06L80 · September 2014

My girls have 4-5 ounce bottles. They have 5-6 bottles a day. They usually take between 24-28 ounces. They are formula fed, no solids yet.

hpanabaker · September 2014

Josh has 4 bottles a day. 2 of them are 8 oz and 2 of them are 6 oz because I use the other 2 oz to mix with his cereal. He has cereal twice a day and we've started introducing veggies. But formula is his main source of food. He'll be 5 months next week. Last week at his appointment he weighed 15 lbs 10 oz and he's 27.6" long.

lcr23 · September 2014

I was going by the kellymom guide and give her 3.5 oz bottles. She gets 3 bottles while I'm at work, I feed her twice in the evenings and 1-2 times in the morning before work. It seems to be enough for her but I'm thinking of upping it slightly once I'm back from a business trip next week.

Kyllarae · September 2014

I'm away 5.5 hours at most and I leave two 5oz bottles for the sitter plus a little extra for comfort when I leave. She's 5 months, mostly breastfed, and has never taken a bigger bottle than that.

*sparky* · September 2014

Thx everyone. I did go over the paced feeding with the site r. Thanks for the guideline of 1-1.5 oz per hour. That would put her about at the 10 oz she was getting. She is just about 18 lbs so she is big, but this was what I went through with DS when he started DC. They kept saying he needed more and I ended up getting frustrated that I could not keep up and gave up on BFing a lot sooner than I would have otherwise. I just really did not know better last time around and I want to be careful this time. I also don't want to starve my LO if she really needs more but I don't think that's the case. Edited to make more coherent.

smushi · September 2014

LO is over 17lbs, and he takes 4-5oz bottles at a time. We had to work on Paced Feeding like rrrrrachel mentioned, burping often, and letting him take breaks while eating (hang out between ounces), plus positioning (he must be sat up rather than laid down). Also, we explained they couldn't just pop the bottle in his mouth. They needed to work the nipple across his lower lip to see if he wanted anymore or not.

Here's a video to help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH4T70OSzGs

That one's pretty involved, but it can help give them a more visual idea.

Rrrrrachel · September 2014

Day cares can really undermine breastfeeding without meaning too by pressuring mom to supply more and more milk.

smushi · September 2014

Rrrrrachel said:

Day cares can really undermine breastfeeding without meaning too by pressuring mom to supply more and more milk.

Truth.

katy4128 · September 2014

FF here and LO has 6-7oz 4/5 times a day.

Kdesirae · September 2014

My opinion is that you should give your baby however much he/she wants. Every baby is different and some like to eat more than others.

Elf2718 · September 2014

Mason is sleeping through the night for the most part, so he eats 6oz in the morning. Usually 2 5-6oz bottles at Mom's and another 5-6 oz around 730-8p. Sometimes, he's still wanting more and after waiting a lil while, he gets up to 3 more oz.

Elf2718 · September 2014

I should mention that he is a formula man.

spano41 · September 2014

We give her 4oz bottles but sometimes she'll only eat 3oz of it. If she still acts hungry i will give her more but i stop at 6.5oz because i don't want her to spit up.

AmberLiz99 · September 2014

6oz, 5 bottles a day. Occasionally he leaves a half an oz in the bottle. She is ff though

porterlove525 · September 2014

DS is 5 months, 18lbs and over 27" (big boy) and is away from me for 9 hrs and I follow the 1-1.5oz/hour rule. So he takes 3, 3oz bottles with him to DC.

In the beginning I was sending him with 5, 3.5oz bottles, but was only pumping 10-12oz in the 9hrs and freaking out. My LC told me to send only what I pumped while he was away from me. Worse-case scenario if he was still hungry he'd make up for it at night or in the am nursing (reverse cycling). I was worried he'd starve, but then found out he gained 5lbs in a month so clearly I was over-feeding him with DC bottles. Now, we've both evened out and I still get to freeze some milk every day.

Jodash24 · September 2014

FF-lo is fed on demand, 3-4oz per bottle, he's been like this for a while

stgeist · September 2014

Dixon813 said:

Liam is 5 months - not sure his weight (but was only 12.6 at his 4 month appt) and takes 3 four ounce bottles at daycare from 7-4. I pump three times at work and get 3-3.5 ounces, so I have to pump before bed to keep enough, but I would definitely say something and ask that smaller amounts be given more frequently.

A LC explained it to me once that babies, just like adults, don't need to be stuffed/full, they need to be satisfied, and sometimes that takes a minute or two (and possibly a distraction) to realize.

This, pretty much to a T. Nathan takes 3- 4oz bottles + about 2 ozs of food while at daycare from 8-5:30PM.

kelbel2440 · September 2014

I had this same problem wih my MIL who also works at his daycare. She insisted he needed 6oz bottles when we were doing 5. Whenever she would feed him she would get him to take 6. The other caregivers would typically get him to take 5, sometimes less, and then waste the remaining which pissed me off to no end! I usually pump about 15oz while away which was what he was doing (3 5oz bottles given every 3 hrs). I could not keep up with the 18 when MIL was
Feeding him. His poops increased from once every 2-3 days to 1-2 a day when she was pushing the bottle which told me he had much more waste. Now we are back to 5 oz bottles and he is back to poops every 2-3 days. I also noticed when I pumped I felt like I emptied pretty good and that got me 15oz in 3-4 sessions. When I would EBF on the weekends I would feel full between feedings, telling me LO wasn't taking as much as I normally pump. I agree with pp, frequent breaks to assess hunger, try smaller feedings more often, etc. If you feel they won't do what you want you could always prepare the bottles yourself and not send extra, or have an extra bag of frozen so it's not so easily used. Hope it works out!!

*sparky* · September 2014

@kelbel2440‌ - I did talk to her today and said I wanted to keep the bottles at 5 oz and I am pretty sure she will do what I ask, but sending the back up as frozen milk vs. an extra bottle of milk is a good idea.

LolaX2 · September 2014

DD is at daycare from about 7:15 to 5:15 and takes anywhere from 14-20 oz of BM while there depending on when she nursed last before I drop her off. I feed on demand so sometimes she will have just ate other times she ate a few hours ago and not ready to eat again before I need to drop her off.

LolaX2 · September 2014

Wow so it looks like my DD eats a lot more than most? She is not so big though...she was almost 13 Pounds at her 4 month check up. She eats quite often at home when I nurse her too. Thankfully I have a very good over supply.

smushi · September 2014

stgeist said:

Dixon813 said:

Liam is 5 months - not sure his weight (but was only 12.6 at his 4 month appt) and takes 3 four ounce bottles at daycare from 7-4. I pump three times at work and get 3-3.5 ounces, so I have to pump before bed to keep enough, but I would definitely say something and ask that smaller amounts be given more frequently.

A LC explained it to me once that babies, just like adults, don't need to be stuffed/full, they need to be satisfied, and sometimes that takes a minute or two (and possibly a distraction) to realize.

This, pretty much to a T. Nathan takes 3- 4oz bottles + about 2 ozs of food while at daycare from 8-5:30PM.

Crap I'm sending 4x4 for 7:30-3:30

and that's taking it down from what they were asking me to send lol.

Jesster11 · September 2014

I don't think I've posted since LO was born (but I lurk while pumping at work) and wanted to chime in on this.

LO is 17.5 pounds and takes three 6.5 oz bottles while I'm at work. I also nurse once first thing in the morning, and in the evening he gets about an ounce of purée and another nursing session.

He was previously taking 3 7 oz bottles plus three nursing sessions (so about 40+ oz of breast milk a day). Our pedi said that was too much (and that it should be no more than 32 oz) so it was time to introduce solids. That allowed us to cut out the final late night feeding.

We did follow his feeding cues though, and it naturally evolved into a schedule. I only pump twice at work, which doesn't make quite enough for his three bottles, but I am able to make up the difference by pumping after his first feeding when I'm engorged and also pumping right before going to bed.

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