Daycare and bottle sizes

SoSayWeAll · November 2014

So I have been sending DS to daycare with 15 oz of breastmilk in 5 3oz bottles. He is there 730-430(9 hours). Most days he eats all of it. Daycare is suggesting I send 4 oz bottles because he isn't going 2 hours between feedings. DS is a big comfort nurser at home and my fear is that he is going to go the same amount of bottles and I won't be able to keep up. Hopefully he will take 4 bottles instead of 5. I only pumped 20 oz including my morning pump after his feeding and all day at work. Any advice or experience?

noycela · November 2014

My only advice would be to not send more than you are able to pump that day, but it sounds like you are pumping more than enough. What are you doing with the extra 5 ounces you pump each day? Freezer stash? Do you pump an extra 5 ounces on days you are with your LO all day? I would maybe try sending 4 bottles of 4 ounces each and see if that holds him over longer.

becominggold · November 2014

My LO was taking 4 oz when he started daycare and barely lasting two hrs. They told me he was still hungry and asked me to increase. He now takes five oz but will typically go three hours. So it has evened out. Worth a try!

MC03 · November 2014

I think day cares tend to over feed breastfed babies and it is very frustrating when you are trying to pump enough. It is so easy to over feed with a bottle. Honestly 15 oz seems like plenty to me. Most breastfed babies do not take more than 4 oz in a bottle, although formula fed babies increase much more than that as they age. I had the same problem with DD1. At most I was sending 4 4 oz bottles (so 16oz) and they were asking me to send more too. The first few weeks daycare wanted to feed her way more, but I think it is because the tendency is to always feed whenever they cry or fuss. I finally gave them a handout on paced bottle feeding for breastfed babies (from kellymom) and also asked them to please try other soothing techniques, such as a pacifier or rocking, first, because it might not be that she is hungry. Of course if that didn't work I said to feed her but it really did work once they started trying those things. It's really hard because no one wants to feel like you are withholding food from a baby but I really feel like its a tricky balancing act with breast feeding and bottles. Good luck. I know once I had a conversation with my daycare about this and let them know how I felt we worked together and she thrived with just the 4 4oz bottles (she's there 7:30-5:30).

shevaCC · November 2014

DD never took more than 12 oz. at daycare and she was there for 9 hour days from 4.5 months old to 1 year+. I sent 4 bottles, 2.5 to 3 oz. each, and that was enough for her. She also reverse cycled and nursed a bunch at night. But I wanted to chime in since you could be sending plenty.

My daycare asked me to send more milk once and to send faster flow nipples once. I used each opportunity to educate them on bottle feeding breastfed babies (per Kellymom). Turns out they were wasting some when they wanted more -- breastmilk doesn't have to be automatically thrown out like formula does if the bottle isn't finished in one sitting. They wanted faster flow nipples for their own convenience so DD would eat faster and they could put her down sooner. But after talking about breasts not having variable flow rates we came to an understanding.

SoSayWeAll · November 2014

@‌noycela I am using the extra for the freezer stash. Yesterday was the first day I got 20 oz actually and that's from eating my oatmeal/brewer's yeast and taking my fenugreek. When I am home with him I pump an extra 4 oz after his morning feed.

I think 4 4oz
bottles will be the plan. Tomorrow I am doing pickup so he'll be there 10 hours. I might send a 5th bottle just in case but am nervous they will start expecting 5. I will have to talk to them.

Edited to add more info

SoSayWeAll · November 2014

@zoegirltx I read that poll too and was surprised at the size bottles some of babies are taking. I think you're right though, maybe 3 oz isn't enough for him. He is a big boy...probably over 15 lbs at this point.

SoSayWeAll · November 2014

@mc03 and @shevaCC‌ Thank you for the advice on talking to daycare about paced bottle feeding. I think I am going to do that too.

SoSayWeAll · November 2014

@becominggold‌ That's helpful to know that your LO went longer with the bigger bottles. I am hoping that's the case for mine.

lynds002 · November 2014

I give daycare 5 4 oz bottles and he takes it all, but he is there for 10 hours a day. I've done weighed feedings maybe 5 times and he usually takes between 3 and 5.5, so I think this is fine. I think they are feeding him a bottle and change every 2.5 to three hours. Mine is about 14 pounds.

Russiandea12 · November 2014

I send 3 4-5 oz bottles. She eats around every 3 hours. She eats all and seems satisfied. DC keeps a couple frozen backups in the freezer in case she wants to eat more.

mustangchick6504 · November 2014

Russiandea12 said:
I send 3 4-5 oz bottles. She eats around every 3 hours. She eats all and seems satisfied. DC keeps a couple frozen backups in the freezer in case she wants to eat more.

This is how we do it as well.

allygirl520 · November 2014

Maybe they want you to use 4 oz bottles because they want to go longer between feedings, not because they want LO to eat more. They can feed 4 oz at a time, and then wait 3-4 hours before the next bottle instead of 3 oz every 2 hours.

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