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Breastfeeding
will I need 8oz bottles--ever?
I will BF most of the time, but I plan on pumping daily to have a freezer stash, so DH can feed, and for babysitting situations. In our BF class, the instructor mentioned how BM volume won't increase for baby's needs as he gets older, but that the milk will change to meet his needs (so that volume-wise a 4 month old and 9 month old still get the same amount of BM). So will the baby ever need bottles in the 8oz size? If he's BF with regular feedings, would the feedings always be "small," in 4-5 oz size? I received bottles that we registered for in 8oz size, but now I'm wondering if I'll really need them or if I should return them.
?Thanks for any info. I appreciate it.?
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Re: will I need 8oz bottles--ever?
It all depends on your baby, and you won't know until s/he arrives.
I EP (exclusively pump), and I can tell you that DS's needs dramatically increased when he turned 4 months old. Instead of the 24-26 ozs he took each day, he jumped to 35 ozs or so each day. The last time he only took 4 ozs max was at 6 weeks. While we still use 4 oz bottles, we often will refill them. We always use an 8 oz bottle in the morning because he takes between 7 and 9 at a time.
But... every baby is different. Some babies never take more than 3 or 4 ozs at a time. It just depends on the kid.
I'd keep the 8 oz size. The worst thing that happens is you don't fill it all the way. It's way easier to have the big bottle as opposed to refilling the smaller one (or using 2-- which means even more cleaning!!!)
The only thing I've used the larger bottles for is pumping. DD has never taken more than 5 oz in a single bottle feeding. She gets EBM while I am at work and we nurse when we are together. During her 6 month growth spurt she was up to 5 oz. per feeding but now she is back to 3-4 oz. for her bottle feedings.
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Charlotte Ella 07.16.10
Emmeline Grace 03.27.13
Just like PP stated it depends on the baby. My DS has been taking 6oz for about 2 weeks now. I got very little use out of my smaller bottles and am happy I didn't get very many.
We have never needed an 8 oz bottle. DS eats 3-5 ounces usually. He ate 6 oz a few times, but we just gave him an extra ounce or two after he finished the first bottle. That said, we use 8 ounce bottles and just fill them with a smaller amount.
I would recommend not getting too many bottles before the baby arrives. We had trouble finding one that he liked and had to go through a few different types. Better (in my opinion) to get one or two to start and then get more later on.
I never used larger bottles for the whole first year with my oldest. He took about 3- 5oz bottles during the day and then nursed more often in the eveings during growth spurts. Also, you should try not to swtich from low-flow nipples on the bottles ever - this way it is harder to eat from a bottle and your baby will hopefully learn to cluster feed when with you so they don't need as much food when away (I think I read that on Kellymom with my first and it worked for us).
For my second - he's bigger and he wants more like 5-6oz for each feeding, so we just fill an 8oz bottle with 5 oz, and then send two little 4-5oz bottles to daycare.
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