I have to go back to work in about 4 weeks. I'm currently breastfeeding my baby on demand. I also let her pacify nurse. I'm now very worried about going back to work - how did you WOH moms figure out how many bottles your baby needed for the day? And did you do anything in particular to prepare your boob-loving baby for hours away from you each day?
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LO nursed and bottle fed seemlessly. I pumped for a while and had an idea of how much to send to daycare. For about 4-5 weeks I nursed exlusively. There were a few days when DH watched LO and obviously gave him a bottle. One of the first times he gave him a bottle after a long stretch of just boob DH said the baby initial resisted, but realized it was just the two guys and drank the bottle. All that to say it may be worth introducing a bottle now. When LO first went to daycare at 15 weeks old I sent four 4oz bottles. He typically came home with one full bottle.
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I'm typing this response as I pump at work for my 11 month old, which I say because I want you to know that it's doable! I went back to work at 12 weeks and my EBF baby went to daycare for 9 hours a day, 5 days/week.
I started giving 1 bottle a day around 4 weeks before I went back to work. We use avent natural glass bottles and luckily he took the first type of bottle we offered. I used the preemie flow nipple until he was at least 6 months old and we still use the newborn flow nipple now at 11 months. You want to use the slowest flow nipple to prevent a bottle preference because it's often easier to get the milk from the bottle than it is from the breast. You'll also want to check out paced bottle feeding and make sure your caregivers are familiar with it as well. I never had any issues with daycare saying he needed more to eat and I attribute that a lot to the paced feedings. I also made sure they knew about how to heat breastmilk (never in the microwave and swirl to mix, never shake) and that they would offer whatever was left at the next feeding instead of tossing it immediately.
Kellymom has some great resources for figuring out how much milk to leave. http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/employed-moms/childcare-breastfed-baby/
Basically, it about 1-1.5 oz per hour you're gone. I have always left 3, 4 oz bottles and 1, 2 oz bottle just in case he is extra hungry. He has never ever needed more than that and he hardly eats that last small bottle. The first week he barely ate anything and I was freaking out, but he got the hang of it and does well now. He will occasionally have off days where he doesn't eat much, but I try not to let it worry me. I find that looking at how much he eats over the week as a whole is much better for my sanity that worrying about every drop on a daily basis.We still nurse when we are together, which is once when he wakes up in the morning, when we get home, then bedtime and now he is nursing once overnight (he was nursing up to 4 times per night) Then I nurse on demand on the weekends.
Pumping: I was pumping 3x/day- once in the car on the way to work, then twice at work. My typical schedule was 630, 930, 1230 then I would nurse at home at 4. Now I only pump 2x/day: 930 and 1230. I keep my pump parts in a tin and put them in the fridge between each pump and then wash at home. You will definitely want a pumping bra.
I just wrote a novel, but I really hope this helps! I'm really proud of myself that I've been able to provide all breastmilk for his first year (well, I'm 2 weeks away!) Good luck, youll do great!
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Wow impressive response @peaches1038: ! Very thorough, I feel like I can't add too much.... but, be sure to start the bottles asap. I had major stress with my second (he is 12.5 months now) because he was refusing the bottle. I eventually got him to take it one day before daycare but it took 4 weeks to figure out and get him used to it....
My first, on the other hand, had zero issues and just took a bottle no worries.
If you can build up any extra to stash away in your freezer that would be ideal, or have some formula to supplement with.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: thank you! She's great at taking a bottle. How many hours was your baby at daycare when you sent the 4 bottles? And how did you determine he needed 4? Could you determine a nursing schedule before you went back to work?
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@peaches1038: thank you so very mich!!!this was all great info. I am going to look into "paced bittle feeding". Thank you for reminding me the importance of reheating and swirling as opposed to shaking. I also think I will start pumping out an extra 2 oz bottle each day now that you've mentioned it!!! I've had to work a little to get my supply up to accommodate pumping out a 4 ounce bottle thus far. You are amazing to be breastfeeding and pumping for almost a year! Congratulations!!! Now that you've cut down the amount of times you pump at work, is that because your baby is needing less milk? Or are you still pumping out the same amount of ounces? Lastly, did you try to create a feeding schedule with your baby before you went back to work?
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@hellobeeboston: thank you!! Luckily my baby girl is a chunker and happily takes a bottle. And I am pumping a bottle each day so far and will continue to do so until I go back to work. I have 19 bottles with about 4 ounces in each. I'm not sure how I can get much more. Although I'm going to try to get another pump session In to get a second 2 ounce bottle each day.
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I'm going to shoot to leave about 12 ounces per day. Being gone from 7:30-5:30 (including commute time). At first I'm leaving them in smaller 3 ounce portions. So four bottles, 3oz each for a total of 12 oz. As I know she's taking that we can look at doing four ounce bottles and maybe consolidate down to 3 bottles. But at first they aren't sleeping well and often need smaller more frequent feedings for comfort.
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He's an easy calculator.
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About scheduling.... About 4-6 weeks before daycare (so, around 1.5-2m old) I started to implement the EASY routine and regular amounts of wake time vs sleep time. I think at about 3m my baby was up for 90min, and down then down for an hour long nap. So he started eating every 2.5-3 hours. I did not pacify nurse or nurse to sleep unless desperate. Like others above, LO took 3 bottles of 4oz at daycare around that age, but I always sent an extra bottle in case.
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I would aim for 1-1.5 ounces per hour. So if I was gone for 8 hours I would send 8-12 ounces. Divided into bottles with 2-3 oz each because my babies were grazers.
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@agold: I was the worse at keeping track of LO's schedule when I was on mat leave. So for daycare they fed him every 2.5-3 hours. In the morning, I would share the last time he ate and they would go from there. Because he was coming off the breast I requested that the teachers take their time feeding him. He was in daycare from about 7:45 am- 5:15 pm. Soon after we arrived home it was time for another bottle.
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@agold: wow! So impressive! You're going to be in great shape!!
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@agold: I sent two non-bottle taking nipple addicts to daycare and everything turned out fine. Lots of great tips above. I found it helpful to print out pages from KellyMom and give them to DCP. When I gave DCP the KellyMom info the were very appreciative and it opened a great dialogue. I felt better with evidence that LO had enough milk and DCP got confidence that LO wasn't starving.
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@T.H.O.U.: that's very interesting about smaller more frequent feedings. I bet my baby girl would benefit from that. Are you pumping twice a day right now? I currently pump about 4 ounces each morning. If I incorporate a second session each day, then it's possible I could come out with two 3 ounce bottles to freeze. Thanks for giving me that thought.
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@DesertDreams88: I need to start to pay better attention to her awake and nap times. I think they I'm not counting some naps because they end up being a napping/nursing session. I feel so bad to stoop her from pacifying. But I think I'm going to try to do it. I luckily don't have to nurse her to get her to take a good morning nap. But I want to keep doing it for bedtime. I'm a sappy mom at this point.
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@MrsSRS: thanks for mentioned about your babies being grazers. I think my girl could be! And I wonder if she would be just so happy with lots of smaller portions of bottles. What I was getting worried about was her needing tons of 4-5 ounce bottles and how would I keep up with they. But a few 4 ounce bottles or even a few more 3 ounce would work out.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: i think that's great that your day care was good with a feeding schedule. So my day care provides are my mom (2 days) and my husband (2 days). I just worry they any time my girl cries, they will give her a bottle. And how many bottles would be needed in that circumstance. But I'm really loving all of the ideas you and the other girls are giving me.
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@hellobeeboston: thank you so much for the boost of confidence!
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@Corduroy: I'm so glad the bottles worked out for your babies. And I'm going to look at those forms you used! Thanks for the tip!
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I'm not really pumping right now. But you can always just put the milk in the fridge and consolidate after 2-3 days and freeze in whatever portions you need. Four ounces may be fine but be prepared if they offer a bottle every 2-3 hours you'll probably waste ounces. You can also read into, and decide what you're comfortable with, for them saving leftover milk in the bottle for the next feeding. So if the baby only takes 2oz, do you want them to leave the bottle out for an hour and try the rest of the bottle again? It's usually pretty no-no to "reheat" a bottle but sometimes you can decide if you want to retry within a certain amount of time.
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@T.H.O.U.: I was at a BFing support group a few weeks ago and the LC said you could re-use for the next feeding and that it was fine to reheat. She did say that heating destroys some of the nutrients though, so you want to limit reheating multiple times.
We are gearing up right now to start the daycare transition too. Only my nursing addict barely takes a bottle. I'm going to start out sending 2oz bottles and see how it goes.
@agold: It's great to have a freezer stash, but keep in mind that in order to keep up with baby's demand you need to pump enough to cover it. Otherwise your supply will suffer.
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@agold: in that case I would put 2oz in as many bottles you have. If she starts a bottle and doesn't finish within the hour then you haven't much BM. Can you teach your mom and hubby to try other things first before giving her a bottle? I forget who gave DH and I this gem, but babies cry for basically three reasons- they are wet, they are hungry, or they are uncomfortable. We gave a bottle as the last resort. Often a change in position soothed our LO. Since family is taking care of baby girl will they prep the bottles throughout the day?
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@agold: i cut down when my supply became very regulated around 9 months. I was also pumping extra to freeze but it turned out he wouldn't take the frozen milk due to high lipase so I stopped pumping extra. Now I get just what he needs in two pumps.
He was not on a feeding schedule per say when he started daycare. I basically had them feed him every 2-3 hours.
Also, when I mentioned reheating, I meant warming it from the fridge. If he didn't finish a bottle in the first sitting, they would leave the bottle out and offer it at the next feeding. If he didn't finish it then, it was tossed. Milk can safely sit out for six hours.
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@T.H.O.U.: oh gosh. All such good points. I think i will start now freezing 3 ounce bottles. I assume once i go back to work then I will see exactly what she needs ounces wise. And thanks for the heads up about reading into reusing leftover. I'd like to assume that I'd a bottle is warmed and baby leaves an ounce left in it, the bottle gets left on the table and she finishes it in an hour. Or is that a horribly wrong assumption?
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@ShootingStar: yes I'm aware of the need to pump when freezer stash is used. I haven't used any of the freezer stash yet. I'm wondering how that works. If I use a frozen bottle so my husband and I can go to dinner, do i need to pump somehow while out at dinner? Or do I wait until I come home? And gees, what if the baby took two bottles while we were out? This exact delimma is why husband is going without me to a wedding on Saturday. I'm not feeling ready yet to leave the baby, -'and even if I was i have no real clue how to use the freezer stash!
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@agold: yep, you need to pump to cover the bottle. And you will probably be uncomfortable and wanting to pump anyway.
When I was using frozen milk for a short time, I would send one bottle of frozen and two fresh. I would then freeze whatever I had left from my pump sessions. I liked offering mostly fresh because I had read that freezing can destroy some of the nutrients and also that the milk changes over time to meet the baby's current needs. So the milk I pumped when he was 8 weeks old would be slightly different than the milk he was currently eating at say, 12 weeks.
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@agold: Wait, are you planning on depleting your freezer supply before pumping regularly?
In general if baby takes a bottle you need to pump. But you can do it when it's convenient. You don't need to pump during a dinner out. However if you went do dinner and a movie and drinks after, etc etc and you're gone for several hours you may need to.
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Following for all this great advice. Did it all the first time around.....but that was 4 years ago, so this is a great refresher.
@agold: Don't worry. You've got this!
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I was very lucky because when I went back to work, my husband took 12 weeks FMLA and was home with the baby. So it was easier to figure out bottles and he always had the freezer stash, if he ran short.
We started by trying to figure out how much he typically ate from a bottle. We estimated about 4 oz. And he was eating about every 2.5 hours, at that point, so we figured 3 bottles while I was at work (plus breastfeeding in the morning before leaving and when I got home). And I left an extra bottle "just in case". This worked pretty well and we refined things a bit when we started daycare.
At daycare, in the beginning, I sent an extra bottle until I was confident with how much milk I needed to send (I think a week?). Usually they didn't use it and it just came home with him at the end of the day and was used as the first bottle the next day. In addition, I took a frozen bottle to daycare that they kept for emergencies.
My daycare was awesome and helped us figure out how many bottles and how many oz. We had it worked out within a week or so and it was very consistent after that, until my son turned one and we started cutting back on the number of oz he got per bottle.
I remember how stressful it was figuring this stuff out, but if I could go back, I would worry about it way less. Just send what you think he'll eat, plus and extra bottle and see how it goes the first week. Also, my son has always eaten way more than is typically listed on places like Kelly Mom. Up until a year, I was sending 3 bottles, 6 oz each to daycare and he almost always ate them all. At first I stressed that it was more than is recommended, but since my supply could support it, I just let it go and it's been fine. All the recommendations in the world dont' matter if it doesn't work for your kid. As longa as she's chunky and happy, don't stess if she doesn't fit exactly what is recommended.
ETA: My son is a total boob lover and loves to hang out on the boob and I was worried about him going to daycare, but it was way easier than I exected. He still loves to nurse, when I'm around, but he transitions between bottles and boob without problem.
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As for how to use the freezer stash, for regular bottles to daycare, what I recommend is
-thaw milk from freezer stash to use on Monday
-Pump at work on Monday and use that milk on Tuesday, Use Tuesday's pumped milk on Wed, etc.
- Freeze what you pump on Friday
Try to start out by pumping the same number of times as bottles given (for me that was 3 times per work day). As your supply regulates and your baby gets older, you can spread those out to 2 pumps a day (I did that around 6 months) and once a day (I did that at 11 months).Same, basic thing for a night out. Have the baby sitter use a thawed bottle during your date, go out and have a nice dinner, pump when you get back and freeze the pumped milk. I always worried about baby being hungry right after I pumped, but it's never been an issue. Even in the rare cases where baby wakes and wants to feed right after (or during!) pumping, he's always been satisfied with whatever milk he can get out (or just the sucking).
If you'll be gone for more than a few hours, you may have to pump while you're gone. I often do that in the car, which is a great time saver. And, as baby gets older, you can stretch out how long you can be gone without pumping.
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@JenGirl: great advice! Just chiming in to say to the OP to use any thawed milknwithin 24 hours
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: yes, I need to get my mom better at soothing the baby. I think she is just so quick to offer a bottle. Husband is great with her so I don't worry with him. And when you ask is family will be prepping the bottles, I'm not sure what you mean. But I assume they will have bottles in the fridge that they will have to heat. Husband knows how to heat but we need to teach my mom.
@peaches1038: I like the idea of using fresh too. I don't know when I would be using the freezer supply but I'm sure a time will come up. I did actually use a freezer bottle once when I really was even more clueless than now. My baby took it just fine. Im going to look up that issue you mentioned your baby having with the frozen because I haven't heard of it before.
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@agold: I meant will they defrost your stash and dump the contents from the fresh/frozen bag into the bottle. The more prep they can do on their will alleviate some of the burden of getting the ouces right on day one. The first couple of days is the hardest, but you will quickly figure out what works best.
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@ShootingStar: nope, no plan to deplete frozen supply or even really use it. Actually, no plan in general which is why I have so many questions!
@pregnantbee: thanks! And yes, isn't this all such great advice?!
@JenGirl: thank you, thank you, thank you! All you said makes me feel better. And how nice for your husband to take the 12 weeks. And it sounds like your daycare was amazing.
@peaches1038: thank you! Great tip regarding use of thawed milk!
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I think I just used the general charts and since DD was home with either DH or my mom, there was always some frozen stash they can use if needed. Getting her to take a bottle was a bit of a struggle, but we got through it! It really was tough for her to take a bottle for the first 1-2 months though.
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@peaches1038: you mentioned a pumping bra earlier. Do you suggest one of those medela-type strapless zip-in-front bras with the nipple holes? Or are you talking about more of a regular under the clothes bra that somehow accommodates pumping? I think I've seen one online once.
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@agold: I know you didn't ask me but last time around I used the Simple Wishes pumping bra (it's a strapless thing you put on exclusively to pump hands free) but time I intend to get a Dairy Fairy pumping bra (http://shop.thedairyfairy.com/). I can't say it took more than 30 seconds to put on the Simple Wishes but the thought of not having to take my bra off at work and put something else on sounds so much more comfortable. I can't vouch for it yet since I haven't tried it but would love to hear if anybody else used it.
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@agold: I have the simple wishes bra and it got the job done but after seeing @Shantuck's reply, I am totally springing for one of those next time! So nice! I don't take my bra off each time with the simple wishes one, but it is super annoying to have to zip it on and off every time I pump.
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@Shantuck: @peaches1038: thank you! I'm going to look into both!
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