Help! I think LO is being fed too much at daycare. I drop her off at 7 am and she gets picked up by DH at 3:35. I send 4 - 4oz bottles each day. Essentially I send the 4th just in case. Well in the past 2 days the sitter increases her bottle to 5 oz and ended up using all 4 bottles and LO then didn't nurse until 7:30 at bedtime. I don't know what to do. LO weighs 12lbs 9 oz. it just seems like too much and I don't want to supplement if it not necessary.
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How old is your LO?
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She is 4 months old.
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I think breastfed babies can eat anywhere between 20-30oz per day. So if you divide that by the amount of times your LO nurses and takes a bottle you can figure out what the daycare should be giving her. If they're giving her too much, maybe explain that that the 4th bottle is just for emergency situations?
The lactation consultant I worked with said you pretty much can't overfeed an EBF baby so I wouldn't worry about weight..
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Thanks so much! I went on Kellymom and she should be taking 3.5 oz per feeding and 3 bottles at most while in care. I guess I need help broaching this with sitter.
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@Jewel664: You need to talk to the daycare. They are often more used to formula fed babies who are fed differently. Also, make it clear that they shouldn't feed her within an hour of you picking her up so that you can feed immediately after pick up.
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Thank you. Also should I send less bottles? Last Thursday, I only sent 3 and she "stretched" then out until pick up. Ideally, I would like her to be fed like this- 6:30 Nurse before drop off, 9:30 bottle, 12:30 bottle and pick up at 3:30 nurse at home so technically she would only need 2 bottles while there. This is making me crazy!!
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My LO is 4mos and usually drinks about 26oz a day (4 six ounce bottles - 8am, 1130am, 3pm, 6pm and a 2oz bottle right before bed at 830 pm). I EP though so it is all expressed milk (with one formula bottle).
You know your baby best though...maybe give her a few bags of frozen milk for the week? That way if there's an emergency and your LO is really hungry she has a back up, but it will take more effort and thought to thaw and use frozen milk and she knows how much "extra" for the week she has to work with?
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@Jewel664: Tell her that. I don't think that is unreasonable at all. And send only what she needs. It isn't like you are gone long enough for her to starve (like 12 hours).
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When my LO was 4 months he went 3 hours between feeds but took 5 oz bottles. Could you try to do one day of the weekend with bottles to see how she does?
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@char54: is the 4- 6 oz bottles a day a 24 hour period? I nurse her 2x before drop off the first time at wake up and top her off again before we head out the door. I then feed her upon pick up and again 1-2x before bed and at 2:30 MOTNF. I'm just concerned bc she skipped feeding upon pick up and her second feed before bed.
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@brownie: thank you!! I talked to DH and he said the same thing you did to just tell her and be honest. I don't want to mess with my supply.
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@Ms.Badger: thanks! That's exactly what I plan to do again. When she stays home with DH when he has a snow day- she eats every 3 hours 4 oz bottles. Maybe she's hitting a growth spurt and acting crazy hungry at daycare this week.
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@Jewel664: my LO is 3 mths old and has started at a sitter's house this week. The first day I sent 4 bottles and the 4th was just an emergency bottle. She only ate 3. I now will just send 3 5 oz bottles. I nurse at 5:15(when we wake up), 6:30, she gets bottles at 9:30, 12:30, and 3:30. Today she didn't have the last bottle because I was able to leave early so I texted the sitter and had her hold off.
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@singingbee: thank you! That's what I'm going to do as well. Perhaps I could send a frozen bag for an emergency. Good luck to you and your LO as you make the transition to daycare.
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@Jewel664: thanks! You too!!! When I sent the 4 bottles I forgot to tell the sitter that it was a smaller amount than the others and therefore an extra bottle. She didn't realize and LO was just fine. Today she didn't even get upset about being picked up early and not having that last bottle.
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@singingbee: thank you! We've only been in daycare for a month this week. I dropped her off this morning with 3- 4 oz bottles and just got a text that she ate at 9, so I am hoping I made it clear of how I want her to be fed. I am picking her up at 2:45 today and also made it clear gage I will feed her when I pick her up. We shall see.
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This is such a common problem on HB. A lot of daycare providers just don't have a lot of experience with BF babies and are going off of what the formula fed babies eat, which is generally a higher volume. Make it very clear how much you want your LO to eat. Explain that you will nurse her right after pick-up and would prefer her not to be fed after a certain time. If you notice her waking up more often to nurse, you'll know she's not getting enough during the day.
Some threads on this topic for more advice:
http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottles-at-daycare-3#post-1289902
http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottles-at-daycare-2#post-491424
http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-sort-out-daycare-feeding#post-985765
http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-wants-more-milk#post-918102 -
@Jewel664: fingers crossed!!! I'm probably going to mess up my baby's schedule because we are having a snow day. Oh well!
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Ugh, I had such an issue with this. I sent Xander with 5 oz bottles, which I knew was PLENTY, but I got soooooooooo much pressure that he needed either more bottles (he was drinking 3 at daycare) or more ounces in each bottle. Even my husband pressured me and insisted I wasn't feeding him enough!!! It was so stressful!!!
Part of the problem is that daycare providers aren't as good at soothing your baby as you are. Sometimes feeding them more is just easier. You should decide how much you want your LO drinking during the day and either let them feed more often smaller amounts or give them a set limit. With Xander, I refused to up the ounces in his bottles (5oz bottles is PLENTY at that age in my opinion) and I was really adamant that they feed him only three bottles and one every three hours. I did say that if he REALLY was super hungry (like going through a growth spurt), then they could feed him the fourth bottle (I always sent an extra bottle in case of growth spurts), but every time they did, I always questioned them ("Why was he fed again only two hours after his 9:00 a.m. bottle?").
Once he started eating solids at daycare, they FINALLY got off my back about his bottles!
One of the things I did that helped me feel confident about how much I was sending was that I went to an LC and did a weighted feed during the day. Xander only ate 4 oz from me and ended up going 4 hours before he got hungry again. That reassured me that he really was fine with 5 oz bottles and being fed every three hours!
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@kiddosc: thank you so much! Glad I'm not alone. I picked her up at 2:45 and she was just fine. Sitter gave her 2 5oz bottles- ugh I could live with it if she gave 2 5oz bottles and then I fed her upon pick up like I did today. She wasn't hungry until 4 after eating at 9:30 and 12:30.
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@Adira: I was thinking of doing the same thing. I pump between 3-4 oz so I know that's what she needs and it's like sitter doesn't believe me. I will be testing bottles this weekend to see what she's eating and how often. I don't think she waits to see if she's full like we do here at home. We do 4 oz and she is fine. Thanks for all of your advice. I am putting my foot down. Thank god I work from home tomorrow. I don't have to stress.
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