My 3 month old started daycare this week and I started bringing 3 4oz bottles of breast milk. They said she eats them super fast and is still acting hungry, so I started bringing 5oz bottles and they said that didn't seem to make her much happier. I can't imagine that she needs 6 oz bottles, but I also don't want her to be miserable. Are there bottles that will force her to eat slower? I just think she is eating to quickly and doesn't realize she is full.... Any advice would be appreciated!
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What bottles are you using at the moment? Some brands like Medela have a range of nipple speeds from slow to fast. There's also Dr Browns slow flow bottles, which were what we used at that age. I would definitely try a slower bottle first before sending in more to see if that helps.
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is she spitting up at all after the bottles? because that would indicate that she's having too much (like you said, if she's drinking them so fast that she doesn't realize that she's full).
my LO's intake ratcheted up after he started daycare. i think a large part of it was that he doesn't nap well at daycare and is up for most of the day, so is burning more calories and needed more. i resisted at first because i thought they were interpreting his fussiness for hunger instead of recognizing that he needed more sleep, but in the end i accepted that he just wasn't going to sleep the way i wanted him to, and that he needed more milk.
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I would also try a slow flow nipple 1st.
Will she take a paci - maybe she wants to suck rather than eat - they can offer it after her bottle
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Have you tried doing a 'paced feed'? Have daycare give her the bottle at an angle that imitates nursing - ie as horizontal as they can get it while still having the nipple fill with milk so she has to actively suck it out vs. milk pouring down her throat. They should also give her a break every couple of ounces to burp. And try slow-flow nipples (level 1).
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We started off LO with 3.5oz bottles (and sent 4 of them) and almost every day she finished them all off. At 3 months she started to eat more so we now send four 4-oz bottles (16oz total). Could you send 4 bottles instead of 3? That way she's still getting roughly the same amount but she can have that last bottle at the end of the day if she starts acting hungry.
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This is such a common problem. Daycares are usually used to formula fed infants and don't always understand the differences with breastfed infants. There are lots of other threads on HB with lots of great suggestions. In the end, remember that you are her Momma and that you make the decisions. Whether that means sending more milk, spacing feeds differently, or not changing anything.
http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/daycare-wants-more-milk#post-918102
http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-supplement-change-schedule#post-673860
http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-know-if-you-need-to-give-lo-more-bm#post-970898 -
I would second the recommendation of slow flow nipples and paced feedings if you're not doing those things already. Also like @edelweiss:, my LO doesn't sleep well at daycare so I think that corresponds to her increased intake. My LO goes to daycare 3 days and is with her grandmas 2 days and she takes more milk on the daycare days.
That said, personally I would not provide 6 ounce bottles for a breastfed three month old. I would try more smaller bottles, so they can feed her more often, though this may not be a great solution for you since she is acting hungry when she finishes her bottles. Can they try a paci when she finishes in case she just wants to suck? I think we did this in the beginning of her taking bottles.
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I exclusively pumped for 13 months, and I was able to monitor his breast milk intake for his first year. I can honestly say he never drank a 6 oz bottle of breast milk. He barely reached 5 oz when he was close to a year old but rarely finished those bottles. At any given time a breastfed baby only needs between 25 - 35 oz of breast milk in a given 24 hour period. While he didn't attend daycare, our parents, aunts, and uncles never believed us when he packed his bottles. They were so sure he needed more. Every time they were convinced he was still hungry and fed him an extra oz, it would result in a huge spit up right after. Also my LO ate every 2-3 hours until he was 7 months old, and his bottles were usually filled with about 2 - 3 oz of milk (2.5 oz for the longest time).
Trust your instinct and don't give in to daycare's request. Three 6 oz bottles is a lot of milk, almost as much as a whole day's worth of breast milk intake.
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I just wanted to second @Revel:'s suggestion to send another smaller bottle instead of upping the ounces for the 3 bottles you are sending. Your LO may associate feeding with comfort, and may just be looking to *nurse* more often without needing a bunch more ounces . . . if that makes sense.
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Maybe I need to put my 3 month old in day care so she'll eat more, since she hates eating now and daycares always seem to get babies to drink more. Hmm...
@lucy123: how much does she drink in the morning and at night with you? Do you BF then or use bottles? Is it possible she's eating less morning and night and making up for it during the day? And what are the hours your LO is in daycare?
My 3 month old has some feeding issues and will some days only eat 18-19 oz total, but in her good days when she has 24 oz, she's not a big eater in the morning at all--- but she does through a feeding frenzy around noon and around 4-5 pm and she'll sudden,y want to eat 6 oz all in a row. Which I won't deny her at this point because her over all total for the day is always on the low side for her age.
I think she's just a weird eater.
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Ugh. We had this problem too, and it was just that LO needed a paci after eating. She was comfort sucking like she when she was breastfeeding and they thought she was hungry.
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Thanks for the advice everyone!
I think 3 5 oz bottles is a lot for her to take during the day already. She she still has two wake-ups during the night (sleeps from 8-6ish, so she is still eating 8-9 times a day. I talked to her pedi before I went back to work and she thought starting with 3oz bottles would be good, so 6 oz just seems crazy to me. I will ask if they have tried using the pack after she eats and also try the Dr. Brian's bottles. Right now, we are using the Medela bottles with the slow flow nipples.
@MsLipGloss: she definitely associates eating with comfort and loves to comfort nurse, so I definitely think that is a part of it....
@Anagram: I stick to breastfeeding her when were together. Not a big fan of pumping so I try to avoid it if possible
Maybe this weekend, I will have to try giving her a bottle and she how she does.@edelweiss: @Revel: she's definitely not napping the best at daycare. This is her first week so I am hoping it gets better once she adjusts. She is so exhausted by the time I pick her up, it makes me sad....@kiddosc: thanks for the links I will have to check those out!
Maybe this weekend, I will have to try giving her a bottle and she how she does.Reply
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