I feel like we haven't gotten this "right" yet. LO is 12 weeks and is always with either me or DH. This week, my MIL is watching her so I'm trying to figure out LOs bottle habits before then. Everytime I try to do a test run with LO, I get upset if she cries and end up just giving her the boob. Heating up milk takes forever compared to just whipping it out!
So, how much per bottle does your LO eat? Any advice for me? She goes from first hunger cues to inconsolable in seconds!
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
How many hours?? For my little one at school for about ten hours wit a good four nursing sessions on top of that when we were together she got four four ounce bottles.
pear / 1642 posts
@T.H.O.U.: it will be about 5-6 hours in the evening. Right in the middle of her fussy time. She typically eats every 2-2.5 hours throughout the day, but will sometimes want to nurse every hour, hour and a half, between 4-7. So is 4 oz every 2 hours a good place to start? And then just a little less in a bottle if she wants to feed sooner?
grapefruit / 4110 posts
There are two ways to calculate it. Kellysmom takes total number of oz in a day and divides it by number of feedings. The other way is that a baby takes 1 to 1 1/2 oz per hour they are away from mom. So 4 oz every 2 hours is probably a bit much. Start with 3 every 2 hours and a little extra just in case.
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
We started day care at 12 weeks and I sent 5 oz bottles at first, sometimes she would eat them all and sometimes not. Then she got sick, so she really wasn't eating as much, so I sent 4 oz bottles. Now at 18 weeks, she is back with 5 oz bottles.
cantaloupe / 6397 posts
My dad got M to take a bottle last week (yay!!!). It was 3 oz and apparently she sucked it down and he was going to give her more but before my mom could add to the bottle she fell asleep haha. I'm planning to try with 4 oz next time and go from there.
honeydew / 7811 posts
3-4oz. He can always take more from a bottle because he doesn't have to work as hard for it (even with paced feeding, etc.). So he gets the milk before his tummy can tell him he's full. He will chug a bottle like he's starving ... and then spit most of it up. So 4 oz is my limit! (For 2, 2.5 hrs)
For a seven hour work day we leave 2 4 oz bottles and a 2 oz "just in case" bottle in case of a growth spurt/extra hungry day. I nurse at lunchtime.
pear / 1642 posts
Thank you! I like your tip of leaving a little extra, @cmomma17:. I'll do that for MIL.
honeydew / 7811 posts
@MrsRoo: my mom and MIL watch my LO and weren't used to feeding a breastfed baby. At first they kept telling me he was "starving" because they would feed him anytime he was fussy and he'd gobble it all down. I refused to leave more milk and have him over fed. The extra bottle was our compromise. We discussed paced feeding with them and all the other things to try before using the extra (nap, swaddle, bounce, sing, diaper, burp, walk outside...) I was so proud of my mom today, she didn't use the extra bottle! 
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