I know this question has popped up on the boards before, but I'm looking for information specific to my situation. My DS is 22.5 lbs at 7 months. I'm going back to work Monday and am trying to figure out how much milk to leave at daycare. DS isn't really interested in solids, so he's basically EBF right now. Does anyone have recommendations? I have no idea how much he eats at each feeding, but he nurses 5-6 times a day. Thanks!
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The rule is an ounce per hour. Daycare is notorious for over feeding, so you may want to pop on to kellymom.org and they have a handout that explains how to give a breastfed baby a bottle
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@junebugmama: really, only an ounce an hour during the day? My 4 week old drinks more than that now (I pump) because she drinks more in the day and less at night when she sleeps longer stretches.
When I go back to work, she'd be in day care 7:30-3:30 and right now, she easily eats 13 oz during that time. I think bottle feeding breastmilk just makes babies eat more (because they don't have to work as hard).
I do paced feelings and it takes a long time for her to get through a bottle, with lots of breaks and burping, but she still eats that much if I follow her hunger cues.
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@Katrocap: if it were me, I'd err on the side of leaving too much at first and asking them how much he is actually eating and when (if you don't have supply problems).
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@Anagram: Yep. Babies from the time that their bellies are fully stretched until the end of their nursing, take in approx. 24 ounces of breast milk per day. If your baby is sleeping through the night, it's more than likely because she is hitting that 24oz during the day. Good for you, for being able to pump enough to support that! Most woman however, only produce an ounce to 2 per hour as well.
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Kellymom also has a calculator to help you figure it out too
http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/ -
Another way to think about it is based on the number of feeds per day.
For example your LO will probably drink a total of 24-30 ounces per day and if he nurses six times a day that's roughly 4-5 ounces per session. The more he nurses at home then the less milk he needs at daycare so if he had three sessions at home (12-15oz) he would need 12-15oz for daycare etc.
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6 comments