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I think @junebugmama: might have some good insight!

We made it a year w/ no formula, but I wasn't away from P so pumping wasn't a factor.

I do know that kellymom DOES have info about pumping deficit & bottlefeeding at daycare & such. I think 24oz is alot for the time she was at daycare & know that there have been times that P went through milk like that when staying with my mom BUT it had to do with how my mom was feeding her & not so much P being "hungry".... as soon as we rectified the feeding technique she went back to eating less. Definitely worth looking into!

AHHH!! She's over eating at daycare! The rule is an ounce an hour! I'm flabbergasted! Breastfed babies should be drinking 24-30oz in an entire day.

It sounds like they are feeding her too fast. Just like us, it takes times for the full feeling in our tummies to trigger our brain to tell us to stop eating. If they let her take a bottle at a fast pace, then that trigger will never happen. One of the best things you can do is attempt to educate your daycare provider. This is a great handout that you can give to your daycare provider:
http://www.kellymom.com/store/freehandouts/bottle_feeding.pdf

It's amazing that you've been able to keep up this pace for as long as you have.

@MarieJ: My son is a year, and up until recently still nursed every 2 hours. It's not really the time that's the issue, it's the amount.

I haven't made it to a year yet and am only about 7 months in but I still give him formula from time to time. Actually, I usually top him off most nights with 2 ozs since he still tends to cluster feed at night (I know that part of it is comfort nursing since that is our time together) and I just can't satisfy him. I don't feel like this has hurt my supply at all. I pump 2x at work and right before bed and I probably get around 18 oz a day. He usually drinks somewhere between 12-16oz at daycare. He is eating solids now so he's drinking a little less.

My thought process is that I would much rather just get my LO fed and not stress about what I am or am not able to produce for him. I feel like the stress of it all does more harm. At least for me it does. I also believe that if the majority of what they eat in a day is BM, they're getting all of the benefits.

24 oz does seem like a lot to me too. I know there was a time when it seemed like daycare would just feed DS whenever he would be a little fussy instead of recognizing that he was just tired. We worked through that and now we're good.

Either way, you're doing a great job!!!!

@78h2o: Every time I see a post from you about breastfeeding I feel like you're living my breastfeeding experience 6 months behind me. I just want to tell you that you are so close to it getting easier. She will start enjoying some solids soon and that will help you fill in some of the gaps.

Send more bottles with less ounces and try some of the tips from Kellymom about feeding slower. I needed to pump 5 times a day to produce enough ounces and often needed to top up the bottles with what I pumped in the morning before work. He was also waking in the night at least 2 times until he magically started sleeping through the night at 11.5 months. We made it to a year, but I had to fight for it and it took a conscious decision to trust my own instincts and ignore the daycare ladies to an extent. I knew he was getting enough to eat, and if he wasn't he would make those ounces up while we were together.

@78h2o: It sounds like they've stretched her stomach out Yes, they are over feeding her. It only takes 3 days to get a stomach back to a normal size. I would insist that they real it in. I wouldn't send more than 12oz at the MAX. Make it clear that's it. After a couple days, she will adjust. You shouldn't have to give formula because she truly doesn't need it.

3.5 months for solids!!! That's terrible and crazy! I feel bad for someone who may trust them as child care advocates and not question that. *sigh*

We did formula but we did it because my son was failure to thrive from food intolerance. He just needed more calories.

But we did nurse until 2 years old and I worked full time. One of the best things I did was pump one side while nursing the other first thing in the morning. I would get most of my ounces (up to 5) in just that one pump. Then to get him more fatty milk I nursed him on that side.

I also agree that is a lot of ounces. But if it is a growth spurt take the opportunity this weekend for a nursing holiday. Stay in, get a movie and just nurse like she was a newborn all day long. One of those would refuel me both nursing and emotionally.

Don't let daycare bully you into anything you don't want to do. They work for you (not that there is anything wrong with daycare workers and I love mine) but you are the mama and mama knows best.

Lastly, I weaned my guy just a few months ago and now he is so big. Enjoy this time with your baby don't. Let all this stress take away from that. They are only that small for a very short time. And that is so much easier said than done.

I think that pumping is REALLY hard, and that it can be really hard to maintain the supply you need when you're mostly pumping. You are doing amazingly well to have made it to 6 months exclusive.

Wow. If I had to pump 25 ounces every day, we'd have been supplementing a long time ago. I'm facing a deficit too - I pump about 12 oz in a day, including a before bed pump, and she was eating 16 oz. Then the day care teachers suggested swaddling her for naps and her day care sleep increased SO MUCH. Now, magically, she's only eating 3 4oz bottles while she's there instead of 4 because she's sleeping. Is your LO getting good naps at day care?

@78h2o: you are a rockstar for making it to 6 months!!

A few things:

1) I started Wagon Jr. on solids (rice cereal, then purees) at 5 months. He took to them pretty quickly. I tried solids with LMW at 7 months. Yuck face and no swallowing whatsoever. She hated it. I put it away and tried again a few weeks later. Still nothing. One week later we tried again and she LOVED it. Some kids just aren't ready til later! All solids before age 1 are for fun and practice anyway! Plenty of nutrition comes from breastmilk and formula.

2) I exclusively nursed with one pumped bottle a day until Wagon Jr. was 7 months. Then I was exclusively pumping and one day I just dried up. Went from pumping 8-12 oz per session to less than an ounce. Oops, I said. So we transitioned him to formula and he had one bottle from my frozen stash each day. He did just fine. I read in so many places that breastmilk is the best nutrition, but the most vital time is the first 3 months. So making it to 6 months is amazing. Your body did its job and formula exists for a reason!! Some moms can never make ANY milk at all so your body has done amazingly. It's so hard to have that perspective when you're exclusively breastfeeding, but at the time I dried up, my friend had just had a baby and never pumped more than an ounce so after 2 months of doing everything in the book to increase her supply, she just gave up and exclusively formula-fed. That made the transition a lot easier for me, to have that kind of perspective!

Don't worry about pushing the solids just because she's 6 months now. Again, LMW didn't consistently eat solids until almost 8 months, and now at 10 months she eats 2-3 jars of baby food at each sitting. Haha.

@mrs. wagon: it's so interesting to read the difference between two siblings!
a lot of J's behavior I think it just his personality - and everyone is different, right?
I held back on solids because I "wanted to make it 6 months" but he was literally pointing in his mouth, crying and telling me he wanted food. When I gave in around 5 months, he 'chewed' swallowed and went "mmm-mmmm!", he was soo ready and was trying to tell me for weeks, lol.
Towards the end of our BFing relationship he was shaking his head and running away, laughing at me when I'd try to nurse him. I just had to laugh with him and say, "okay, buddy, I get you".

I'm still jealous of those who have calm, cuddly, breastfeeding babes. And mamas who are just milk machines! Oh well, I guess I could wish for green eyes and being a few inches taller, too

@rachiecakes: Seriously, everyone is so different. I was actually thinking LMW would want solids quickly because she would STARE at us while we were eating. Like, undressing us (or our food) with her eyes. Big, longing, sad eyes. Haha. Then we tried solids and NOPE! We even tried a bit of BLW techniques and NOPE. She was PISSED.

And breastfeeding... neither of my kids liked it! It would be a really energy-expending task to nurse either of them. Their position and my boob position would have to be PERFECT or they'd pop off and fuss. What an isometric exercise. I think Wagon Jr. and I finally fell into a groove around month 5, where I could finally just put him up to my boob and he'd eat. He was still never a cuddler though. And 2 months later he weaned himself. Haha. LMW never liked it either, and she was a screamer, so I exclusively pumped and we were both so much happier

Supplementing actually reduced my stress and allowed us to breastfeed as long as we have. I know you know that I struggle with the mechanics and emotional aspects a lot, but she is still drinking lots of breastmilk each day, and we've passed the 6 month mark. So I'm happy about that.

@MamaMoose: Hehe yes to the flapping baby bird! C has started to get mad if I don't shovel the food in fast enough! And it is the same thing we've been giving her from the beginning (cereal)

@78h2o: I was one of those people who had a super responsive supply. The second he changed his eating habits my supply adjusted (pretty much always meaning decreased). I noticed early on that I needed to add pumping sessions during the day on weekends between feeds because he didn't eat as often as I would pump. If I didn't do this, my supply was low at the beginning of the work week and I would need to work to build it back up by Friday. This has the added bonus of giving you some extra milk from the weekend to work with during the week. It was nice once we weened though, only took me a week and a half to go from pumping 5x + nursing to just nursing before bed.