Hellobee Boards

That's awesome that your pump output is exceeding demand! Maybe drop the extra pump and just monitor your supply for a week or so? You can always add it back in if you need to.

From what I've read the golden rule is to allow roughly 1-1.5 ounces of breastmilk for each hour away and as your LO gets older the calorie and nutrition content of your milk will change so the volume he require shouldn't increase too drastically.

One thing I learned from HB is that with breastmilk babies, their quantity of breastmilk doesn't necessarily increase with age, but the quality of it continues to change to meet their growing/changing needs! So like @amelieisme mentioned, even at 9-12 months, he'll probably only be taking 4-6 ounces still!

@ladyfingers: at his age, the definition for STTN is this pattern (according to the "experts")... 4+/2.5-4/2.5-4 (cut-off for first feed/ cut-off for next feed/ etc).

for example: he sleeps from

7-11 pm (4 hrs)... then wakes to feed
12-3 am (3 hrs)... then wakes
4-7 am (3 hrs)... then wakes for the day

that would be STTN for his age!

@ladyfingers: ahh i see... i can't wait for that day either.

@ladyfingers: Just wanted to add another voice that intake was stable for my LO throughout her time in daycare (we had a shorter daycare day and she took 5 1/2 oz bottles twice a day). She actually started drinking less over the last month or so.

I was able to get away with no pumping outside of work hours for most of the time, except for the occasional late night pumping session if she did not want to eat and I felt uncomfortable. Then I got sick with a bad cold when she was about 9 months and ended up adding in a 9 pm session to keep up until she hit 12 months.

So I would drop it as long as you are keeping up, and you can always add it back in later if needed. Once you pump at that time regularly for a few days, your body will adjust...Good luck with the transition back to work!