We just finished day two of daycare. DD is taking 4 4oz bottles a day, the last one around 5ish. We get home around 7 and she's barely nursing at night. Is she eating too much during the day? Should the last bottle be smaller? This breaks my heart 
You might also enjoy...
-
How old is she? What time is the last bottle at daycare versus when your nurse?
-
4 bottles does seem like a lot. How many hours is she there? She might also just be wiped out from the changes and might bounce back once she adjusts. I know you worked so hard to establish a good nursing relationship so I understand your frustration!
-
@regberadaisy: She's 3 months. I would typicall nurse when we get home - about 7-7:30?
@MamaCate: Drop off today was 8 and I've been picking up at 6:30 - so about 10ish hours?
-
@LindsayInNY: maybe she's just super tired? When does she go to bed?
My lo can barely stay awake an hour after I get home from work. I nurse him 2ish times for about 5 minutes a side, but he's not always interested.
-
We usually did 3 4oz bottles from 4 months on and nurses as soon as we got home. 16 oz in 10 hours seems a bit much.
-
She's probably just tired and adjusting to her new schedule. I remember DD zonking out before we could even get her pjs on some nights, and waking at odd times to nurse for awhile until we got into a routine.
-
@LindsayInNY: how far apart do they give the bottles? Most BF babies should be able to go about 3 hours.
-
16 ounces seems like a lot for 3 months. Maybe around 4-6 months it may go up to that much. I would maybe give it a week at 16 ounces to see if its just her adjusting and then maybe cut back. We found that he was taking a bottle at like 3pm and when I got him at 4:30-5pm he wasn't hungry.
-
I wrote a post just like this when I left J for the first time with the nanny (except he was eating 4 5oz bottles and STILL eating from me twice before bed - he wanted ALL THE FOOD). He and the nanny just needed time to adjust to each other and she needed to figure out when he needed to nap and how to get him to nap. Also for my LO, eating is very comforting so he needed that extra food when mommy and daddy were gone until he got used to the nanny. I continue to leave 4 bottles (because the last thing I want is for him to miss me and be hungry) but after about 2 weeks he mostly ate just 3x5 oz bottles in the 10 hours I was gone. I would honestly ask how napping is going and just give both your LO and her new care givers a little time to adjust
-
@yellowbird: Maybe? She's gotten 3 and 4 naps the last 2 days at daycare. She'll doze in the car on the way home too and then bedtime tends to be 9-9:30? I woke her today at 6:30 and yesterday at 7. She's getting a solid 9 hours straight at night though.
@catomd00: That's what I was thinking...
@MamaCate: I write down every 2 1/2 to 3 hours but I noticed yesterday they fed her every 2 1/2 hours, almost exactly. Today I wrote 3 hours. Her teacher is out this week (DD's first week too of course...) so I've been having to explain each morning to pace feed her, etc. This morning the teacher said she seemed hungry still after yesterday's afternoon bottle. Except eating that often she really shouldn't be!
@T.H.O.U.: I'm hoping it's an adjusting thing... We have her 3 month check up next week so I might ask the pediatrician her thoughts too. I've thought of making the last bottle of the day smaller or saying don't feed her after X time? She nursed last night but not really Monday night.
@Ms.Badger: Phew, that makes me feel better!! She had 3 and 4 naps plus the short car ride home. But they're shorter naps - usually 30-40 minutes, occasionally an hour. So I'm guessing she's tired too. Last night she sounded hoarse and I wondered if she was coming down with something or spent too long during the day crying
-
When is her last bottle? I always asked them not to feed him after a certain point so that I could nurse. They may just be giving her the last bottle a little too late and so she's too full to nurse at home.
-
@MrsKoala: I think that might be happening. The last has been 4:30 or 5? I'm considering saying no bottles after X or just give a smaller one as a snack maybe?
-
@LindsayInNY: The first few weeks are such an adjustment. We had to play around with the amount we were sending so my daughter was getting enough but we weren't wasting milk. The amount that ended up working for us was 3.5 ounce bottles with a few 1 ounce top-off bags they could give her if she still seemed hungry after a bottle. I also remember the whole thing getting substantially easier when she could start eating food at 6 months, because if she was still hungry they could just give her some food and it wasn't as much of an issue.
The timing of the last feed was always a struggle for me. I remember walking in to get her sometimes as they were just putting a bottle in her mouth and I wanted to cry, "NOOO, I need to nurse her and you're wasting an entire bottle!" I would just go home and pump on nights that happened, which isn't ideal but worked OK.
It also sounds like she might just be sleepy. My daughter went to bed at 6:30 and slept until 6 the next morning with one or two wake-ups to eat when she was an infant.
Good luck! Once you get a routine down, it'll be so much easier.
-
My LO would always fall asleep in the car on the way home at that age. Sometimes she'd just keep sleeping when we got home and we'd have to wake to feed. But either way she was asleep by 6-7pm and up again at 6...so I do wonder if your LO is too tired. It doesn't sound like overfeeding to me, my LO was eating about 6-7x per day at that age so she often ate 4 bottles at daycare. The tiredness is hard...even at 6 months my LO who is at daycare from 7:30-5:15 is tired at the end of the day and asleep by 7pm.
-
@My Only Sunshine: @sapphire: She could be tired but I don't know how to move up bedtime? She doesn't exhibit other tired cues at home until 8:30-9ish which is when we try and put her to bed. Last night she was asleep just before 9:30 and I woke her at 6:30.
-
@LindsayInNY: I would say that this is definitely the problem, then. Maybe say if she seems hungry just give her a 2 oz snack instead of full bottle but try not to feed her after 4 pm. Something along those lines that you feel comfortable with.
-
I have a three month old who started daycare just two weeks ago, and this is now our third week. The first week or so was SUCH an adjustment - with both sleep and eating. I would give yourself and your baby a couple of weeks to adjust and find your rhythm.
What we ended up doing is putting about 15 oz of breastmilk in a container and the daycare workers then make her bottles there. That way the milk is not wasted if the baby doesn't drink a whole bottle. My DD takes four 3 oz bottles and she's at daycare from 7:30-5:30. I've also found that she's not super interested in nursing to eat in the evening, but she instead nurses more for comfort. She's usually super tired though by the time we get home and is asleep at the latest by 7:30.
-
This is the 2nd week of daycare for my 3 mo old. He's there from about 745-530. In that time period, he usually takes a 4oz bottle at 9,12, and 3. Therefore, he would be ready for his next feeding when we got home.
I have been providing them with a 4th bottle just in case and they've only used it once. I guess he was super fussy and acting hungry after a later afternoon nap. They had it warming up as I got there. So I fed it to him and went home and pumped. That 4th bottle otherwise becomes the next day's 1st bottle.
We get him in bed by 7 and he usually wakes at 6. Though lately, he's been getting up around 430/5 to eat and then back down until 7.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
18 comments