My 4 month old baby finally took a bottle today, so now instead of freezing all my milk I get to send it with her to daycare (she wasn't drinking any milk other than an ounce here and there until today-- thank goodness she finally got the hang of it! I've been back to work for a little over a week now). I pump about 20 or so ounces a day. Assuming I'm away from her for 9 1/2 hours a day, how many ounces of fresh breastmilk should I send with her to daycare? How many ounces per bottle should I send? I have no idea how much milk she drinks otherwise as she is breastfed on demand and has never had bottles other than for practice (so like 1-2 ounces at a time) until I went back to work.
2006-09-21 15:33:23 · 5 answers · asked by I ♥ EC 3 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
Based on my personal experience 4 - 6oz is very reasonable every 3 hours. She may not always drink 4oz and that is no problem, some babies are like that. It will take time and a lot of patience to get her to get accustomed to the bottle. Don't be afraid to send too much. Bottle the milk, in seperate bottles, that is, don't allow people to have too much contact with the milk for sanitary reasons
2006-09-21 16:06:37 · answer #1 · answered by Fireman Boysie 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I nursed each of my kids for more than a year, and I went back to work when each was 8 weeks old. The fresh milk thing never worked for me. Instead, I would pump as much as I could, and freeze it, even if I planned on using it the next day. That way, whenever my daughters went on nursing strikes or whatever, I didn't have to fuss over whether or not the milk was still fresh or some had to be thrown out, etc. And that way, whenever one of them went through a growth spurt, and her demand exceeded my expectations, our daycare provider always had extra on hand.
Both of my kids had reflux, and my oldest absolutely would not eat at daycare. It wasn't the bottle; she'd take a bottle at home from anyone. She just wouldn't eat at daycare. We tried all different kinds of bottles. We tried sippy cups. We tried plain cups. She would starve all day and eat all night. But we got through it. And one day, as if by magic, she started taking a bottle at daycare and all was well.
2006-09-21 15:51:28 · answer #2 · answered by Yarro Pilz 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Our 4.5 month old son takes about 4 to 6 ounces from a bottle once or twice a day (as a suppliment to on demand nursing). I would think that is probably a good average and seems to be popular with the mothers that have chimed in here.
2006-09-21 17:01:43 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would send too much rather too little. Personally at that age my baby would drink about 4-6 Oz. When I left him w/ daddy and pumped breastmilk I always left a 6 oz bag and asked that he start w/ 4 and then give more as needed. So that he was not wasting all my pumping efforts hehe!
2006-09-21 15:42:27 · answer #4 · answered by tara t 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
four to six ounces sound good.
good luck!!!
2006-09-21 15:40:44 · answer #5 · answered by shania02 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋