breastfeeding question?

Question

im going back to work april 2nd and I was wondering how many oz's a 6 week old baby drinks about and how much i need to pump for her while im a work.

Answer 1

a 6 week old usually eats probably around 3-4 ozs for now. It also depends on your baby. You should just pump out as much as you can and bottle 3 ozs each to see if baby is still hungry after each feeding for the care provider. If baby is still hungry after3 ozs, just add another oz.

Answer 2

You will need to pump every time your baby eats. Say now you nurse her at 10 am and 2 pm, you need to pump at that time every day. If she starts eating more, you need to pump more. The best thing to do, if you can, is have your babysitter call you whenever she takes a bottle - then go pump.

If you start losing your supply, which is common when mommies go back to work, there are lots of ways to get it back up. But you may want to have some formula on hand for the sitter, just as an emergency backup.

As far as how much she should be eating - all babies are different. Some newborns will suck down 4 ounces, while my baby only took 5 ounces of breastmilk at 7 month old. Its hard when you dont have a gauge on your breast, to know how much. But you will see how much you get when you pump. You are just pulling out of your breast what your baby would. As long as she is gaining weight and doesnt seem hungry, she is getting enough.

Good luck! I pumped for 7 months, I know how hard it is. Don't give up! Its wonderful that you are pumping at work instead of weaning her. And remember - your right as a breastfeeding mother is protected, don't let your work make you feel like you have to choose between nursing or working.

Answer 3

It depends on her eating habits and her size. Usually around 3-4 ounces. You need to start pumping NOW and buidling a supply up for when you go back to work. I freeze mine in 6 oz bags, that way the sitter can use 3 ounces at a time or the whole thing depending on how hungry my baby is (my baby is 3 months old).
Good luck!

Answer 4

Usually a newborn drinks about 2-4 oz. about every 2-3 hours. After a month they should be drinking about 4-6 oz. Average work day 8 hours, so about 16oz. at work. Of course it is always a good idea to freeze, some for just incase. Pumping, and well working and breast feeding is hard, so good luck!

Answer 5

I always kept track of how many ounces the baby was taking a few days before I went back to work. That way I had a rough estimate. Also: Your best bet is - whenever your baby is finished nursing, pump the rest out and save it. This will help you save some extra and produce more than usual. You can NEVER have enough.

Answer 6

What I did was pump about 3-4 ounces at work as often as I was feeding at home. If you are able to pump that often. You want to keep your milk supply up. If your day time caretaker is feeding the pumped milk you need her to let you know approx how much the baby is taking at a time. If it is close to or more than you are pumping you need to increase accordingly. I hope this helps!

Answer 7

Pump all you can get and save it in 2oz and 4oz containers. If you pump extra, that will be more that you have incase you get sick and have to take antibiotics that would hurt the baby, or if you have to go away for an overnight trip, or for any reason you might need extra milk.

The reason for 2oz and 4oz containers is incase 4oz isnt' enough, you can thaw out another 2oz. Or you can thaw out 2oz to mix with cereal or baby food.

My son was a formula baby(tried breastfeeding, and failed) and at 6 weeks I think he was drinking about 3oz every 2-4 hours. So that's about 24oz per day. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

Answer 8

My six-week-old was drinking about three ounces every 2-3 hours. So over an eight hour day that would be about 24 ounces. My baby girl is almost six months old now and she can eat eight ounces at a time now.

Answer 9

Here is a calculator and some information on pumping in general. It's a great website:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html#calculator

Answer 10

you could start pumping now and see how much see takes, every baby is different. pump as much as you can get and as often as you can to keep your milk supply up. Its very hard to keep your milk supply up when you have to work (been there)