Preparing Bottles from Breastmilk: How Much Is Enough?

I always found this Calculator to be very, very helpful!
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html

Hi, I suggest you contact the lactation consultant/specialist where you gave birth. Here in SLC, I used both Stephanie and Laurie ###-###-####. They helped so much. Good luck. Keep up the breastfeeding--you won't regret it.
N.

I breastfed my daughter for a year (exclusively) and now my son. He is almost 10 months and is still exclusively breast fed. I work full time. I pump 1 to 2 times a day. I make my bottles 5 ozs each. She and he never really took more than 5 ounces. When they were younger, they took less, but we just heat up the bottles again for the next feeding. Breast milk is resilient. You can heat up a bottle twice without worrying about it. I made sure I pumped a lot when I was at home at the beginning so that I had a little stash when I returned to work. For my daughter I had 6 weeks on convalescence and for my son I had only 2 weeks. 5 ozs seems to work. HOpe this helps.

Dear J., first of all congratulations for breastfeeding your baby and for going to the trouble to pump for her when you go back to work. The composition of breastmilk actually changes to suit the age of the baby and the size of the baby. Babies don't need more and more in volumn, therefore. For a 12 pounder you give her 4 ounces every 3 hours round the clock or at least make sure she gets 30 ounces in 24 hours. Vicky

I nursed and pumped for my last boy because of going back to work. What I would do is instruct your care provider to start out with a 3-4 oz bottle and wait to see if baby demands more because she is still hungry. From my experience a baby will suck down a bottle way faster than she'll nurse--so just because the bottle is empty doesn't mean she's still hungry!

I really wanted my boys to be breastfed and didn't want to have to use formula--so I would nurse and then pump to really get my milk supply up--it's all supply and demand psychologically for your body.

Good luck and keep nursing if it works for you--it's the greatest gift in the world!

HI YOU CAN ALSO TRY TO PUMP AND SEE ACTUALLY HOW MUCH YOU GET FROM EACH BREAST. GENERALLY IF YOU PRODUCE 4 OZ BETWEEN BOTH BREAST. THE BABY SHOULD BE ABLE TO HANDLE A 4 OZ BOTTLE. GENERALLY A BOTTLE IS 4OZ TO 5OZ. ALSO GO BY YOUR DAUGHTERS QUES, SHE WILL LET YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND SITTER KNOW WHAT SHE NEEDS. DONT WORRY AND TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS AND TRUST THE SIGNALS THAT YOUR DAUGHTER SENDS YOU.

I always figured about an ounce an hour - my son would consume about 3-4 ounces every 3-4 hours I was gone - and then I always left one more bottle than I thought would be needed, just in case. If you are going to be freezing milk, the Lansinoh bags were my favorite. I usually froze the milk in about 4 ounce blocks (some a little more, or a little less depending what I pumped). My baby sitter was good about giving him around 4 ounces and then burping him and playing with him. If he acted hungry, she'd feed him more. If he seemed satisfied, she'd play with him. My son got really big, really fast too (he was 16 pounds by 4 months!) that breastmilk is good for babies! I'd really recommend checking out www.kellymom.com - great info for breastfeeding, pumping and milk storage and www.askdrsears.com. There is a yahoo group called PumpMoms that is really, really helpful once you get to the point where you are doing significant amounts of pumping and you NEED to be able to express significant amounts of milk. I pumped for my son at work for 16months (he was really slow to start solid foods and hated cow's milk), so if I can help in any way, feel free to contact me. ____@____.com - a little support and practical advice can be a real lifesaver.

My daughter was an "oinker" as well. They usually say that you can't ever pump as much as your baby can get when nursing. I struggled with how much to give her. There is alot of info that helped me on the la leche league's website. You could start there. My daughter usually took about 4 ounces and was fine with that. If she eats 4 ounces and doesn't cry afterwards, then you are probably fine with 4 ounces. You'll want to go off of what the babysitter tells you as well- I know that my daughter ate less when she went to the sitter during the day and then cluster fed in the evening when I got home. So, her eating patterns could change entirely. Good luck... :)

My lil girl is almost three months. And I understand about the oer feeding my lil one was 12lbs too when she was about 8weeks. I did breast feed and she fed the same. 8-15minutes. My milk dried up before I went back to work so I never got to try and see how much I could pump out. My lil one is eating 4oz every two hours and she just keeps eating like that but lately Ive been putting baby rice ceral 4tsp for her 4oz bottele and she seems really satisfied after that.I knew I was over feeding her when she was eating wnting 4oz every two hours. So I give her cereal in her bottle in the morning then at night and she sleeps through the night.She usually goes about 5 hours or more with the cereal in her milk. Then after that wears off shes back to eating every two. I took a hot needle and poked a bigger hole in one of her nipples.Its working great. My lil one will sometimes hum or make a noise to tell me when shes full. If she doesnt then she eats the whole bottle and spits up a lil. But nothing too bad. I burp er every two ounces and thats help lessen the spit up alot. My lil one has also let her jaw go slack like she use to whem she was on the breast but she hasnt done that in quite awhile. If you have any more questions let me know :)

Well in things that I have read and what I am doing is I pump every two hours while at work. I have been back to work for 9 weeks. My son is almost 3 months old. At first I didn't pump much, but as my son started to eat more I pumped more. Usually I leave three six oz bottles he usually eats two, but sometimes he needs more. My son will eat sometimes eat a whole bottle in one sitting. When he is done he usually falls asleep or he will leave the bottle in his mouth but will not be eating. You can tell because they will just lightly nipple on the bottle. You will see the difference. My son has never really eaten to much from a bottle. People also say that breast fed babies can not really eat to much. No the can eat to much with formula.

I had to ask my hubby because I couldn't really remember. Below is what he wrote. I do remember having some stored in 2, 2 1/5, & 3 ozs for milk or if she wasn't really hungry. I think if they don't finish the milk in one sitting you need to throw it out because of bacteria. You also can only use it a couple days if it goes straight to the fridge and I think about 3 months in the freezer. Your pediatrician should be able to give you the exact time frames for keeping the milk. I started pumping extra about a month before I went back to work to have a supply built up.

from my husband's memory..

She ate about 4 oz at a time, sometimes higher like 6 (not that often
though). She would stop herself if she was full. I never had the
problem of her overeating milk and throwing up. We stored the milk in
some smaller bags for cereal purposes, plus I just would eventually know
depending on the time of day, amount of sleep, and time since last
feeding to pick whether I need a smaller or larger bag. I can't
remember how long it could stay out for, but I remember not really
needing to worry to much because she would usually eat it.

Hope this helps.

Jen in Hawaii

Hi. I'm sure you've had a ton of feedback...hope so anyway. I'm sure every breast feeding mom thinks she knows best. Anyway, it's all about supply and demand. Your breast supply the correct amount that your baby is eating. By the way, all babies spit up. Just pump until you're empty. It's best in the morning. But it will typically be 4-6 oz anyway.

Goodluck.

I have gone back to work when both my babies were only 6 weeks old, and they have only ever had momma's milk to drink! I pump 3 times a day at work every day. I must be one of those girls with overactive letdown too, because I can pump 8-10 ounces in 10 minutes. Both of my babies have never taken more than 4 ounces at a time (my 6 month old baby right now weighs 18 pounds and only eats 4 ounces at a time). I usually send her with 5 4-ounce bottles, and she rarely drinks it all.