Nursing Mothers


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  • How much should baby be eating

    04-29-2008 1:18 PM Reply Contact

    I have a 4 month old baby - and am working part time.  While at work, my mom feeds him my pumped breastmilk - but lately she has found that he is hungrier and is now eating 7 oz every 4 hours.  When he eats with me - he is eating every 3.5 hours (accept at night when he goes 4-5.5 hours).  How much should he be eating when he is eating from a bottle?  Thanks for any help you can give me!

       
  • Re: How much should baby be eating In reply to

    04-30-2008 9:33 PM Reply Contact

     According to the book Baby 411 (3rd edition) 4-6 month olds should be taking in 36-40 oz a day. My LC also stated that sometimes baby just suck for comfert and when bottle is empty they cry. Also a way of them wanting you and getting a little bit of you while you are away. You also might find them wanting to nurse more when you come home.

     

    Go to your local book store and get the Baby 411 book, it has a lot of helpful info. It was seen on NBC's Today Show.

    Hope this helps =) 

       
  • Re: How much should baby be eating In reply to

    05-28-2008 10:33 AM Reply Contact

    you can also find some great advice/guidelines on kellymom.com

       
  • Re: How much should baby be eating In reply to

    06-02-2008 9:18 AM Reply Contact

    Have your mom put his feedings closer together and give smaller amounts.  Also spend more time playing, carrying and interacting with him. Yes he is already eating the larger amount but he can be cut back by having mom feed him smaller amounts a little at a time and space those feedings closer together. He may be taking more because she made him wait a little longer each time and your son was missing you so slept longer and sucked longer and the milk just came if he was being fed in a reclining rather than sitting position with the bottle horizontal to the floor. 

    Babies typically take smaller, more frequent feedings. This promotes healthy eating habits. A slow-flow nipple on a bottle can help prevent overfeeding, and baby will feel full with less milk.  

    If you and your baby are apart for 8 hours, your baby should need no more than about 10-12 oz. total. This is one-third of his daily intake. If your baby takes more than expected, try to find out why.

     The average baby needs 19 to around 30-35 ounces a day. 40 ounces is a number from the formula companies based upon giving larger and larger amounts to babies by bottle. 24-32 ounces is a good average number.  The average breastfed baby is happy and thriving with 2-3 ounces per feeding every 2-3 hours. ( 4 will probably be needed for a while as he adjusts to the lower amounts. The goal is not larger feedings with longer stretches in between. This makes babies eat too much and get very full tummies and spit up (reflux) more often. Yes babies will often take more, especially when waiting 4-5 hours (a once a day long sleep, preferably at night, is fine) but this is not the kindest way to feed. Before I knew better, with my first, I would leave three 8 ounce bottles for the 8-10 hours (bankers hours) that I would be away. My mother in law made sure he drank it all while I was gone. He soon wanted nothing to do with nursing because he was not getting those amounts from me and he was too FULL.  He had basically reached his capacity and only needed a small top up around eleven and maybe 3 or 4 in the morning.  Needless to say, I also lost my supply because he would not nurse and I was only pumping 4 times a day. I was pretty dumb.  But I wasn't reading the right books and not talking to a lactation consultant.

     Here is the link to Kellymom's site. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html#toomuchlittle 

    Make sure that you haven't dropped below a minimum of 8 times a day of nursing and/ or pumping if you see a supply issue. 

    Read The Ultimate book of Breastfeeding by Dr. Jack Newman or The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding for good, real, factual breasfeeding advice. Not just opinion.

    This is a really good parenting book, nothing much about nursing but a good read.."The Science of Parenting" by Margot Sunderland

       
  • Re: How much should baby be eating In reply to

    07-03-2008 12:32 PM Reply Contact

    I had the same "problem." My baby, who is 9 weeks now, was drinking 5 oz every 2 - 2.5 hours while I was at work. People kept telling me different information as to exactly how much he should be drinking and I was so confused. I was often told that I was overfeeding him. Finally,  I called a La Leche League consultant who informed me that the numbers provided are based on formula fed babies and that no one actually knows exactly how much a breastfeed baby's intake should be. She also told me that there's no way to overfeed a breastfed baby-breastmilk is very easily digested because it is clearly not as thick as formula. If your baby wants 7 oz, give him the 7 oz-just feed him when he's hungry. When the consultant told me to give him a full bottle and let him stop when he's full, I thought she was crazy and that he would just keep sucking and sucking. To my surprise, he stopped at about 4 oz and pushed the bottle out with his tongue!! Now sometimes he drinks 4, other times he'll only 2 oz so just feed him when he's hungry-he'll tell you when he's had enough!! Good luck-don't give up. Try Fenugreek, they work, if you need help w/ milk supply. 

       
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