Daycare Pushing For More Bottles / Low Pumping Production

[TwinKristi]

I definitely think 6oz of breastmilk is TOO much for a 4 month old baby to be taking. I would make 3-4oz bags of the milk and provide that for them. I would find a new provider if necessary. This is ridiculous. Are you off for the 4th of July? I would try and do the skin to skin all weekend and nurse and nurse and then pump during nap time or after feedings.

[itlw8]

I definitely think 6oz of breastmilk is TOO much for a 4 month old baby to be taking. I would make 3-4oz bags of the milk and provide that for them. I would find a new provider if necessary. This is ridiculous. Are you off for the 4th of July? I would try and do the skin to skin all weekend and nurse and nurse and then pump during nap time or after feedings.

I would not do this. WHY decrease a childs milk by two ounces per feeding if the child is drinking 6 ounces. YES 4 ounces may be normal for many 4 month old BF babies. but many drink more. Mine had to be in the hospital for 10 days at birth because of an infection. He was drinking 4 ounces of BM before he left the hospital and 6 ounces by 3 months.

No way would I DECREASE the amount but increasing may not be needed either.

[SignMeUp]

The first question I would ask is if baby finishes each 6 oz bottle.

We are told that we must dump any bottle that baby does not finish and begin next feeding with a fresh, unused bottle. No refrigerating and using that last ounce or two.

[Blackcat31]

However, my return to work has been disastrous. I *barely* pump 12 oz... and that's if I'm lucky. And it's with the same pump I've had all along (Medela PISA). We have dedicated lactation rooms at work, though I am restricted to a tight 30 minute window. But I am able to pump 4 times a day, so my day goes like this.

Is there some kind of law or rule that allows a woman who is breast feeding to take the time to pump during the day without restrictions?

Just curious as my BF'ing mom said she is legally allowed to take as much time as she wants but has to clock out of work if she uses more than 30 minutes.

She said she would still have to get her 8 hour work day in but can clock in and out as often as she wants IF the purpose is to pump.

[daycare]

Is there some kind of law or rule that allows a woman who is breast feeding to take the time to pump during the day without restrictions?

Just curious as my BF'ing mom said she is legally allowed to take as much time as she wants but has to clock out of work if she uses more than 30 minutes.

She said she would still have to get her 8 hour work day in but can clock in and out as often as she wants IF the purpose is to pump.

I was going to mention this too. My BF just had a baby and this is what is happening with her at her job. They have to allow her a private space and time to be able to do it. I think she said that she is allowed to do this for the first year of babies life...

[TwinKristi]

I would not do this. WHY decrease a childs milk by two ounces per feeding if the child is drinking 6 ounces. YES 4 ounces may be normal for many 4 month old BF babies. but many drink more. Mine had to be in the hospital for 10 days at birth because of an infection. He was drinking 4 ounces of BM before he left the hospital and 6 ounces by 3 months.

No way would I DECREASE the amount but increasing may not be needed either.

I can't really find the link now but I have researched this for a long time and may have to go back and do more digging to find it but breastfed babies CAN drink more than 3-4oz but that doesn't mean they should. Babies will over eat and **** for comfort but most babies at that age aren't drinking 6oz breastmilk bottles multiple times a day. In fact, I didn't give my own breastfed son more than a 4oz bottle EVER in 13mos. Even at 8-12mos the babies I watched weren't taking more than 6oz. This is simply my experience and advice. I would advise offering 3-4oz bottles MORE OFTEN rather than fewer 6oz bottles or you really sabotage breastfeeding for mom if her body isn't able to keep up with that as quickly. If mom isn't able to pump enough to feed baby she may need to supplement unnecessarily if smaller bottles more often are more like nursing which is what I've been told to try and mimic with younger babies. Mom can't always produce 6oz of milk at a time if baby isn't normally consuming that when nursing or pumping. When I was pumping I was able to get 16oz sometimes but my babies were only taking 2oz at a time but more often. As they got older they ate more per feeding less frequently.

http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/employed-moms/childcare-breastfed-baby/

[NightOwl]

I was drying up at 3 months with my dd. The mother's milk tea worked wonders for us! In 48 hours, I went from barely enough milk to having enough to easily satisfy twins!

[SilverSabre25]

I'm betting it's regs and poor understanding of breastmilk. Regs will say that they can't reoffer the milk after like 30 minutes. Which is dumb for breastmilk because it has natural stuffs in it that keep it safe for HOURS at room temp. But, regs are regs.

One thing I'd try, OP, is send like, 6 bottles that are all 3 oz. Or some 4 oz and some 2 oz bottles. That should help avoid the dumping problem.

Another thing--yes I'd do the "duvet day" thing like you described but maybe without the pumping. Just snuggles and a quiet weekend at home to just be together and help maintain that supply.

dont' try to schedule his feeds at home the way they do it at daycare...that's dumb for them to request. Really. To get the best long-term nursing success a mama needs to demand feed at night (yes at night!!!) and on the weekends to help keep up that supply.

[Play Care]

I'm betting it's regs and poor understanding of breastmilk. Regs will say that they can't reoffer the milk after like 30 minutes. Which is dumb for breastmilk because it has natural stuffs in it that keep it safe for HOURS at room temp. But, regs are regs.

One thing I'd try, OP, is send like, 6 bottles that are all 3 oz. Or some 4 oz and some 2 oz bottles. That should help avoid the dumping problem.

This. I always feel bad because as a mom who nursed and pumped I know how hard it is

That said, I have had babies that were BIG eaters, and yes, mostly breast fed babies. But both were also BIG babies (9 and 10 lbs at birth).

[Indianadaycare]

So much easier. Each baby has their own jug o milk so I don't have to worry about making a mistake. Less messy. More accurate oz. Freshly sqoozed daily and just swap jugs at the end of the day.

nannyde, what kind of "jug" are you using? Trying to visualize and maybe implement this myself. It sounds like a great way to store the milk with the least amount of waste.

[jenboo]

I don't know if this will any help bit I have a 6 month old who drinks two 8 oz bottles with me and two at home. She also gets rice cereal. She bumped up from 6 oz to 8 oz bottles around 5 months.
Baby girl is a peanut! 6 months and still in 3 month clothing.
I think some babies just drink more than others.

[nannyde]

nannyde, what kind of "jug" are you using? Trying to visualize and maybe implement this myself. It sounds like a great way to store the milk with the least amount of waste.

A pop top one. I prefer those for easy pour. I just return whatever is left but our system is good enough that most days we are on the money of what the mom pumps during the day is the exact amt needed for next day.

[SunshineMama]

I would not do this. WHY decrease a childs milk by two ounces per feeding if the child is drinking 6 ounces. YES 4 ounces may be normal for many 4 month old BF babies. but many drink more. Mine had to be in the hospital for 10 days at birth because of an infection. He was drinking 4 ounces of BM before he left the hospital and 6 ounces by 3 months.

No way would I DECREASE the amount but increasing may not be needed either.

I agree. I remember at 3 months, my child drank 8oz bottles of pumped milk. I'd rather always err on the side of too much than not enough at that age.

I agree with some of the posts about regulations. If they are dumping liquid gold, then send more, smaller bottles and take home the leftovers.

[craftymissbeth]

I have a 6 month old who is drinking 3 8 ounce bottles here and at least 3 others at home each day. When he was 3 months, he was chugging 3 4-6 ounce bottles with me and easily could have done a fourth... but I was trying to stretch him out a little bit so that we could do 3 8 oz. instead of 4 6 oz, if that makes sense.

The important thing to do is to ASK your provider if the child is actually finishing the entire bottle. I've only had one infant that would over eat and then spit it up, but I think that was because they were using nipples that were too fast.

Every baby is different. Also, what you're producing doesn't necessarily correlate to what the baby needs.

Also, I'm curious why formula is an absolute no-go because of the reflux? She has reflux with breast milk, so I guess I'm just wondering why formula would be worse? It's awesome that you have been able to provide breast milk for your child and I totally get not wanting that to end, but if your child eventually needs formula then it just is what it is.

Back to the OT: long story short, open communication with your provider is the most important key element in a provider/parent relationship.


ETA: the baby I was talking about above is exclusively formula fed, fwiw

[Unregistered]

I don't know if this will any help bit I have a 6 month old who drinks two 8 oz bottles with me and two at home. She also gets rice cereal. She bumped up from 6 oz to 8 oz bottles around 5 months.
Baby girl is a peanut! 6 months and still in 3 month clothing.
I think some babies just drink more than others.

I agree. I have a five month old who is drinking 6 1/2 oz three times per day, plus eating cereal and veggies twice per day. She's been doing this for a while now, and I expect she will bump up to 8 oz before long.
I believe the food program says 4-8 oz for 4-8 month olds for meals, and 4-6 oz for snacks.
Some babies will be on the lower end and some on the higher end.