BF Question

[Unregistered]

Breastfed babies only need average 1oz/hour they are away from their moms. It is REALLY easy to overfeed a breastfed baby. You should pace his feedings and try other ways to soothe him. 7oz at one feeding is WAY too much. Breastfed babies will eat frequently, my DD at that age was at least every 2 hours. When she started daycare (3 months) she got 3oz every 3 hours, on average. Overfeeding him and letting him drink too fast from the bottle will jeopardize the breastfeeding relationship with his mom.

Kelly mom is an awesome resource on breastfeeding, check out this page on bottle feeding a breastfed baby. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/bottle-feeding.html

[PeanutsGalore]

Everything Silver just said, and I'll add that sometimes BF babies will eat more if they are given a feeding from a bottle because getting milk from the bottle is so much easier than getting milk from the breast. So, the baby who is use to working hard at the breast will put the same effort into the bottle and get a ton more milk. They generally will learn to adjust the pressure, but overfeeding to start is common.

So long as it is staying down, I would let him eat what he wants.

Yup. BF babies do tend to eat more from a bottle (at first) and more when they are in a new situation away from mommy that they need to get used to. My experience has been different from other posters', so just for perspective, the first time I left my son with a babysitter, he gulped his way through about 15 ounces of breast milk, and it stayed down! He never ate that much in a sitting again, but he did take 7-9 ounces frequently from a bottle...and he's 10th percentile weight. Same thing happened with the little girl I watch. She doubled the amount of food she took in when she started coming here, and her weight is pretty consistent as well.

I'm usually more concerned about overfeeding with formula since it's not as natural.

ETA: bottle feeding didn't change my breastfeeding relationship with my son --not at all. I'd feed him what he seems to need to eat for now. I'm sure his mom wouldn't want him to go hungry because she can't be there to nurse him!

[Kaddidle Care]

I would check with his Mom and go by what she thinks. I BF both my children and I have no idea whatsoever how much they consumed but it was every 2 hours until they were older. Also, breast milk metabolizes much quicker than formula so yes, you will have lots of dirty diapers.

How long are you watching him? If it's just a couple of days I wouldn't worry so long as he seems happy and content.

[Unregistered]

The way overfeeding from a bottle can mess with a breastfeeding relationship has a couple ramifications -

- the mother won't be able to keep up with pumping the amount you're feeding, if you overfeed your baby
- the baby may start to expect (not NEED) the amounts being given and therefore get frustrated at the breast

When my DD started daycare I was told to send more milk. I only sent what she needed. Once she got used to not having the ****ing for comfort after drinking her milk, she adjusted fine. She has gained weight and met her milestones perfectly. She gets 12 oz in 4 bottles of 3oz each while I'm at work.

[jen2651]

hahaha I'm having a brainfart kind of day today....

i was reading BF as boyfriend and I was like HUH? I get it now! yaya I know.

Duh! me too! I had to read the first three sentences twice?!

[nannyde]

Breastfed babies only need average 1oz/hour they are away from their moms. It is REALLY easy to overfeed a breastfed baby. You should pace his feedings and try other ways to soothe him. 7oz at one feeding is WAY too much. Breastfed babies will eat frequently, my DD at that age was at least every 2 hours. When she started daycare (3 months) she got 3oz every 3 hours, on average. Overfeeding him and letting him drink too fast from the bottle will jeopardize the breastfeeding relationship with his mom.

Kelly mom is an awesome resource on breastfeeding, check out this page on bottle feeding a breastfed baby. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/bottle-feeding.html

This is my experience too. About an ounce per hour for newborns to three months.

[KEG123]

I'm not sure what type of bottle you're using but hopefully the nipple is a slow flow nipple. That might help pace things out. Also, let him **** on the bottle after it's gone, because BF babies continue to **** even after the breast is "empty."

[Blackcat31]

I talked with mom at pick up and she said sometimes he varies from anywhere from 3.5-7 oz per feeding. Average though is about 4 oz. She said if he does drink alot at one time it is usually in the morning and usually only once per day. For all other feedings yesterday he only drank the 3.5-4 oz offered to him which was about every 3.5 hours so that seems about right with what you guys have been saying right?

I am thinking that he is doing what Silversabre and a few other pp's said about eating more at first because today I fed him 4 oz at 6:30 this morning and then he burped and went to sleep. Now I just got done feeding him at about 9:45 and he only ate 3.5 oz. He has a pacifier but hasn't yet been interested.

Mom said sometimes he will eat alot and other times just an oz or two. He doesn't spit up and doesn't act like he has anything going on in the tummy area as far as gas or a tummy ache so I am just planning on offering his paci if necessary but sticking to the 3.5-4 oz bags for each feeding.

Mom said he will sometimes have a bigger appetite in the morning and level off during the day. The bottle she brought says Medela on it. The nipple seems to have a really tiny hole so I am assuming the flow is low.

It seems so weird to wonder what type of routine he has and say things like "What does he normally do?" or "What are his normal eating patterns?" because I'm thinking how does he have patterns at only 8 weeks old?

[kitkat]

He seems right to me! He probably does have some what of a pattern already, even at 8 weeks old. I know this will sound anal, but we keep a log of when and how much DS eats (he's 7 weeks old). After looking at his log, I've noticed within the last week that he does indeed have a pattern.