Well, I pumped for the first time today for my daughter. She has been doing very well breastfeeding...her thrush hasn't seemed to have spoiled her appetite. I guess just like other breastfeeding babies, she gets these spells where she wants to nurse, and nurse, and nurse, and if I put her down flat when she wants to sit up or just be held, she cries, and wants to nurse, and nurse, and nurse...you get the idea. Anyway, I pumped two bottles of 4 ounces each. The first bottle, I got from one side which was engorged the other day, and the second was a combination of both sides right after I had fed her (not sure why I mentioned that, but I felt the need to). I gave her the second bottle first. Now when I first heard about how much I can expect my baby to eat, the lactation consultant told me about two ounces. Well, she will be a month old on Sunday, the 4th, so I'm pretty sure that has changed. Well, she drank the entire four ounces...not even an hour after I had breastfed her at home, and she got upset when the bottle went empty, and started crying for more!!!...not even an hour after I had JUST breastfed her!!!!!! Ahah, I remember why I mentioned that...so if she gets about four ounces from one breast...and feeds on both sides...probably making her get anywhere from 6 to 8 ounces in one feeding?...would that be about right for a one month old baby?

To make a long thread short, I just wanted to know if any of you breastfeeding mothers...or even bottle feeding mothers...know how much your baby consumed at each feeding at the one month mark? Would she stop feeding once she's gotten full, or would she just keep on trucking it since the milk comes faster and requires less work coming from a bottle? By the way, I used a breastfeeding supportive nipple with a slow flow (even though she seems to have gulped it down) and one of those nurser bottles that uses a baggie rather than a solid bottle.

If you understand my questions at all, any input would do.

Thanks!!! :wave:

Hi Christina, I think I would just nurse her until she seems content and not worry about how much she is taking. I am surprised the LC gave you an amount because they usually do tell nursing moms to just feed until the baby is full and not worry about amounts. When you are done, rather than laying her flat try putting her in her bouncy, carseat or swing (unless you are holding, rocking, etc. her for awhile). Many babies do not like to lie flat, will not sleep like that and seem to want to feed often to comfort themselves because they are uncomfortable.
Nancy

LOL, it's Charisma, not Christina...although I have thought about changing my name to that. LOL

When it comes to nursing, I let my daughter go at it until she's ready to stop. But my question has to do with expressed milk. I've started pumping milk for her, for times when we are out and I can't find a private area to nurse her...besides the bathroom. I had just fed her before we left the house that day, but I took her milk for a snack later. It was four ounces. I had no idea how much she would drink, but I didn't want to put too much inside of her bottle, so I gave her two ounces...going off of what a lactation consultant told me that a newborn would normally take in...but my daughter is a month old now. She gulped down the two ounces, and started crying again, so I gave her the other two, and she started crying once she finished that too! She wanted more, and I thought she would do okay with that because it was a slow flow nipple...but like I said, it was gone within a very short period of time.

Well, I gave her more expressed milk today, and it looked like she took about three ounces, and then she wanted to sleep. So I put her on my breast when we got home.

My main concern is about her stuffing herself with milk just because it comes out a bit easier with the bottle...but I guess today, she proved that she can do well with it.

Hi Platinum! Clay is also breastfeeding, and the nurse told me not to give him any more than an ounce! I've been ignoring that since I got home and have feeding him until he drops the nipple himself. The nurses started to supplement him with formula before we left the hospital and I've been doing that when it seems he's not getting enough from me and it works beautifully. I don't think you can overfeed him. Some babies take more than others to fill up and then there are growth spurts where they will feed more often and take more milk--we just went through one at 2-3 weeks and I expect the next spurt somewhere around 6 weeks.

Sounds like things are goin great and you have a healthy, happy, hungry baby girl! Take Care,

Yeah Trio, she's all three!

I read a couple of books that said I should just nurse her until she falls off, and that's just what I do, LOL. Unless I'm tired and she is definitely not drinking anymore...just nibbling. I have to watch her sometimes though because she will chomp (the combination of sucking and nibbling, LOL) a few times and she won't swallow, and then the milk goes down her throat, and she starts to choke a little...I guess because of it going down the wrong pipe, or just that natural reaction that you have when you don't swallow on your own. So sometimes, I pop her off myself...she's normally just going to nibble herself to sleep anyway...and I pat her up to make sure she's good and sleeping.

As for the bottles, it was really worrying me at first, but I relaxed my muscles on it, and I'm completely giving into the "don't worry about the ounces" gig that doctors and lactation consultants tell us.

Other than that, everything has been going well with feeding her.

Hi. I don't remember how much my baby drank when I was nursing/pumping 9 months ago. But I've always nursed about 10 minutes on each side, and the baby was fine. When I pumped, I pumped 10 minutes on each side, or until no more milk came out, which ever came first...but no less than 5 minutes on each side.

If you are ever concerned that your baby isn't getting enough, make an appt. at the pediatrician's office (or lactation consultant's office) to use their scale. Start off with a HUNGRY baby. Have them weigh the baby before you nurse. Then after you finish nursing baby on the first side, weigh baby again. Document new weight. Nurse on 2nd side, and when you finish, weigh baby again. This will give you an idea of how much baby is getting.

i don't know much about the correct measurements when expressing milk for bottles, but i believe that if your baby is suckling for a long time that this is the natural way to stimulate more milk production because she needs more. i also remember that bottle feeding should be avoided if possible as this encourages the baby to suckle differently which could effect breastfeeding. i would recommend you read some books particularly one called 'breast is best' if you can find it. i found it such a big help. as for the long time your baby takes to feed, i found it helped to just get myself into a comfortable lying down position and enjoy the close time we shared. my kids were all breastfed until they (not me) decided they wanted to wean off it.

Thanks RosyPosy. I do know about the breast to bottle switching thing, and I went and bought the Platex bottles with the wide nipple and the bag because I heard that they are supposed to support breastfeeding. So far, so good; my daughter seems to be doing great with switching....and on the same token, she seems to not care what she's sucking on as long as it's wide and milk comes out! LOL She often slobbers down my shoulder when she's hungry and impatient with me...like now!

Thanks again.

Charisma, I am also breastfeeding and use the platex bottles w/nipple that support b/f. Baby J seems to be doing fine switching back and forth. My baby will be 2 months on Wednesday the 21 and he's eating 4.5 oz usually when he gets expressed milk. I was concerned that he was eating too much but he doesn't take the bottle too fast (actually he's slower than nursing) so I let him take it until he's done or just playing.

good to hear there are now some wonderful bottles on the market that work with switching. And it sounds like you are doing a great job. :angel:
i really believe that successful breastfeeding was the key to cementing the wonderful bond i still share with my children (teeagers).
Best wishes to all you new mums, you are giving your babies the best start.