Expressing question

[k8y]

I have just started expressing so that I can occassionaly leave James with my Mum and so his dad can have a turn at feeding him. My question is this. I get out about 3 oz from one side, while James is feeding on the other, this is the best way I have found to do it, now when we gave him this bottle it was gone quite fast so he obviously needs more, but 3 oz was all I could get. Do I express the 3oz then put it in the fridge then later express again into another bottle then tip it into the other milk? or do I do it into a new bottle and give him 2 seperate bottles? sorry if it sounds stupid,
Aslo how much should he need for a full feed? my aunty said half his weight in lb in ozz? so he's 10lb 13 so does he need 5 1/2 oz?

 

[wishes]

I just came on to ask exactly the same questions!!
Am starting expressing tonight and have no idea how much we should give him in a bottle?!

 

[k8y]

I just came on to ask exactly the same questions!!
Am starting expressing tonight and have no idea how much we should give him in a bottle?!

hopefuly someone will answer soon.

 

[k8y]

https://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/breastfeeding/pumpingexpressing/storingbreastmilkexpert/

 

[wishes]

Just found this link that merv had posted before... has a little calculator to help you work out what to start giving.

https://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html

 

[Mervs Mum]

Yes you can add together from different pumping sessions. You just need to chill each amount to the same temp and then join it up till you have the amount you either want to use or freeze. You can do that over 5 days if needs be.

Start with the little calculator Wishes posted and then it's trial and error. Sometimes they want a big dinner and other times a snack!

 

[Lu28]

To be honest, I've tended to build up a supply in the fridge and just keep giving her more until she's full! She has one bottle of EBM at night and can take anything from 150ml to 265ml depending on when she last bf etc. I keep all of the milk from one day in the same bottle, I just keep adding to it.

 

[Lu28]

God, I've just used the calculator on that website and it says she should be having between 125 and 150ml in a bottle, that would be the very minimum she'd take on a bad day!

 

[Mervs Mum]

I think it's just a start point! Hebe would have upto 13oz/370ml of EBM when they said 6oz/190ml.....

 

[Lu28]

Looks like our little girls have healthy appetites!

 

[k8y]

thanks guys !!

 

[asacia]

One thing about joining up milk, make sure you then treat all that milk like the oldest. So if you express some today and some tomorrow, and join it together, treat it like it was done today.

According to what I've read, giving larger bottles can stretch babies stomachs. If bottles are a regular thing, it might be an idea to limit the amount (5oz max is what I've read) and pace the bottle - lots of burping during feed, pausing, chatting, swapping over how you hold them.

If a baby gets used to too much, it can make it harder for them to be satisified with smaller feeds, making it harder to breastfeed. This might be more of a problem for those giving lots of bottles and hoping to keep breastfeeding or start breastfeeding.

I've also been told that giving too much can increase the risk of obesity in later life, but again this advise was given about regular bottles.

Hope this doesn't confuse things!

DS would take 250ml at once if I let him, and I did that on HV's advice. It took a while, but in the end I got him back down to little bottles, which made it easier to transistion into breastfeeding.

The general rule is 1 oz per hour, the usual range is 19-30oz in 24 hours. The amount a breastfed baby drinks doesn't increase over time.