How much expressed breastmilk?

[Marie000]

Ok, so my daughter is 9 months old. I might leave her with my brother and sil for a few hours on Sunday, from 3pm to 10pm, approximately. I will breastfeed her just before leaving. Then she will have a dinner (we're doing BLW and she's a little piggy, so she can eat a lot!). After dinner, she usually has a good nursing session and then goes to bed.

My plan is to leave a good bottle of expressed breastmilk. Problem is, I am having a hard time pumping these days. I did tonight and only got one ounce. I'm hoping to get more tomorrow morning and then maybe pump once again before lunch.

So to those who have 9 months old... how much expressed breastmilk do they drink at a time?

Also, in case the expressed breastmilk runs out, would it be terrible to give her cow's milk just this one time? She's had it in food (in soups and mashed potatoes) but not in a bottle.
I also have some expressed breastmilk in the freezer, but I didn't put a date on it, and it might be as old as 6-7 months. That's too old, right? Would it have really gone bad or just lost some nutritional value?

I am really hoping I can get those few hours off. I haven't had real time away from the baby in over 6 months and I am going nuts! On the other hand, I am really nervous about leaving her. The poor girl is so attached to me right now. And what if she gets hungry?

 

[BellarinaBaby]

I don't have enough experience to answer all your questions but my eight month old has never drank more than 5oz of expressed breastmilk. He's in daycare and takes a bottle of EBM every 3-4 hours and he usually drinks 4-5oz. I hope someone else can chime in on the frozen milk and cows milk as I'm not too sure. Please enjoy your time away!

 

[seaweed eater]

For me I think a "good" nursing session translates into about 4 oz. Maybe a bit more.

6 months is supposed to be the limit for normal upright freezers (not the chest style ones). But if they've been in the back, away from the door, it might be worth a try. My understanding is that the milk has gone bad and is not fit for consumption after that time. It should be pretty obvious if you smell and taste it. What you could do if you can't pump enough is try the frozen stuff, have your brother smell it and see whether it's ok, and if not then give cow's milk as a backup.

What about formula instead of cow's milk?

Unfortunately, if she's not used to taking a bottle or drinking frozen EBM/formula/cow's milk then she may not like it the first time she tries it.

Does she nurse to sleep?

 

[Marie000]

For me I think a "good" nursing session translates into about 4 oz. Maybe a bit more.

6 months is supposed to be the limit for normal upright freezers (not the chest style ones). But if they've been in the back, away from the door, it might be worth a try. My understanding is that the milk has gone bad and is not fit for consumption after that time. It should be pretty obvious if you smell and taste it. What you could do if you can't pump enough is try the frozen stuff, have your brother smell it and see whether it's ok, and if not then give cow's milk as a backup.

What about formula instead of cow's milk?

Unfortunately, if she's not used to taking a bottle or drinking frozen EBM/formula/cow's milk then she may not like it the first time she tries it.

Does she nurse to sleep?

the milk is in a chest freezer, so maybe it's okay?

I didn't want to buy formula for just that one feeding, that's why I was considering cow's milk.

She sometimes nurse to sleep, but not always. Usually I feed her and then daddy puts her to bed.

She's not very fussy with food at all and so far she likes everything she tried. But I'm afraid she may miss the nursing more than the taste of my milk.

 

[Marie000]

And so far I have around 5 oz of milk pumped since last night. I might get another ounce before lunch.

 

[seaweed eater]

Oh 6-7 months should be fine for a chest freezer. The limit is supposed to be 1 year and 5 oz is plenty! You should have plenty of breastmilk for one evening.

 

[Marie000]

thanks!

The evening went okay, but she absolutely refused to drink her milk from a bottle, or from a sippy cup. Luckily she ate plenty of solids, so at least she didn't go hungry.
But I guess leaving her overnight with daddy next weekend is out.

Will I keep being unable to get away from that baby for as long as I am breastfeeding?

 

[seaweed eater]

If you're going to be breastfeeding for a while, I'm sure she can learn to use a cup. Especially if you express regularly and practice giving her *milk* in particular from a cup, so she knows it can come from there too. I'm sorry she wouldn't take the milk but glad things went ok