11 week old increasing daily milk consumption?

[@llli*lqmommy]

So, I am wondering if and when babies increase their milk intake. I am away from DS from 8am to 6:30 M-F, so 10.5 hrs a day. If I use the calculation of 1.5oz per hr away, he should be eating 15.5oz per day, which I typically pump 16oz per day. Over the past week he has been eating 20-21oz a day (sometimes I am lucky to pump extra and sometimes we have to use the freezer stash). My partner watches him during the day and swears she tries to soothe him before she feeds him. Plus, she says he does his "hungry" cry, which we have definitely deciphered.

He is a very big boy (16lbs 25in) and thought maybe he eats more because he's bigger. Then I thought maybe it's a growth spurt, but I don't feel like he is having any other "spurt" symptoms and they typically don't last a week.

I feed him on demand on the weekends, which is A LOT. He likes to comfort suck too, so he probably gets a boob every hour to hour and a half.

If this is how much he is eating now, how can I increase my pumping outcome? I am currently pumping 5 times a day, 30 mins each time, and typically get 3oz per session. I honestly cannot fit another session into my day.

Any advice ladies?

[@llli*newmom1987]

Nursing is the best way to increase your supply. Maybe getting nursing sessions in on the weekdays whenever possible. He sounds very healthy!!

[@llli*maddieb]

one of the really cool things about breastfeeding is that how much breastmilk a baby needs daily stays roughly the same from about age 6 weeks on until baby is eating enough solids to replace the milk nutritionally...so mothers do not need to keep making more and more as baby grows.

On the other hand, when a mom is away from baby daily, even when pumping, she may see a reduction in her milk production. It is just harder for some moms to keep up production when no longer nursing full time. But 3 ounces per session is good-normal.

My guess is baby is being a little overfed, of course inadvertently. this is VERY common. Look out the handout 'bottlefeeding the breastfed baby' for some tips on this. http://www.llli.org/docs/00000000000...astfedbaby.pdf

breastfed babies seem to need between 25-30 oz a day total. That does not mean there are no outliers who may take more!

if a lower production is part of the problem, What will almost certainly help would be to nurse more often when you are with baby, this of course would give him more to eat when you are not at work as well, so he gets more overall. Many back at work moms find nightime nursing sessions vital. if that does not do it, you could consider galactagogues.

kellymom.com has several excellent articles on increasing milk supply and increasing pump output.

[@llli*djs.mom]

Sound like a growth spurt. He due one.

[@llli*djs.mom]

Also sometimes they DO eat up to 2 oz per hour wich would get you right to the 20-21 oz point. Do you think it's possible that you feed him 40 oz in a 24hour period? That seems like a lot...I don't know how you are fitting in FIVE pumping sessions a day but WOW. That is dedication. Do you pump while you drive?

[@llli*monika.h]

There is a big growth spurt at 3 months. My money's on that. It's also really easy to overfeed with a bottle. Is your boy taking a pacifier?

As far as I know, milk supply is basically stable from 8 weeks onward, with some minor changes at growth spurts.

Not sure what to do in your situation? Maybe try herbs for a while or domperidone if you need to temporarily increase your supply.

Here's a link on bottlefeeding a breastfed baby.

http://www.lowmilksupply.org/bottlefeeding.pdf

[@llli*irishmom]

My son is similar. Heat 11 wks he started to go through his growth spurt and at the same time increased his amount he ate while I was at work from 14-18 ounces to 19-24 ounces. I am away for 15 hours. I was recently away from him for 24 hours and he ate about 30. This helped actually because I now realize that I think he eats the most in the morning. He eats a lot around 8 am which is when he wakes up for the day. then "snacks" about 1-1.5 hrs later. I think what your son is doing is on the high normal side.

Another thing, if your baby is now sleeping more during the night with less wakings to feed, then they would eat more during the day.

Maybe you can have your partner write how many ounces and the times she feeds the baby. When I did that, it made me feel more at ease because I saw he wasn't eating oddly, just was eating closer to 1.5 ounces per hour.

On a Saturday I power pumped to help boost my supply at 11 weeks. And also while he ate I pumped on the opposite side for his morning feeds.

[@llli*lqmommy]

Thank you ladies! Before I went back to work, I was terrified of overfeeding, so I made sure DP knew how to bottle feed him per those guidelines. I leave 3oz bottles and she breaks after 1.5oz to burp him and give him a minute to "regroup", then see's if he takes the nipple for more (which he does). She does try to give him the pacifier throughout the day, which he will take, but not when he's actually hungry.

I nurse him constantly when I am with him. I nurse him 2x (in a 1.5hr period) in the morning before work and usually 2x (in a 1.5hr period) after work before bed. We also co-sleep and he nurses multiple times at night. On the weekends, I think I over nurse him, because he eats so much that he spits up all the time. He doesn't do that during the week.

I pump like crazy to try and make sure I have enough milk for him each day. When I nurse him in the mornings and evenings, I pump on the other side. Then I pump every 2.5 - 3 hours at work. On the weekends I don't pump at all unless I am low on milk, because WHEW! it's a lot of work!

He definitely eats a lot in the mornings, too. Between 6 and 11am, he's probably eating 11oz between nursing and bottles and he has always done that.

I think we will track this week and see exactly how much and when he's eating. We were doing that in the beginning, but he was right on target with what he was supposed to be eating, so we stopped. I am hoping that it is a growth spurt and he'll be back to "normal" soon. Otherwise, if he is still eating 20-21oz by the end of this week, then I will try some supplements to boost up my supply a little more. Any particular ones you recommend?

[@llli*djs.mom]

Fenegreek is popular. Mother's milk tea as well. It also helps to eat Oatmeal for breakfast. (And SOME PEOPLE swear by Beer with dinner. Can't hurt)

[@llli*monika.h]

I found domperidone worked better than anything. But also had success with fenugreek. I took the pills with fenugreek powder in it. The tea is too weak apparently.